SPEECHES?- 

COEEESPONDENCE,     ETC., 


OF    THE   LATE 


DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON, 

OF     NEW     YORK. 


INCLUDING : 

ADDRESSES    ON    IMPORTANT    PUBLIC     TOPICS;      SPEECHES     IN 
THE    STATE   AND    UNITED    STATES    SENATE,    AND    IN    SUP 
PORT    OF    THE    GOVERNMENT    DURING    THE    REBEL 
LION  ;     CORRESPONDENCE,      PRIVATE     AND 
POLITICAL  (COLLECTED  AND    ARRANGED 
BY   MRS.  DICKINSON),    POEMS  (COL 
LECTED  AND   ARRANGED   BY 
MRS.  MYGATT),  ETC. 


EDITED,     WITH      A      BIOGRAPHY,     BY      HIS      BROTHER, 

JOHN   R.  DICKINSON. 


LTST   TWO   VOLUMES. 


VOL.    I. 


NEW    YORK: 
G.    P.    PUTNAM    &    SON,    661    BROADWAY. 

1867. 


<x   * 
\>      r> 


X 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867,  by 
JOHN    E.   DICKINSON, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southera 
•  District  of  New  York. 


JOHN  F.  TROW  &  CO., 

TSjOl(vr?rpS!l3,  U?T>  ELECt 

,«fi    Gi-e0af  Street)  NJwyp 


TO 
THOSE    WHO    WERE    THE    FRIENDS, 

PERSONAL   AND    POLITICAL, 

OF   DANIEL    S.    DICKINSON; 

TO    THE    LOVERS    OP 

THE    UNION, 

THROUGHOUT    ITS    WHOLE    EXTENT; 
THIS    COLLECTION    OF    SPEECHES, 

SO   LARGELY    DEVOTED 

TO    ITS    DEFENCE    AND    MAINTENANCE, 

IS     RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED. 


42-1886 


PREFACE. 


UPON  the  suggestion  of  numerous  friends,  preparations  for  the  pub 
lication  of  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Dickinson  were  commenced  some  five 
years  since,  during  his  lifetime.  The  material  for  the  purpose  was  then 
placed  in  my  hands,  and  some  progress  made  with  the  earlier  portions. 
My  removal  from  New  York,  and  consequently  from  the  convenience  of 
intercourse  with  him,  and  the  stirring  and  absorbing  events  then  claim 
ing  his  attention,  occasioned  a  postponement  of  the  design,  intended, 
however,  to  be  only  temporary.  Since  his  sudden  and  lamented  death, 
their  publication,  on  many  accounts,  has  been  thought  desirable  and 
proper ;  embracing,  as  they  do,  discussions  of  most  of  the  great  questions, 
events,  and  policies  of  government,  that  for  the  last  twenty  years  have 
agitated  the  country,  divided  parties,  produced  and  subdued  a  rebellion 
of  gigantic  dimensions  ;  and  having,  it  is  believed,  had  their  full  influence 
upon  public  sentiment  and  affairs,  they  are  presented,  with  only  the 
apology  that  is  due  to  the  manner  in  which  the  duties  of  editor  have 
been  discharged.  The  political  speeches  of  Mr.  Dickinson  were  rarely, 
if  ever,  written  out  or  even  read  by  him  before  their  introduction  to  the 
public  in  print,  being  mostly  the  reproduction  of  the  reporter's  hasty 
draft  from  his  short-hand  notes.  "While  this  has  made  the  task  of  prep 
aration  for  the  press  much  more  difficult,  it  will  account  in  some  de 
gree  for  such  deficiencies  as  may  appear  in  its  execution. 

The  addition  of  a  collection  of  private  correspondence  and  poems 
did  not  enter  into  the  original  plan,  but  was  adopted  on  later  considera 
tion.  I  am  happy  that  the  idea  originated  and  has  been  carried  out. 
It  supplements  the  mere  outline  of  biography  attempted,  showing  the 
habits  of  thought  and  action,  the  motives  of  conduct,  the  cares,  joys, 
labors,  purposes,  and  aspirations ;  the  beginnings,  effort?,  and  progress  of 


VI  PREFACE. 

a  life  of  ceaseless  and  diversified  activity,  in  a  manner  that  no  biogra 
phy,  however  elaborate,  could  supply. 

The  correspondence  (aside  from  the  political  portions)  has  been  col 
lected  and  prepared  for  the  press  by  Mrs.  Dickinson,  with  the  assistance 
of  her  daughters,  Mrs.  Courtney  and  Mrs.  Mygatt ;  the  poems  have  been 
arranged  by  Mrs.  Mygatt,  and  arrangements  for  the  publication  made 
and  supervised  in  New  York  by  Mrs.  Courtney.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  the  work,  in  its  several  parts  and  as  a  whole,  is  designed  as  a  trib 
ute  of  affection  and  reverence — a  memorial  to  one  who,  however  high 
he  may  have  stood  in  the  estimation  of  his  countrymen,  was  most 
esteemed  by  those  who  knew  him  most  intimately.  J.  R.  D. 

CHICAGO,  August,  1867. 


CONTENTS   OF    VOLUME   I. 


PAGE 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  . ,  1 


SPEECH  on  the  Repeal  of  the  Usury  Laws,  delivered  in  the  Senate 

of  New  York,  February  10,  1837 63 

SPEECH  upon  the  Governor's  Message,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of 

New  York,  January  llth,  1840 93 

ADDRESS  delivered  at  the  Fair  of  the  Queens  County  Agricultural 

Society,  October  17,  1843 109 

ADDRESS  of  the  Albany  Repeal  Association   to  the  people   of 

Ireland,  January  3,  1844 124 

SPEECH  upon  the  joint  resolution  providing  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  February 
22d,  1845 127 

SPEECH  on  the  Oregon  question,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the 

United  States,  February  24,  1846 160 

SPEECH  in  reply  to  Mr.  Webster  upon  the  North-Eastern  Boun 
dary,  the  right  of  search,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Caroline, 
delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  April  9,  1846. ..  195 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

SPEECH  on  the  Acquisition  of  Territory,  and  the  formation  of  Gov 
ernments  for  the  Territories — the  doctrine  of  "  Popular  Sov-       r 
ereignty  "  proposed  and  defended,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  January  12,  1848 228 

SPEECH  on  the  bill  to  establish  Territorial  Governments  in  Oregon, 
California,  and  New  Mexico,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  July  22,  July  28,  and  August  13, 1848 248 

SPEECH  upon  the  issues  and  candidates  of  the  Presidential 
campaign,  delivered  in  Tammany  Hall,  New  York,  August 
19,  1848 267 

SPEECH  on  establishing  a  Government  for  California  and  New 
Mexico,  and  in  reply  to  Mr.  Dix  on  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso," 
delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  February  28, 
1849 283 

SPEECH  delivered  at  a  Democratic  State  Convention,  held  atPiome, 

N.  Y.,  on  the  15th,  16th,  and  17th  days  of  August,  1849 307 

SPEECH  upon  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Clemens,  of  Alabama,  calling 
upon  the  President  for  information  in  reference  to  the 
appointment  of  a  military  Governor  for  California,  etc.,  and 
in  answer  to  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Clemens,  delivered  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  January  17,  1850 323 

SPEECH  delivered  at  a  complimentary  public  dinner,  given  to  Mr. 
Dickinson  by  the  Democrats  of  the  Counties  of  New  York, 
Kings,  Queen?,  Eichmond  and  Wcstchester,  at  Tammany 
Hall,  New  York,  June  17,  1850. 337 

SPEECH  delivered   at  the  Centennial   Celebration   of  Litchfield 

County,  Conn.,  August  14,  1851 364 

SPEECH  delivered  in  the  Democratic  National  Convention  at  Bal 
timore,  June  5, 1852 369 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAQB 

ORATION  on  the  celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of  American  In 
dependence,  delivered  at  Syracuse,  K  Y.,  July  4, 1853 372 

SPEECH  delivered  at  a  Democratic  Ratification  meeting,  held  at 

Rochester,  K  Y.,  October  6,  1853 394 

ADDRESS  to  the  jury  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  m.  James 
Collier,  late  Collector  at  San  Francisco,  California,  delivered 
at  New  York,  May  2, 1854 407 

REMARKS  at  the  Oxford  Academy  Jubilee,  held  at  Oxford,  Che- 

nango  County,  N.  Y.,  August  1st  and  2(3,  1854 474 

ADDRESS  delivered  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Stisque- 

hannah  Seminary,  at  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  August  17,  1854. .     479 

SPEECH  delivered  at  Delhi,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  "  Hardshell "  or  National  Democracy  of  the  County, 
September  29,  1854 486 

SPEECH  on  the  Main  Law  question,  delivered  at  a  Democratic  Rati 
fication  Meeting,  held  at  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  Few 
York,  November  1,  1854 490 

SPEECH  at  a  mass  meeting  held  to  ratify  the  nominations  of  the 
Cincinnati  Convention,  delivered  at  'the  Court-House  in 
Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  June  21,  1856 508 

EXTRACT.  A  picture  of  disunion,  from  a  speech  delivered  at  a 
mass  meeting  of  the  Democracy  of  Indiana,  held  on  the 
battle-ground  of  Tippecanoe,  September,  1856 525 

SPEECH  delivered  at  a  Democratic  mass  meeting,  held  at  the 
Union  Cabin,  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  on  the  evening  of 
October  21,  1856 528 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

DEDICATORY  ADDRESS  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  new  Court- 
House  at  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  at  the  general  term  of  the 
Supreme  Court  for  the  Sixth  Judicial  District,  January,  1857  543 

SPEECH  delivered  at  the  celebration   of  the  anniversary  of  the 

battle  of.^Tew  Orleans,  at  Cortland,  X.  Y.,  January  8,  1857. .     548 

REMARKS  made  on  the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  a  testimo 
nial  to  W.  B.  Gilbert,  Esq.,  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  April  29,  1857  567 

SPEECH  delivered  in  response  to  a  public  serenade,  at  Willard's 

Hotel,  "Washington,  D.  C.,  the  evening  of  May  — ,  1857 570 

ADDRESS  to  the  jury  in  behalf  of  the  prisoner,  on  the  trial  of  John 
M.  Thurston,  at  the  Tioga  Oyer  and  Terminer,  Owego,  N".  Y., 
October  18,  1857.  Defence,  insanity 573 

ADDRESS  delivered  before  the  Graduating  Class  of  the  Law  De 
partment  of  Hamilton  College,  at  Clinton,  1ST.  Y.,  July  21, 
1858 600 

REMARKS  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  N.  Y.  State  Ine 
briate  Asylum,  at  Binghamton,  K  Y.,  September  24,  1858, 
introducing  to  the  audience  Hon.  Edward  Everett 621 

SPEECH  delivered  at  the  Democratic  State  Convention,  held  at 

Weiting  Hall,  Syracuse,  K  Y.,  September  14,  1859 623 

ADDRESS  delivered   before   the  Chenango    County  Agricultural 

Society,  September  22,  1859 629 

SPEECH  delivered  at  a  grand  Ratification  Meeting  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  held  at  St.  James  Hall,  Buffalo,  October  20, 1859  654 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE 

SPEECH  at  a  Democratic  mass  meeting,  held  to  ratify  the  nomina 
tions  of  Breckinridge  and  Lana  for  the  Presidency  and  Vice- 
Presidency,  delivered  at  the  Cooper  Institute,  New  York, 
July  18,  1860 667 

SPEECH  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  a  serenade,  at  the  Kirkwood 

House,  Washington  City,  August  1,  1860 688 

• 

SPEECH  delivered  at  a  Union  meeting,  held  in  Pine  Street,  New 

York,  December,  1860  696 

ADDRESS  on  Temperance,  the  policy  of  License  Laws,  &c.,  deliver 
ed  before  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  at  its  an 
nual  meeting  at  Albany,  F3bruary  8,  1843  703 

LECTURE  upon  Commercial  Law  and  Political  Economy,  delivered 
before  the  Binghamton  Commercial  College,  February  15, 
1861..  719 


BIOGEAPHIOAL    SKETCH. 


DANIEL  STEVENS  DICKINSON  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Goshen,  Litchfield  county,  Connecticut,  September  11,  1800. 
He  was  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  eight  children.  His  parents, 
both  natives  of  Connecticut,  were  of  English  ancestry.  His 
father,  Daniel  T.  Dickinson,  was  a  farmer  of  moderate  means; 
a  man  of  intelligence  and  probity,  and  of  great  energy  and 
decision  of  character.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Caulkins,  possessed  the  qualities  of  a  good  mind,  a  kind 
and  benevolent  disposition  and  unaffected  religious  sentiment, 
and  discharged,  in  her  sphere,  with  fidelity  and  devotion,  all 
the  duties  of  a  life  of  practical  worth  and  usefulness.  In  1806 
the  family  removed  to  Chenango  county  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  settled  in  the  east  part  of  Oxford,  now  the  town  of 
Guilford.  The  country  was  then  new,  and  the  hardships,  ad 
ventures,  and  privations  of  pioneer  life  were  to  be  encountered. 
Here  the  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  youth,  mostly  in  the 
hardy  and  laborious  occupations  of  the  farm ;  but  the  parents 
brought  with  them  to  their  new  home  their  New  England  love 
for  social  order,  and  mental,  moral  and  material  improvement, 
and  became  early  interested  in  procuring  for  their  children  the 
best  advantages  of  education  that  they  could  command.  The 
first  school  organized  in  the  neighborhood  was  taught  in  a 
room  of  their  dwelling.  But  their  means  and  the  literary 
resources  of  the  country  did  not  enable  them  to  go  beyond  the 
facilities  afforded  by  the  common  schools,  and  those  of  a  sys 
tem  then  in  its  infancy.  By  making  the  most  of  these,  how- 
1 


2  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

ever,  aided  by  home  instruction  and  encouragement,  he  suc 
ceeded,  between  the  whiles  of  labor,  in  laying  the  foundation 
of  a  thoroughly  practical  education,  more  useful  than  many 
acquirements  of  greater  show  and  pretension ;  and  from  this 
beginning,  by  pursuing  a  system  of  self-education  and  exten 
sive  reading,  aided  by  a  fine  literary  taste,  he  became  a  thorough 
English  scholar,  well  versed  in  the  classics,  and  familiar  with 
poetry,  history,  political  economy,  the  various  branches  of  sci 
ence  and  general  literature. 

At  a  very  early  age  h'is  inclination  evidently  led  him  to 
debate,  with  himself,  the  possibility  of  making  the  legal  pro 
fession  his  future  occupation,  and  to  form  plans  with  that 
object  in  view ;  but  the  entree  to  the  profession  was  then 
much  more  difficult  than  it  has  since  become  ;  and  his  father, 
who  regarded  practical  manual  labor  of  some  kind  as  the 
truest  sphere  of  usefulness,  did  not  encourage  his  aspirations. 
At  about  the  age  of  sixteen  or  seventeen,  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  worthy  mechanic,  a  clothier  or  cloth  dresser,  and  became 
well  skilled  in  the  trade,  though  he  never  pursued  it  to  any 
extent  after  serving  out  his  apprenticeship. 

In  1820  he  commenced  teaching,  and  was  thus  engaged,  in 
both  the  common,  and  in  select  schools,  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  time  up  to  1825.  The  employment  was  congenial,  and 
he  was  both  popular  and  successful  as  a  teacher.  During  this 
time  he  learned,  without  an  instructor,  the  art  of  land  survey 
ing,  in  which  he  became  proficient  as  a  practical  surveyor. 
While  engaged  in  teaching  he  also  devoted  a  portion  of  the 
time  to  the  study  of  the  law,  which  he  continued  afterwards 
in  the  office  of  Clark  &  Clapp,  Esqs.,  at  Norwich ;  the  senior 
member  of  the  firm,  the  late  Hon.  Lot  Clark,  then  being  a 
leading  lawyer  of  Central  New  York. 

In.  182 8  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  commenced  practice  at 
Guilford,  where  he  held  at  the  time  the  office  of  postmaster. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  3 

In  December,  1831,  seeking  a  more  extensive  field  of  business, 
he  removed  to  Bingliamton,  the  county  seat  of  Broome 
county,  New  York,  where  he  continued  to  reside  the  remain 
der  of  his  life.  Here  he  entered  at  once  upon  a  large  legal 
practice,  and  soon  took  rank  among  the  prominent  lawyers  of 
the  State.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in  the  organizations  of 
the  Democratic  party,  with  which  he  had  been  identified  from 
his  earliest  political  action. 

In  1834,  on  the  municipal  organization  of  Binghamton,  he 
was  elected  its  first  President.  In  1835,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Democratic  National  Convention,  at  Baltimore,  which  nom 
inated  Van  Buren  and  Johnson  for  President  and  Vice  Presi 
dent. 

He  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  in  1836,  from  what  was 
then  the  6th  Senate  District,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Che- 
nango,  Broome,  Tompkins,  Tioga,  Chcmung,  Steuben,  Living 
ston,  Allegany  and  Cattaraugus.  The  term  commenced  Jan.  1, 
1837,  and  continued  four  years  ;  during  which  he  served  as  Sen 
ator  and  Member  of  the  Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors,  the 
highest  judicial  tribunal  of  the  State.  In  both  capacities,  as  a 
legislator  and  as  a  jurist,  he  maintained  a  prominent  rank.  He 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  many  important  subjects  that  came 
before  the  Legislature  for  adjustment;  prominent  among  which, 
were  the  financial  questions  growing  out  of  the  discontinuance 
of  the  United  States  Bank,  and  the  establishing  of  the  Indepen 
dent  Treasury,  to  which  the  State  policy  had  to  be  conformed ; 
the  small-bill  law  ;  the  bank-suspension  law  ;  various  measures 
in  reference  to  the  enlargement  of  the  Canals,  and  for  the  con 
struction  of  the  Erie  Railroad,  in  which  he  took  especial  inter 
est.  As  a  debater  he  was  found  ready  and  effective.  His 
speech  on  the  usury  laws  is  a  good  specimen  of  his  style  and 
powers  of  debate  at  this  time.  It  may  be  truly  said  to  conclude 
argument  on  the  question.  As  a  judicial  writer  his  opinions, 
delivered  in  the  Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors,  to  be  found 


4  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

in  the  law  reports  of  the  State,  are  characterized  by  clearness 
and  ability.  Discarding  mere  technicalities,  they  go  to  the 
merits  of  the  question,  and  vindicate  the  law  as  having  its  best 
foundation  in  sound  and  practical  common  sense. 

His  course  in  the  Senate  was  so  well  approved  that  the  Dem 
ocratic  State  Convention  of  1840  nominated  him  for  Lieutenant 
Governor.  The  election  was  that  at  which  Mr.  Van  Buren  ran, 
as  the  Democratic  candidate,  for  President,  against  General 
Harrison  ;  and  the  whole  Democratic  ticket,  State  and  National, 
was  defeated,  though  Mr.  Dickinson  received  five  thousand 
more  votes  in  the  State  than  the  Democratic  Presidential 
ticket.  In  1 842,  his  name  being  again  brought  forward  in  con 
nection  with  the  office  of  Lieut.  Governor,  he  published  a  letter 
in  advance  of  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  declining  to  be 
a  candidate ;  but  he  was  nevertheless  unanimously  nominated, 
and  was  elected  by  twenty-five  thousand  majority.  As  Lieut. 
Governor  he  became  President  of  the  Senate;  Presiding  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Errors ;  Member  of  the  Canal  Board ;  Regent  of 
the  University,  &c.  The  term  continued  till  December  31, 1844, 
and  the  various  duties  imposed  by  the  office  were  so  discharged 
as  to  add  to  the  reputation  he  had  gained  in  the  Senate. 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1844,  he  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Democratic  National  Convention,  and  afterwards  canvassed 
the  State  for  Polk  and  Dallas,  the  Democratic  candidates,  ad 
vocating  as  a  prominent  issue  in  the  contest,  the  annexation 
of  Texas.  He  was  one  of  the  State  Electors,  and  assisted,  in 
the  Electoral  College,  in  casting  the  vote  of  New  York  for  the 
successful  candidates. 

In  December  1844,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Bouck  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  in  place  of  Hon.  N.  P.  Tallmadge, 
who  had  resigned  the  seat,  and  immediately  proceeded  to 
Washington  in  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  appointment. 
The  term  for  which  Mr.  Tallmadge  was  elected  expired  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1845,  and  on  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  Mr. 


BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCH. 


Dickinson  was  elected  for  the  unexpired  term  and  also  for  the 
succeeding  regular  term  of  six  years ;  during  which,  up  to 
March  3d,  1851,  he  continued  a  member  of  the  Senate.  For 
several  years  in  succession  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Finance  of  that  body,  a  leading  and  responsible  position ; 
and  he  took  a  leading  part  in  all  the  prominent  measures  that 
occupied  the  attention  of  Congress  during  his  term  of  service, 
which  embraced  some  of  the  most  eventful  years  of  the  national 
history.  The  annexation  of  Texas ;  the  war  with  Mexico ;  the 
settlement  of  the  Oregon  difficulty  with  Great  Britain ;  the 
Clay  ton-Bui  wer  treaty ;  the  questions  growing  out  of  the  ac 
quisition  of  territory ;  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  includ 
ing  the  formation  of  governments  for  New  Mexico,  California 
and  Oregon,  were  some  of  the  principal.  Of  the  local  measures 
in  which  his  constituents  were  more  immediately  Interested, 
the  bill  to  establish  a  mint  in  the  City  of  New  York  was  the 
most  prominent.  He  gave  it  an  active  and  earnest  support, 
and  succeeded  in  securing  its  adoption  in  the  Senate;  but 
though  of  so  obvious  public  utility,  and  to  the  government  a 
measure  of  self-justice,  it  was  defeated  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  by  adverse  local  interests  and  jealousies,  as  it  has 
been  in  one  or  the  other  branch  of  Congress  on  so  many  other 
occasions. 

The  first  subject  of  general  interest  that  claimed  his  atten 
tion  in  Congress  was  the  proposition  to  authorize  the  annexa 
tion  of  Texas  ;  and  the  speech  he  made  in  its  advocacy,  and  in 
explanation  of  his  views  upon  the  question,  was  his  first  effort 
of  any  importance  in  the  Senate.  It  was  received  with  re 
spectful  attention,  and  gave  him  at  once  a  favorable  standing 
in  that  august  body.  The  measure  by  which  that  large  area, 
legitimately  belonging  to  the  United  States,  was  saved  from 
falling  under  foreign  protection  or  becoming  the  hot  bed  of 
foreign  intrigue,  in  either  event  to  our  great  annoyance  and 
the  prejudice  of  our  national  interests,  was  opposed  on  various 


6  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

grounds,  and  most  strenuously  by  those  who  were  extreme  in 
their  views  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  Occasionally  one  of  the 
same  class,  at  this  day,  insists  on  fighting  the  battle  over, 
charging  to  its  adoption  great  influence  in  producing  the  Re 
bellion  ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  how  the  act  of 
annexation  can  be  any  more  justly  arraigned  as  influencing, 
or  as  a  cause,  of  the  Rebellion,  than  the  original  purchase  of 
.Louisiana  or  the  acquisition  of  Florida,  and  their  incorporation 
into  the  Union ;  and  certain  it  is,  that  the  number  has  always 
been  exceedingly  small  of  those  who,  at  any  time  or  under  any 
circumstances,  would  consent  that  the  act  of  annexation  should 
be  abrogated.  Mr.  Dickinson  opposed  the  Oregon  treaty,  by 
which,  as  he  contended,  Great  Britain  gained  several  degrees 
of  territory  rightfully  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and 
a  pretext  for  claiming  more.  He  also  opposed  that  intermi 
nable  diplomatic  muddle,  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty. 

On  the  14th  of  December,  1847,  he  introduced  into  the  Sen 
ate  his  resolutions  on  the  subjects  of  the  acquisition  of  terri 
tory  and  the  formation  of  territorial  governments.  They 
appear  at  length  in  the  speech  he  subsequently  made  in  sup 
port  of  the  principles  they  embodied.  In  their  primary  aspect 
they  were  designed  to  meet  the  question  of  acquisition,  which 
was  about  to  arise  as  one  of  the  results  of  the  war  with  Mex 
ico,  and  was  beginning  to  excite  discussion ;  in  their  second 
ary,  to  offer  a  solution  of  the  controversy  which  the  introduc 
tion  of  the  Wilniot  proviso,  at  the  preceding  session,  had 
occasioned.  Their  introduction  was  the  first  public  annuncia 
tion  of  the  doctrine  of  "  popular  sovereignty,"  as  it  has  been 
called ;  and  though  the  progress  of  events  soon  raised  the 
same  questions  practically,  and  therefore  no  direct  action  was 
taken  upon  them,  the  doctrines  put  forth  were  finally  ap 
proved  by  Congress,  and  made  the  basis  of  the  Compromise 
measures  of  1850;  became  the  Democratic  creed  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  were  triumphantly 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  7 

sustained  by  the  people  in  the  succeeding  national  elec 
tions. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a  member  of  the  Democratic 
national  convention  at  Baltimore,  which  nominated  General 
Cass  for  the  presidency,  and  was  followed  by  the  "free  soil" 
defection  in  New  York.  He  supported  General  Cass  with 
zeal  and  energy  in  the  canvass,  as  he  did  the  National  Demo 
cratic  creed  and  organization  throughout  that  ill-starred  con 
troversy. 

In  the  session  of  1850,  the  excitement  and  irritation  growing 
out  of  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  having  increas 
ed  to  an  alarming  extent,  in  and  out  of  Congress,  Mr.  Clay 
introduced  into  the  Senate  a  proposition  for  "an  amicable 
arrangement  of  all  questions  in  controversy  between  the  free 
and  the  slave  States,  growing  out  of  the  subject  of  slavery ; " 
and  a  Select  Committee  of  Thirteen  was  organized,  to  which 

O  " 

the  whole  matter  was  referred.  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a  member 
of  this  committee.  Besides  Mr.  Clay,  the  chairman,  Mr. 
Webster,  General  Cass,  Mr.  W.  R.  King,  Mr.  Clayton,  and 
others  of  the  oldest,  ablest,  and  most  conspicuous  of  the  Sen 
ators  were  his  associates.  He  united  heartily  and  earnestly 
with  these  eminent  men  in  giving  their  best  efforts  to  the 
accomplishment  of  the  great  object.  The  contest  was  opened 
in  January,  1850,  and  continued  during  nearly  eight  months 
of  gloom  and  excitement,  and  was  happily  brought  to  a  close 
by  the  passage  of  bills,  admitting  California  to  the  Union  as  a 
State ;  defining  the  boundaries  of  Texas  ;  organizing  the  Terri 
tories  of  New  Mexico  and  Utah  by  acts  silent  on  the  subject 
of  slavery ;  prohibiting  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  amending  the  fugitive  slave  law.  A  large 
majority  of  the  people,  North  and  South,  were  satisfied  with 
these  measures,  and  hailed  their  adoption  as  the  dawning  of  a 
brighter  day.  But  in  spite  of  the  patriotic  efforts  of  those  who 
labored  for  the  realization  of  this  just  expectation,  it  was  des- 


8 


EIOGKAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


tilled  to  disappointment.  Party  politics  and  office-seeking 
schemes,  aided  by  the  clamors  of  those  of  extreme  views  on 
either  side  of  the  slavery  question,  prevented  a  permanent 
"  amicable  arrangement."  After  a  brief  interval  of  quiet,  the 
floodgates  of  strife  were  again  forced  open. 

During  the  session  of  1850,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  tendered  the 
honor  of  a  public  dinner  by  the  Democrats  of  the  counties  of 
New  York,  Kings,  Queens,  Richmond,  and  Westchester.  The 
letter  of  invitation  was  signed  by  the  leading  Democrats  of  the 
five  counties,  and  held  the  following  language : 

"  The  occasion  is  sought  for  the  purpose  of  giving  full  utterance  to  the  sen 
timents  of  respect  and  confidence,  with  which  your  distinguished  political  ser 
vices  to  our  common  country  have  inspired  us. 

********* 

"In  the  trying  crisis  through  which  the  country,  and  we  may  add  the  cause 
of  the  world's  freedom  and  of  republicanism,  is  now  passing,  the  state  of  New 
York  is  most  fortunate  in  being  represented  in  the  Senate  of  the  Union  by  one 
whose  patriotism  soars  above  the  level  of  time-serving  purposes,  and  whose 
eminent  talents  and  moral  worth  command  respect  both  in  the  State  he  repre 
sents  and  in  the  councils  of  the  nation." 

He  visited  New  York  in  compliance  with  the  invitation,  and 
was  received  by  committees  from  the  various  Democratic 
organizations  with  congratulatory  addresses,  approving  of 
his  course.  The  Common  Council,  numbering  a  majority  of 
his  political  opponents,  unanimously  passed  resolutions  tender 
ing  him  the  "  freedom  of  the  city " ;  making  him  its  guest 
during  his  stay,  and  thanking  him  for  his  public  services  in 
behalf  of  the  city  and  the  State.  The  resolutions  were  pre 
sented  to  him  by  the  Mayor  and  a  special  committee  from  each 
branch  of  the  Common  Council.  The  complimentary  dinner 
was  given  at  Tammany  Hall,  and  participated  in  by  many 
prominent  members  of  the  Democratic  party  from  all  parts  of 
the  State.  Several  of  the  other  States  were  also  represented. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  the  session  of  1850,  that  Mr.  Webster 
addressed  to  him  the  letter  of  commendation  which  has  been 
heretofore  published,  and  so  generally  and  justly  admired.  It 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  9 

claims  a  place  here  as  a  most  graceful  and  delicate  exhibition 
of  the  best  traits  of  a  great  and  noble  character.  The  unpleas 
ant  occurrences  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Webster  were  some  sharp 
passages  in  debate,  which  took  place  at  an  early  period  in 
their  senatorial  acquaintance.  They  both  soon  found  reason  to 
reconsider  and  regret  their  hasty  expressions ;  and  as  men  of 
truly  generous  impulses,  they  let  no  false  pride  stand  in  the 
way  of  their  better-informed  judgment.  Mr.  Dickinson's 
reply  is  given  elsewhere.  It  was  first  published,  upon  the 
application  of  Edward  Everett,  in  a  collection  of  Mr.  Web 
ster's  correspondence  prepared  for  the  press  by  his  son,  the 
late  Colonel  Fletcher  Webster. 

"  WASHINGTON,  September  27,  '50. 
"  My  Dear  Sir  : 

"  Our  companionship  in  the  Senate  is  dissolved.  After  this  long  and  most 
important  session,  you  are  about  to  return  to  your  home ;  and  I  shall  try  to  find 
leisure  to  visit  mine.  I  hope  we  may  meet  each  other  again,  two  months  hence, 
for  the  discharge  of  our  duties  in  our  respective  stations  in  the  government. 
But  life  is  uncertain  :  and  I  have  not  felt  willing  to  take  leave  of  you,  without 
placing  in  your  hands  a  note  containing  a  few  words  which  I  wish  to  say  to  you. 

"In  the  earlier  part  of  our  acquaintance,  my  dear  sir,  occurrences  took 
place,  which  I  remember  with  constantly  increasing  regret  and  pain ;  because 
the  more  I  have  known  of  you,  the  greater  have  been  my  esteem  for  your  char 
acter  and  my  respect  for  your  talents.  But  it  is  your  noble,  able,  manly  and 
patriotic  conduct,  in  support  of  the  great  measures  of  this  session,  which  has 
entirely  won  my  heart  and  secured  my  highest  regard.  I  hope  you  may  live 
long  to  serve  your  country ;  but  I  do  not  think  you  are  ever  likely  to  see  a 
crisis,  in  which  you  may  be  able  to  do  so  much,  either  for  your  own  distinction 
or  for  the  public  good.  You  have  stood,  where  others  have  fallen  ;  you  have 
advanced  with  firm  and  manly  step,  where  others  have  wavered,  faltered,  and 
fallen  back ;  and  for  one,  I  desire  to  thank  you  and  to  commend  your  conduct 
out  of  the  fulness  of  an  honest  heart. 

"  This  letter  needs  no  reply  ;  it  is,  I  am  aware,  of  very  little  value  ;  but  I 
have  thought  you  might  be  willing  to  receive  it,  perhaps  to  leave  it  where  it 
would  be  seen  by  those  who  shall  come  after  you. 

"  I  pray  you,  when  you  reach  your  own  threshold,  to  remember  me  most 
kindly  to  your  wife  and  daughter ;  and  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  with  the  truest 
esteem, 

"  Yr.  friend  and  ob.  serv't, 

"DANL.   WEBSTER. 
"HoN.  DANL.  S.  DICKINSON, 

"  U.  S.  Senate." 


10  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

The  following  brief  letter  from  Mr.  Clay,  at  a  later  date,  in 
allusion  to  the  same  period,  is  similar  in  sentiment.  It  was 
written  while  the  great  orator  and  statesman  was  suffering 
under  his  last  illness,  and  but  about  three  months  before  his 

death. 

"WASHINGTON,  March   3,  1852. 
"  My  Dear  Sir  : 

''  I  duly  received  your  acceptable  letter,  expressing  the  sympathy  of  your 
self  and  family  on  account  of  my  present  illness.  Although  perhaps  a  little 
improved  in  my  health,  there  is  no  such  radical  change  as  to  assure  me  with 
confidence  of  my  final  recovery.  I  hope  your  lady  and  daughter  were  benefited 
by  their  journey  to  the  South  last  winter,  and  that  they  are  in  the  enjoyment  of 
good  health. 

u  With  many  recollections  of  our  friendly  intercourse  and  of  our  mutual 
cooperations  on  a  great  occasion  in  the  councils  of  our  country,  and  with  ardent 
hopes  that  your  able,  patriotic,  and  disinterested  services  may  be  remembered 
and  rewarded  by  the  country,  I  am  faithfully  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

"II.  CLAY. 

"  To  the  HON.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON." 

In  1852  Mr.  Dickinson  was  again  a  member  of  the  Demo 
cratic  National  Convention  which  met  at  Baltimore.  The  first 
four  days  of  the  sitting,  the  convention  failed  to  make  a  nom 
ination.  On  assembling  and  resuming  balloting  the  fifth  day, 
the  Virginia  delegation  brought  forward  his  name  and  gave 
him  the  vote  of  that  State  for  the  presidency ;  but  having 
accepted  a  seat  in  the  convention  as  the  friend  and  supporter 
of  General  Cass,  whose  name  then  stood  at  a  hundred  or 
upward  in  the  balloting,  he  judged  that  he  could  not  in  honor 
even  silently  acquiesce  in  being  himself  made  a  candidate. 
He  accordingly  immediately  rose  in  the  convention,  and  amid 
a  scene  of  great  enthusiasm  declined  the  proffered  honor; 
though  many  of  his  friends  and  of  the  sound  Democracy  of 
the  country  regretted  his  decision,  and  have  regretted  it  more 
and  more  as  events  in  the  history  of  the  party  and  the  country 
progressed.  On  the  next  ballot,  Virginia,  whose  voice  was 
then  potential,  brought  forward  in  the  same  manner  the  name 
of  General  Pierce,  and  he  was  nominated  and  elected.  From 
this  occurrence  it  has  been  often  said,  and  probably  truly,  that 


BIOGEAPIIICAL    SKETCH.  11 

Mr.  Dickinson  is  the   only  man,  hitherto,  who  has  had  the 
presidency  within  his  reach,  and  declined  it. 

In  1853  he  was  appointed  to  the  valuable  and  important 
office  of  Collector  of  the  port  of  New  York,  but  declined  the 
appointment.  From  the  expiration  of  his  senatorial  term,  up 
to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  in  the  spring  of  1861,  he 
was  devoted  mainly  to  his  professional  business  and  home 
pursuits,  and  mingled  less  in  political  affairs ;  though  in  the 
presidential  campaigns  of  1852  and  1856  he  supported  the 
Democratic  nominees  upon  the  stump,  in  his  own  and  n  some 
of  the  other  States. 

Preceding  the  campaign  of  1860,  his  name  became  promi 
nently  connected  with  the  presidency  for  the  next  term.  He 
was  probably  more  generally  and  favorably  spoken  of,  through 
the  press  and  other  organs  of  public  and  individual  expression, 
in  all  sections  of  the  Union,  as  the  Democratic  candidate, 
than  any  other  person.  The  division  and  breaking  up  of  the 
Democratic  National  Convention  at  Charleston,  its  adjourn 
ment  to  Baltimore,  and  final  failure  to  make  a  united  nomi 
nation,  are  facts  well  known ;  but  the  real  history  of  that 
convention  has  not  yet  appeared,  though  it  has  been  written 
in  one  of  its  aspects,  that  of  ultimate  results,  in  the  best  blood 
of  the  country  and  in  widows'  and  orphans'  tears.  In  the 
canvass  Mr.  Dickinson  supported  Mr.  Breckinridge,  who  was 
then  (though  afterwards  falling  under  the  cloud  and  taint  of 
rebellion  and  treason)  unimpeached  in  his  character  as  a  friend 
of  the  country  and  the  Union  ;  but  upon  the  failure  of  the 
Democratic  National  Convention  to  agree  upon  a  candidate, 
he  considered  the  field  as  virtually  surrendered  to  the  Repub 
licans  ;  and  he  did  not  favor  the  plan  adopted  in  New  York 
of  making  a  combination  electoral  ticket,  to  be  supported  by 
the  friends  of  all  the  anti-Republican  candidates,  however 
much  they  might  differ  upon  matters  of  principle  and  policy  ; 
as  he  believed  it  unworthy  of  success,  and  equally  unworthy 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

of  men  entertaining  either  political  principles  or  personal  pref 
erences.  After  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  as  the  national 
political  affairs  began  to  assume  a  serious  and  threatening 
aspect,  he  exerted  himself  earnestly  to  avert  the  impending 
catastrophe.  His  letter  to  Messrs.  Mason  and  Hunter  of  Vir 
ginia,  in  January,  1861, — really  designed  for  the  government 
and  people  of  Virginia, — to  awaken  in  them  impulses  corre 
sponding  with  his  own,  and  to  lead  to  explanations  and  ad 
justments  between  sections,  as  well  as  leading  individuals, 
was  one  of  these  efforts.  But  most  unfortunately,  his  and  all 
other  endeavors  in  that  direction  failed  of  success,  and  the 
country  was  given  over  to  be  rent  and  scourged  by  the  demon 
of  civil  war. 

The  first  rebel  gun  fired  at  Sumter  aroused  anew  all  his  love 
for  the  Union  and  awakened  all  his  energy  to  meet  the  crisis. 
He  was  among  the  earliest  of  those  who  comprehended  the  sit 
uation  and  came  to  the  support  of  the  government,  though  the 
Administration  was  not  of  his  party  nor  of  his  choice.  He  ad 
vocated  from  the  first  the  most  ample  preparations  and  the 
thorough  employment  of  the  material  strength  of  the  nation, 
to  combat  by  every  means,  and  to  put  down  at  any  cost,  the 
head  and  front  of  armed  treason  ; — avowing  his  determination 
to  sink  party  preferences  and  every  other  consideration  in  those 
of  saving  the  IJmon,  maintaining  the  government  and  vindicat 
ing  the  national  flag  and  the  integrity  of  the  national  territory. 
He  made  the  opening  speech  from  the  principal  stand  in  front 
of  the  Washington  Monument  in  Union  Square,  at  the  great 
Mass  Meeting  in  New  York,  April  20, 1861,  which  pioneered 
the  uprising  of  the  North ;  and  from  that  time  onward,  through 
the  whole  of  the  efforts  for  raising  volunteers  and  means 
for  the  defence  and  support  of  the  government,  devoted  him 
self  unsparingly  to  the  work;  speaking  day  after  day,  frequent 
ly  twice  on  the  same  day,  with  great  popular  effect,  to  large 
assemblies  of  the  people  in  many  of  the  counties  of  southern, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  13 

central  and  western  New  York  ;  in  New  England,  New  Jer 
sey,  Pennsylvania  and  several  of  the  Western  States,  and 
through  the  press  to  the  people  of  the  whole  Union,  Some  of 
the  best  efforts  of  his  life  were  produced  in  this  patriotic  work. 
His  speeches,  though  so  numerous,  and  following  each  other  in 
such  quick  succession,  were  characterized  by  wonderful  variety; 
each  possessing  in  a  large  degree  the  freshness,  originality  and 
force  of  a  new  production.  While  rallying  his  fellow  citizens, 
of  all  classes,  to  the  support  of  the  government,  he  took  decid 
ed  ground  against  keeping  up  party  divisions ;  exhorting  all 
loyal  men,  of  whatever  party,  and  especially  all  true  Democrats, 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  Administration,  as  the  only  agency 
available  for  national  action  in  such  a  crisis,  waiving  all  politi 
cal  distinctions  and  differences  until  the  vastly  paramount  ques 
tion  of  saving  the  country  could  be  determined.  The  earnest 
ness  and  force  of  his  appeals,  and  his  conspicuous  example, 
were  prominent  among  the  causes  which  produced  the  wonder 
ful  unanimity  at  the  North  through  the  first  year  of  the  rebel 
lion.  Millions  blessed  his  efforts.  Loyalty  and  patriotic  en 
deavor  were  strengthened  and  encouraged ;  faction  and  party 
spirit,  abashed,  retired  from  the  scene,  to  crawl  from  their  hid 
ing  places  at  a  later  day,  when  the  delays,  disappointments,  mis 
takes  and  burdens  of  the  war  should  render  the  cause  of  the 
country  more  exposed  to  their  insidious  and  baleful  influences. 
Among  the  many  and  varied  commendations  of  his  course 
at  this  time,  the  following,  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  of  Al 
bany,  is  especially  worthy  of  record  here,  as  a  beautiful  tribute 
to  his  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  country,  from  a 
source  entirely  removed  from  the  influence  of  partisan  politics ; 
and  as  being  in.  itself  an  expression  of  exalted  patriotism, 
worthy  alike  of  the  eminent  writer  and  of  the  recipient : — 

"ALBANY,  6  Sept.,  1861. 
"My  Dear  Sir: 

"I  have  been  wishing  for  some  time  to  write  and  thank  you  for  the  noble 
efforts  which  you  have  been  putting  forth  in  behalf  of  our  distracted,  riven,  but 


14  BIOGKAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

still  glorious  country.  I  am  myself  no  politician,  having  never  cast  a  political 
vote  in  my  life ;  but  my  whole  soul  is  in  the  present  conflict,  and  I  have  nc 
language  to  express  my  views  and  feelings  so  well  as  that  which  is  supplied  by 
your  recent  speeches.  That  you,  who  have  been  a  politician  all  your  life,  should 
now  so  entirely  merge  the  partisan  in  the  patriot,  and  should  forget  all  miner 
considerations  in  a  heroic  devotion  to  our  great  national  interests  (pardon  me  for 
saying  it),  will  not  only  secure  you  the  gratitude  and  reverence  of  all  your  loyal 
contemporaries,  but  will  cause  your  name  to  be  embalmed  in  the  nation's  in 
most  heart.  I  thank  God  for  having  raised  you  up  to  do  this  great  work ;  and 
I  thank  you  that  you  are  doing  it  so  heartily,  honorably,  and  effectively.  I  am 
quite  aware  that  I  have  no  right  to  occupy  you  even  for  a  moment,  especially,  as 
I  am  not  sure  that  you  will  remember  even  to  have  ever  seen  me  ;  but  I  could  not 
help  obeying  the  impulse  to  write  what  I  have  done,  not  doubting  that  you  will 
excuse  me  on  the  ground  that, 

"I  am  yours  with  great  regard, 

and  in  the  fellowship  of  a  glowing  patriotism — 

"W.  B.  SPRAGUE. 
"HoN.  D.  S.  DICKINSON." 

He  also  participated  actively  in  raising  troops  for  the  war, 
in  his  vicinity,  from  which  its  full  proportion  was  despatched. 
One  Regiment,  the  89th  N".  Y.  Volunteers,  raised  under  author 
ity  granted  to  him  from  the  War  Department,  was  named  in 
his  honor,  "  The  Dickinson  Guard,"  to  which  he  presented  a 
stand  of  colors.  A  battery  raised  at  Binghamton  and  vicinity, 
under  command  of  Capt.  Lock,  also  bore  his  name,  given  in 
compliment  to  his  services  in  the  cause  of  the  country. 

The  political  campaign  of  1861  in  New  York,  took  shape  in 
the  formation  of  a  Union  party,  upon  the  sole  issue  of  the  sup 
port  of  the  government  in  carrying  on  the  war  for  maintaining 
the  Union  and  putting  down  the  Rebellion,  in  which  the  great 
majority  of  all  parties  joined.  For  once  country  overcame 
party.  A  fraction  of  the  Democratic  party,  however,  or  rather 
the  old  clique  of  party  leaders  who  controlled  and  in  good 
part  constituted  the  State  Committee,  refused  to  accede  to  the 
Union  movement,  and  took  measures  to  place  a  party  nomination 
in  the  field.  Only  State  officers,  not  including  Governor  and 
Lieutenant  Governor,  were  to  be  chosen.  The  Union  State 
Convention,  one  of  the  largest,  most  respectable  and  patriotic 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH.  15 

bodies  ever  assembled  in  the  State  for  a  like  purpose,  nominated 
a  ticket  without  regard  to  former  party  designations,  and 
placed  upon  it  the  name  of  Mr.  Dickinson  for  the  office  of  At 
torney  General.  Having  counselled  the  Union  movement  he 
accepted  the  nomination,  and  with  the  whole  ticket  was  elected 
by  a  majority  of  over  a  hundred  thousand  votes. 

In  1862  as  in  1861,  he  disapproved  of  arraying  a  political 
party  upon  minor,  incidental  and  exceptional  questions  in  an 
attitude  of  hostility  to  the  Administration,  while  the  one  great 
and  all-absorbing  issue  whether  the  nation  could  preserve  its  ex 
istence  or  must  yield  it  on  the  demand  of  a  wicked  and  impudent 
rebellion,  was  pressing  upon  the  country  for  solution,  and  he 
therefore  condemned,  pointedly  and  severely,  the  action  of  the 
managing  leaders  who  controlled  the  machinery  of  the  Demo 
cratic  organization  in  the  State,  as  placing  such  of  its  adhe 
rents  as  were  loyal  in  a  false  position ; — as  unfaithful  to  the 
principles,  the  history  and  the  great  memories  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  and  suicidal  to  its  future  ;  as  tending  to  divide  the 
sentiment  and  weaken  the  efforts  of  the  people,  and  hinder  if 
not  paralyze  the  government ;  as  giving  comfort  and  encour 
agement  to  the  enemy  at  home  and  abroad,  and  as  fraught 
with  momentous  peril  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  He  held  that 
in  such  a  contest  there  could  be  but  two  parties,  one  for  the 
government  and  the  Union  and  against  the  Rebellion,  the  other, 
by  whatever  name  called,  virtually,  and  more  or  less  directly, 
for  the  rebellion  and  against  the  government  and  the  Union  ; 
and  that  if  alleged  mistakes  and  short-comings  in  the  conduct 
of  affairs  existed,  they  could  not  be  corrected  by  the  opera 
tions  of  party  politics,  in  the  face  of  the  armed  legions  of  the 
enemy,  arrayed  against  the  whole  structure  of  the  govern 
ment.  In  accordance  with  the  impulses  of  his  nature,  the  theo 
ries  of  his  education  and  the  convictions  of  his  experience,  he 
continued  to  give  to  the  President,  as  the  representative  head 
of  the  country,  his  active  support ;  and,  recognizing  a  sphere  of 


16  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

duty  far  above  mere  partisanship,  he  treated  with  indifference 
alike  the  weak  attempts  of  party  intriguers  and  rebel  sympa 
thizers  to  convict  him  of  political  inconsistency,  or  of  party 
infidelity.  The  frequent  change  of  position  by  those  who  as 
sumed  to  speak  for  the  Democratic  party,  being  in  truth  unwil 
ling  concessions  to  the  union  sentiment  among  the  Democratic 
masses,  shows  that  even  they  must  finally  admit,  as  they  have 
practically  though  reluctantly  in  regard  to  a  former  memorable 
question,  the  correctness  of  his  judgment  and  the  patriotism 
of  his  conduct.  The  Democratic  party  never  before  failed, 
heartily  and  manfully  to  support  the  Government,  in  whatever 
contest  with  an  armed  foe ;  and  it  will  ever  remain  to  be  regret 
ted  that  the  short-sighted  policy  of  its  leadership  has  perma 
nently  damaged  if  not  destroyed  its  character  for  patriotism, 
and  its  prestige  as  the  great  leading  party  of  the  country. 

In  1862  the  name  of  Mr.  Dickinson  was,  to  some  extent, 
used  in  connection  with  the  office  of  Governor  of  the  State,  to 
be  filled  at  the  election  of  that  year,  but  without  his  wish  or 
encouragement.  He  supported,  with  all  his  zeal,  the  lamented 
and  patriotic  General  Wadsworth  the  Union  nominee ;  whom, 
though  an  opponent  in  the  party  divisions  of  1848  and  subse 
quent  years,  he  respected  as  a  man  of  worth,  honesty  and  con 
sistency,  and  now  loved  and  honored  as  a  true  patriot  and 
friend  of  the  Union,  and  one  of  its  most  devoted  and  gallant 
defenders. 

Prior  to  the  State  election  of  1863,  Mr.  Dickinson  publicly 
declined  a  re-nomination  for  the  office  of  Attorney  General. 
He  was  nominated  by  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  the  joint  commission 
to  arrange  indemnities  arising  under  the  settlement  of  the 
Northwestern  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  and  the  nomination  was  unanimously  confirmed  by  the 
Senate,  without  the  usual  reference ;  but  the  position  was  de 
clined. 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  Governor  Fenton  tendered 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  *        17 

him  a  seat  upon  the  Bench  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  about  to 
become  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Hon.  Henry  B.  Selden  ; 
but  the  appointment  was  also  declined ;  and  on  the  expiration 
of  his  term  as  Attorney  General,  he  retired  from  official  con 
nection  with  public  affairs  and  resumed  his  home  pursuits;  but 
with  undiminished  interest  and  unflagging  determination  in  the 
great  struggle  of  the  Nation. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  and  among  the  last  of  his  public  acts, 
President  Lincoln  tendered  to  Mr.  Dickinson  the  office  of 
United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York.  Though  unsolicited  and  unexpected  the  appoint 
ment  was  accepted ;  and  from  that  time  to  the  close  of  his  life 
he  was  actively  and  laboriously  engaged  in  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  that  important  office.  His  death  occurred  on  the  12th 
day  of  April  1866,  suddenly  and  with  but  brief  warning ;  yet 
the  summons  found  him  prepared,  as  he  had  always  been,  to 
meet  the  ever  recurring  duties  and  the  changes  and  varying 
responsibilities  of  life.  For  some  time  previously  he  had  been 
engaged  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  at  New  York  in  the 
trial  of  the  case  of  the  United  States  vs.  the  Steam  Ship  Meteor 
under  the  neutrality  laws,  upon  the  allegation  that  the  vessel 
was  being  fitted  out  as  a  Chilian  privateer,  or  to  act  in  some 
hostile  capacity  against  the  friendly  power  of  Spain.  At  the 
close  of  the  proceedings  on  Monday,  he  retired  to  the  residence 
of  his  son-in  law  Samuel  G.  Courtney,  Esq.,  (his  home  in  New 
York  city,)  feeling  somewhat  indisposed,  which  was  attribut 
ed  to  a  slight  bilious  attack ;  and  though  a  physician  was  called, 
not  the  least  apprehension  of  a  serious  result  was  entertained. 
Thursday  morning  he  dressed  and  shaved  himself,  and  made 
preparations  to  go  to  the  office,  but  finally  decided  to  delay  it 
a  day  longer.  In  the  course  of  the  day  symptoms  of  an  alarm 
ing  character  were  manifested,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  attend 
ing  physicians,  upon  consultation,  communicated  to  Mrs.  Dick 
inson  their  opinion  that  her  husband  could  not  recover,  nor  live 
2 


18  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

probably  at  most  beyond  a  few  hours.  Stunned  and  oppressed 
with  the  yet  unrealized  magnitude  of  the  impending  blow,  she 
nevertheless,  with  the  true  calmness  of  Christian  fortitude  and 
the  tenderness  of  wifely  devotion,  took  upon  herself  the  sacred 
duty  to  inform  him  of  the  extremity  of  his  condition.  He  how 
ever  anticipated  her  purpose  by  a  remark  showing  that  he  un 
derstood  the  full  purport  of  what  she  would  communicate  :  and 
taking  her  hand  said  that  though  the  struggle  was  severe,  they 
must  meet  it  like  Christians, — their  separation  would  not  be 
long.  He  remained  in  the  full  possession  of  his  mental  faculties 
to  the  last ;  left  messages  for  absent  members  of  the  family,  and 
spoke  of  his  condition  with  calmness  and  Christian  confidence. 
For  a  time  he  suffered  much  and  failed  rapidly.  About  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  after  an  interval  of  comparative  quiet, 
he  raised  himself  to  a  sitting  posture,  and  being  supported  by 
Mr.  Courtney  and  Hon.  Ausburn  Birdsall,  seemed  to  breathe 
freely  and  easily ;  then  reclining  his  head  upon  Mr.  Courtney, 
in  a  short  time  it  was  observed  that  he  had  ceased  to  breathe. 
"  His  countenance  wore,"  said  one  who  was  present  at  this 
time,  "  an  expression  of  benignity  indescribable."  "  The  con 
flict  is  strong,  but  the  other  side  is  ours,"  was  one  of  his  last 
expressions,  addressed  to  his  daughter  Mrs.  Courtney.  Thus 
passed  from  earth  to  Heaven  a  brave,  a  true,  a  faithful,  a  lov 
ing,  a  noble  spirit; — one  that  had  met  life  in  its  stern  and  try 
ing  as  well  as  in  its  tender  and  lovely  and  heroic  aspects,  and 
in  all  been  sustained;  as  now  in  the  final  conflict  it  was, 
through  Infinite  mercy,  enabled  to  triumph  over  death  and  the 
grave. 

During  the  greater  portion  of  his  active  life,  Mr.  Dickinson 
was  prominent  in  connection  with  the  political  affairs  of  the 
country ;  and  as,  for  nearly  all  that  period,  the  slavery  question 
formed  the  key  note  of  American  politics,  and,  notwithstanding 
slavery  in  form  has  been  abolished  at  a  blow  by  the  power  of 
the  loyal  people,  is  even  yet  exerting  a  posthumous  influence 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  19 

upon  the  issues  before  the  country,  it  is  proper  to  refer  more 
directly  to  his  course  in  that  respect ;  and  more  especially  so, 
as  whatever  of  opposition  and  criticism  he  encountered  in  his 
public  career  was  ostensibly  based  on  the  positions  he  main 
tained  upon  that  subject,  though  doubtless  referable,  in  a  good 
degree,  to  the  promptings  of  political  rivalry. 

He  has  been  called  a  pro-slavery  Democrat ;  but  as  far  as 
intended  in  a  disparaging  sense,  it  has  been  by  those  who  were 
as  willing  to  misrepresent  his  sentiments  and  position  as  to 
misunderstand  the  true  aspects  of  the  question.  A  Democrat 
certainly  he  was  ;  by  birth,  education,  habits,  and  well-ground 
ed  principles  ;  of  the  school  where  Democracy  means  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  equality,  justice,  law,  order,  advancement, 
the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number.  The  phase  of  De 
mocracy  which  taught  to  trim  party  platforms  to  meet  contin 
gencies  ;  to  traffic  alike  in  principles  and  offices ;  to  manage 
the  democracy  of  numbers  by  the  secret  machinery  of  party 
organization,  he  always  heartily  despised  and  condemned. 

He  regarded  slavery  as  an  incumbrance  fastened  upon  the 
country  in  its  colonial  condition,  and  recognized  at  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Union  ;  and  held  that  the  rights  of  the  slaveholder, 
as  thus  recognized  by  the  constitution,  in  the  States,  were  not 
within  the  power  and  control  of  the  general  government ;  and 
that  the  government,  the  States,  and  the  people  of  the  States, 
ought,  on  \vhatever  side  of  the  question,  to  observe  and  keep 
the  constitutional  provisions  regarding  slavery,  fairly,  in  the 
spirit  in  which  they  were  framed ;  and  thus  avoid,  as  did  the 
patriot  framers  of  the  government  for  wise  and  good  reasons, 
the  "  conflict"  which  the  extremes  of  Northern  and  Southern 
opinion  were  constantly  urging  forward  and  tending  to  make 
;;  irrepressible." 

His  course  in  relation  to  slavery  in  the  Territories  has 
already  been  alluded  to,  in  connection  with  his  resolutions 
introduced  into  the  Senate  in  1847.  The  advocates  of  the 


20  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

Wilmot  proviso  maintained  that  Congress  had  the  power,  and 
it  was  its  duty,  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories  by  a 
"fundamental  and  unalterable"  provision,  to  be  passed  for  that 
purpose.  The  representatives  of  the  slaveholding  States,  in  a 
body,  resisted  the  claim  as  an  arbitrary  attempt  to  deprive 
those  States  of  their  just  rights  in  the  common  territory ;  as 
an  assumption  of  power  subversive  of  the  principles  of  the 
federal  compact,  because  destroying  the  equal  privileges  of 
citizens  of  the  different  States ;  while  those  of  more  ultra 
views  contended  that  the  constitution  itself  authorized  the 
extension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories  where  it  did  not  exist 
before,  on  their  coming  to  the  possession  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  Congress  had  no  power  over  it  except  to  afford  it  pro 
tection.  The  resolutions  of  Mr.  Dickinson  proposed  to  leave  it 
to  the  people  of  the  Territories,  when  they  should  be  in  circum 
stances  to  act,  to  form  their  own  domestic  institutions,  subject 
only  to  such  restrictions  as  the  constitution  imposed ;  and  he 
advocated  the  doctrine  involved,  as  being  in  accordance  with 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  the  broader  prin 
ciple  of  self-government  on  which  republican  institutions  have 
their  foundation.  He  held  that  if  adopted  as  the  settled  rule 
of  action  and  faithfully  carried  out,  it  would  remove  an  ele 
ment  of  vexation  and  strife  which  was  every  day  growing 
more  dangerous ;  leave  to  the  slaveholding  States  all  they  had 
any  right  to  claim,  and  give  the  decision  of  the  question,  in 
each  case,  to  the  people  who  were  to  be  immediately  affected 
thereby,  and  who  would  eventually  have  the  absolute  power 
to  determine  it,  whatever  Congress  might  attempt  under  the 
high-sounding  but  absurd  notion  of  establishing  "  fundamental 
and  unalterable"  legislative  enactments.  His  position  was 
briefly  and  pointedly  stated  by  him  in  the  Senate,  while  the 
compromise  measures  of  1850  were  under  consideration,  as 
follows : 

"  Now,   sir,  I  wish  to  sayr  once  for  all,  that  it  is  not  my  intention,  either 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  21 

directly  or  indirectly  to  favor,  by  voice  or  vote,  the  extension  of  slavery  or  the 
restriction  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  by  Congress,  or  any  interference  with 
the  subject  whatever.  Nor  am  I  influenced  in  this  conclusion  by  the  local  laws 
of  the  Territory  in  question,  either  natural  or  artificial — the  laws  of  nature  or 
the  laws  of  man ;  and  for  all  the  purposes  of  present  action,  I  will  not  inquire 
what  they  are  in  either  respect.  I  will  stand  upon  the  true  principles  of  non 
intervention,  in  the  broadest  possible  sense,  for  non-intervention's  sake;  to 
uphold  the  fundamental  principles  of  freedom,  and  for  no  other  reason ;  and 
will  leave  the  people  of  the  Territories  and  of  the  States  to  such  rights  and 
privileges  as  are  theirs,  under  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States, 
without  addition  to  or  diminution  from  such  rights  by  the  action  of  Con 
gress." 

But  in  all  his  endeavors  for  moderation,  conciliation  and 
good  understanding,  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  real  character 
of  slavery,  nor  spoke  of  it,  though  in  general  avoiding  to  make 
it  the  subject  of  unnecessary  and  irritating  remarks,  otherwise 
than  as  a  social,  moral  and  political  evil ;  one  which  he  hoped 
and  believed  might  in  time  peacefully  disappear.  His  argu 
ments  upon  the  subject  had  regard  solely  to  its  acquired  con 
stitutional  and  legal  status.  In  his  speech  on  the  bill  before 
the  Senate,  to  establish  a  government  for  California,  in  Febru 
ary  1849,  he  said: — "I  have  never  favored  the  institution  of 
slavery  nor  its  extension,  either  immediately  or  remotely."  * 
*  *  *  *  "My  habits,  thoughts,  feelings,  education,  instincts, 
nay  ray  very  prejudices  are  against  slavery ;  but  I  would  not 
interfere  in  what  is  no  concern  of  mine,  to  obtain  a  greater  evil 
and  no  good.".  This  was  his  uniform  expression  in  regard  to 
the  abstract  question,  and  the  existence  of  the  institution  in 
the  States,  as  well  in  the  Senate,  in  the  presence  of  slave-hold 
ing  party  associates,  as  elsewhere.  His  effort  throughout  was 
to  get  rid  of  it  as  a  national  question  ; — to  remove  from  the 
halls  of  legislation,  the  political  arena,  and  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  the  people  the  cause  and  excuse  for  so  much  bitterness,  irri 
tation  and  recrimination ;  to  bring  back  the  subject  to  the  po 
sition  where  the  constitution  placed  it ;  trusting  for  the  ame 
lioration  of  the  system  and  its  final  eradication,  under  Provi 
dence  and  the  progress  of  Christian  civilization,  to  the  people 


2Z  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

upon  whom  the  responsibility  directly  rested  ;  and  who,  if  left 
to  the  calm  contemplation  of  their  own  position,  it  was  believed, 
would  feel  the  force  and  augmenting  influence  of  the  world's 
opinion,  and  themselves  effect  modifications  against  which,  if 
pressed  as  the  views  of  individuals  or  parties  in  the  other 
States,  through  the  machinery  of  the  general  government, 
they  would  stand  persistently  upon  the  defensive. 

Such,  briefly,  were  his  position,  action,  opinions  and  motives, 
as  shown  by  his  public*  record  in  the  Senate,  throughout  the 
great  slavery  contest  of  1848-50.  And  who,  in  the  light  of 
events,  will  not  say  that  the  cause  of  patriotism  and  humanity, 
— of  peace,  prosperity  and  progress  would  have  been  subserved 
by  a  faithful  endeavor  to  realize  the  results  intended  by  the 
policy  he  labored  so  efficiently  to  inaugurate  ?  He  did  not 
approve  of  the  premature  and  unnecessary  opening  of  the  ques 
tion  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  propositions,  and  especially  by  the 
introduction  therein  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise. 
His  own  employment  and  advocacy  of  the  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty  had  been  to  allay  and  not  to  excite  agitation. 

But  he  had  a  far  different  ordeal  from  that  of  the 
Senate  to  encounter,  and  was  called  to  defend  himself  and 
maintain  his  positions  on  a  field  of  more  rugged  aspect ;  a  chal 
lenge  he  did  not  decline.  The  "free  soil"  schism  in  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  had  its  centre  and  its  most  active  organization 
and  operations  in  New  York.  On  the  failure  of  the  Baltimore 
Convention  of  1848  to  nominate  Mr.  Van  Buren  again  for  the 
Presidency,  the  leaders  of  the  movement  met  at  Utica  and 
adopted  the  Wilmot  proviso,  which  the  Convention  had  re 
jected,  as  their  "  corner  stone,"  and  soon  after  joined  forces 
with  the  anti-slavery  party,  at  the  Buffalo  Convention,  and  put 
Mr.  Van  Buren  in  nomination  in  opposition  to  the  Democratic 
candidate.  They  denounced  popular  sovereignty  as  a  surrender 
of  the  Territories  to  the  slave  power,  and  its  advocates  as 
"  dough-faces,"  and  "  slavery  propagandists."  Mr.  Dickinson, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  23 

as  the  recognized  leader  of  the  National  Democracy  in  the 
State,  received  a  liberal  share  of  invective  and  denunciation. 
The  contest  became  bitter  and  its  effects  have  continued  to  be 
visible  in  the  politics  of  the  State,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to 
the  present  time.  The  division  of  the  Democratic  vote  of  New 
York  defeated  General  Cass  and  threw  the  government  into  the 
hands  of  the  Whig  party,  by  the  election  of  General  Taylor  to 
the  Presidency ;  and  the  movement  by  which  it  was  accom 
plished,  inaugurated  a  course  of  political  demoralization  in 
the  State  which  has  borne  bitter  fruits  to  the  Nation.  While 
the  more  consistent  of  those  who  engaged  in  it,  being  anti- 
slavery  from  principle,  went  over  permanently  to  the  op 
position,  the  prominent  and  responsible  leaders,  though  main 
taining  for  a  time  their  hostile  organization  and  reaffirming  the 
doctrines  upon  which  they  ostensibly  separated  from  the  Na 
tional  Democracy,  soon  again  claimed  recognition  from  the 
party  and  the  right  to  exercise  control  in  its  affairs ;  and  vari 
ous  "unions,"  having  for  their  objects  the  success  of  candi 
dates,  parcelled  out  between  the  two  organizations,  were  from 
time  to  time  formed  with  them,  but  generally  without  satis 
factory  results.  They  continued  for  some  years,  in  local  and 
State  politics,  to  stickle  over  slavery  in  the  Territories,  but 
actually  supported  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  presiden 
cy  in  1852,  upon  a  popular  sovereignty  platform;  supported 
Mr.  Buchanan  in  1856  upon  a  similar  platform,  and  finally  in 
the  presidential  campaign  of  1860,  as  the  special  advocates  of 
Mr.  Douglas,  the  author  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  the 
proposer  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  became 
the  champions  of  the  doctrine  in  its  most  ultra  form. 

Thus  was  the  course  of  Mr.  Dickinson  upon  this  vexed 
question  as  amply  vindicated  by  those  who  most  vehemently 
assailed  it,  as  it  was  approved  by  the  great  body  of  the  people. 
It  should  be  added  that  he  opposed  reunion,  for  the  mere  pur 
pose  of  securing  the  spoils  of  office,  with  those  who  went  off 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

from  the  Democratic  party,  just  so  long  as  they  asserted  dis 
tinctive  principles ;  and  lie  took  occasion,  as  will  be  seen  by 
those  who  shall  peruse  the  subsequent  pages  of  this  volume, 
in  his  speeches  and  letters,  called  out  by  current  events, 
fully  to  mark  his  sense  of  their  position,  as  well  as  to  define 
his  own.  Another  thing  is  worthy  of  mention  and  remem 
brance  in  connection  with  the  free  soil  controversy.  Though 
the  probability  of  results  was  not  used  as  an  argument  in  its 
favor  by  the  advocates  of  popular  sovereignty,  not  a  foot  of 
the  vast  territories,  which  its  opponents  declared  would  be 
surrendered  to  slavery  by  its  adoption,  ever  became  slavehold- 
ing  under  its  full  operation. 

When  a  course  of  demagogism,  folly,  party  dishonesty, 
official  imbecility,  arid  sectional  madness,  culminating  in  rebel 
lion  and  treason  without  the  shadow  of  justification  or  excuse, 
had  plunged  the  country  in  civil  war, — the  slaveholders  mainly 
becoming  rebels  in  arms, — nearly. every  slaveholding  State 
entering  into  a  hostile,  spurious  confederacy,  founded  for  its 
leading  idea  upon  perpetual  slavery,  and,  in  every  capacity  in 
which  as  individuals  or  commonwealths  they  could  act,  having 
repudiated  the  constitution  and  authority  of  the  Union,  thrown 
off  its  protection,  and  in  the  face  of  the  world  appealed  to  the 
chances  of  war,  he  held  from  the  first  that  they  brought  their 
property  in  slaves — the  institution  of  slavery — being  their 
chief  source  of  labor  and  means  of  supply,  especially  and 
clearly  within  the  scope  of  the  war  power  of  the  government ; 
that  it  thus  became  the  right  and  duty  of  the  President,  as  the 
commander-m-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  to  deal  with  slaves 
and  slavery  as  with  any  other  element  of  material  strength  to 
the  enemy ;  to  make  such  practical  use  in  regard  to  them  of 
the  powers  of -his  high  office,  within  the  rules  of  civilized  war 
fare,  as  should  most  effectually  weaken  and  paralyze  the  rebel 
lion,  strengthen  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  tend  to  restore 
the  power  of  the  government  over  the  people  of  the  revolted 


BIOGEAPHICAL    SKETCH.  25 

States  :  in  his  own  graphic  language,  "  to  strike  rebellion  hard 
est  where  it  would  feel  it  most  " ;  and  if  in  the  exercise  of  a 
high  function  to  save  the  national  life,  slavery  should  perish 
forever,  justice  and  humanity  would  gladly  add  an  approving 
Amen! 

He  pointedly  stated  his  own  position  upon  the  slavery 
question,  in  its  earlier  and  later  aspects,  as  folio WTS  :  "  While 
slavery,"  said  he  in  substance,  "remained  within  the  protec 
tion  of  the  constitution,  I  sought,  like  the  careful  physician,  to 
heal  the  diseased  member  and  save  the  body  politic  from  harm 
on  its  account ;  but  now  that  it  has  thrown  off  the  constitution 
and  broken  out  in  armed  rebellion,  endangering  the  national 
existence,  I  would  promptly  act  the  part  of  the  surgeon,  and 
cut  it  off."  Thus,  though  his  opinions  relating  to  slavery,  its 
rights  and  constitutional  status  within  the  Union,  had  under 
gone  no  change,  the  question  in  all  its  circumstances  had  been 
entirely  changed  by  the  slaveholding  people  and  States  assum 
ing  a  new  attitude  towards  the  government ;  repudiating  the 
constitution,  discarding  its  protection,  dictating  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Union,  and  attempting  to  enforce  their  infamous 
behests  by  the  dernier  argument  of  arms.  It  would  be  diffi 
cult  to  tell  what  other  legal,  logical,  and  at  the  same  time 
loyal  conclusion  could  be  arrived  at ;  or  to  demonstrate  the 
charge  of  inconsistency  that  chronic  partisanship  has  brought 
against  it. 

The  sun  and  centre  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  political  system  was 
the  Union.  To  its  recognition,  as  the  pride  and  strength  and 
safety  of  the  nation,  and  the  hope  of  the  oppressed  every 
where,  all  his  theories  tended ;  to  defend  and  preserve  it  in  its 
beneficent  attributes — in  the  spirit  of  its  founders — was  the 
purpose  of  all  his  efforts.  Thus  he  vehemently  opposed  the 
long  course  of  anti-slavery  agitation,  as  tending  to  weaken  its 
hold  upon  the  affections  of  the  people  and  destroy  its  moral 
force ;  and  he  sought  by  all  practical  means  to  allay  the  sec- 


2O  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

tional  irritation  that  it  occasioned.  He  declared  that  he  would 
stand  by  the  South  in  the  maintenance  of  all  her  rights  guar 
anteed  by  the  bond  of  union ;  but  when  the  South,  using  this 
ill-boding  agitation  for  excuse,  rebelled  against  the  Union,  we 
have  seen  with  what  entire  devotion  he  threw  himself  into  the 
conflict  for  its  defence.  Whenever,  by  whatever  means,  from 
whatever  quarter,  the  Union  has  been  assailed  or  threatened, 
he  never  failed  to  be  found  facing  the  foe. 

The  professional  career  of  Mr.  Dickinson  was  characterized 
alike  by  ability,  fidelity,  and  eminent  success.  His  thorough 
familiarity  with  legal  principles,  his  quick  perception,  and 
varied  knowledge,  enabled  him  to  grasp  his  case  as  if  by  intu 
ition  ;  but  to  those  advantages  he  always  added  careful  prepa 
ration.  He  excelled  particularly  in  trials  before  juries :  in 
unravelling  the  intricacies  of  fact,  gathering  up  the  scattered 
threads  of  many  hues,  and  weaving  them  with  deft  hand  into 
a  web  of  symmetrical  and  potent  conclusions.  He  loved  the 
profession,  and  always  returned  to  it  from  public  employment 
with  satisfaction ;  regarding  law  as  the  perfection  of  reason, 
and  its  successful  professional  pursuit  as  requiring  the  high 
est  standard  of  fidelity  and  honor.  His  ablest  intellectual 
efforts  were  undoubtedly  produced  at  the  bar ;  but,  with  two 
or  three  exceptions,  no  report  of  his  forensic  efforts  has  been 
preserved. 

His  labors  in  the  political  and  professional  field,  though 
almost  unremitted,  by  no  means  engrossed  his  entire  attention. 
He  kept  alive  his  love  of  literary  and  rural  pursuits,  as  is  shown 
by  his  numerous  addresses  before  agricultural  and  learned 
societies  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  In  1858,  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  upon  him,  by  the  faculty  of 
Hamilton  college,  New  York.  As  a  speaker  and  writer  he 
possessed  equal  facility  in  an  easy,  terse,  and  vigorous  style. 
His  political  addresses  were  generally  called  out  by  some  party 
or  public  exigency,  and  made  often  on  brief  notice  and  without 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  27 

pre-arrangemcnt  or  preparation,  other  than  the  thought  that 
could  be  given  to  the  subject  amid  the  hurry  of  business  avo 
cations  or  the  progress  of  a  journey  to  the  place  of  speaking ; 
and  his  addresses  apparently  of  a  more  studied  character  have 
been  subject,  in  a  great  degree,  to  a  similar  rule  as  to  prepara 
tion.  His  efforts,  though  for  this  reason  lacking  at  times 
something  of  methodical  arrangement,  are  always  adapted  to 
the  occasion  and  the  subject  in  hand,  and  characterized  by 
point  and  directness.  Though  generally  abounding  in  illus 
tration  and  comparison,  adorned  at  times  with  poetic  im 
agery,  and  often  enlivened  by  wit,  anecdote,  and  repartee, 
or  shaded  by  pathos,  the  train  of  argument  is  never  lost  sight 
of:  all  is  made  to  tend  to  the  main  purpose.  He  had  a  clear, 
ringing  voice,  that  readily  commanded  an  audience  of  any 
reasonable  dimensions,  and  possessed  that  magnetic  power  that 
always  secured  a  pleased  attention  and  carried  his  hearers  writh 
him  to  his  conclusions.  His  strength  consisted  in  this,  that  he 
always  spoke  his  earnest  convictions,  and  knew  the  pulses  of 
the  popular  heart  by  the  beating  of  his  own.  As  an  advocate 
he  had  few  superiors ;  as  a  popular  speaker,  his  wide-spread 
reputation  attests  his  power  and  effectiveness. 

It  was,  however,  in  his  private,  domestic  and  neighborhood 
life,  that  Mr.  Dickinson's  qualities  were  pre-eminently  admira 
ble.  His  family  attachments  were  peculiarly  strong,  tender 
and  devoted, — his  tastes  domestic,  his  aspirations  tending  al 
ways  most  strongly  towards  home  and  friends.  As  a  husband, 
a  father,  a  neighbor,  a  friend,  he  has  left  a  name  and  a  remem 
brance  that  those  who  knew  him  best  in  those  relations  cherish 
beyond  all  his  public  honors. 

In  1822  Mr.  Dickinson  was  married  to  Lydia  Knapp,  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Colby  Knapp,  M.  D. — a  pioneer,  like  his 
own  father,  in  the  settlement  of  Chenango  county  ;  extensively 
identified  by  his  professional  skill  and  usefulness  with  its  early 
history,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the  medical  faculty  of  the 


28  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

State.  Their  married  life  of  nearly  half  a  century  was  a  happy 
illustration  of  the  spirit  of  love,  confidence  and  mutual  respect 
that  should  ever  animate  that  holy  and  beautiful  relation.  Of 
their  four  children,  a  son  and  three  daughters,  the  two  young 
est  only  are  living.  Two  sleep  with  him  in  the  quiet  and 
beautiful  shades  of  Spring  Forest. 

In  person,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  of  medium  height,  strongly 
but  not  heavily  built,  with  a  head  of  massive  proportions  and 
a  countenance  indicating  at  once  intellectual  activity  and 
strength,  force  of  character  and  benevolence  of  disposition. 
For  the  latter  portion  of  his  life  he  was  rendered  venerable  in 
appearance  beyond  his  years,  by  locks  of  snowy  whiteness, 
which  belied  the  beaming  face  and  active  step  of  a  hale  and 
hearty  manhood.  In  his  habits  he  was  strictly  temperate,  fru 
gal  and  regular ;  in  his  temperament  sanguine,  buoyant  and 
hopeful;  in  his  disposition,  cheerful,  liberal  and  confiding. 
From  his  boyhood,  he  possessed  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  and 
made  it  innocently  contribute  to  his  own  and  the  enjoyment 
of  those  with  whom  he  associated.  In  conversation  he  was  en 
tertaining  and  instructive  ;  in  his  social  intercourse  genial,  hos 
pitable  and  popular.  He  always  conformed  to  the  public  ob 
servances  of  religion,  and  contributed  liberally  to  the  support 
of  its  institutions.  Some  few  years  before  his  death  he  became 
a  professing  Christian  and  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church. 
He  died  in  the  declared  faith  of  the  gospel. 

His  private  character  was  without  stain  or  imputation. 
His  public  life  was  marked  by  integrity,  unselfishness,  fidelity 
to  his  convictions  of  duty,  courage  and  intrepidity  in  their 
maintenance,  and  patriotism  which  knew  no  change  and  count 
ed  no  cost  of  personal  risk  or  personal  convenience.  He  main 
tained  in  every  position  an  honorable  standing  only  accorded 
to  acknowledged  worth  and  eminent  ability. 

The  unexpected  death  of  Mr.  Dickinson  called  forth  a  gen 
eral  expression  of  sorrow  and  respect  throughout  the  country. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  29 

Public  honors  were  .every  where  paid,  and  carried  with  them 
the  heartfelt  regret  and  reverence  of  the  people.  The  Presi 
dent,  on  receipt  of  the  intelligence,  directed  the  following  tele 
graphic  despatch  to  be  sent : — 

"  WASHINGTON,  April  13,  1866. 
"  EGBERT  MURRAY,  ESQ.,  UNITED  STATES  MARSHAL,  N.  Y. 

"  I  learn  with  profound  sorrow  the  death  of  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  late  District 
Attorney  of  the  United  States  at  New  York.  The  President  authorizes  me  to 
tender  his  condolence  to  the  family  and  friends  of  the  loyal  and  single-hearted 
statesman  whose  voice  sounded  like  a  clarion  to  animate  patriots  during  the 
war  we  have  so  successfully  passed  without  the  loss  of  a  State  or  a  stain  upon 
the  national  honor. 

"WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD." 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  ASSEMBLY  OF 
NEW  YOEK. 

NEW  YOKK  SENATE,  Saturday,  April  14,  1866. 
The  following  preamble  and  resolution  were  presented  by 
Mr.  Folger,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  H.   C.  Murphy,  and  unani 
mously  adopted: 

WJtereas,  The  Senate,  filled  with  mournful  recollections,  brought  by  the  re 
turn  of  the  day  on  which  Abraham  Lincoln  met  his  violent  death,  has  received 
aa  additional  sadness  from  the  sudden  decease  of  the  HON.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON, 
formerly  President  of  this  body,  as  well  as  the  worthy  incumbent  of  many  offices 
of  honor  and  trust  under  the  State  and  nation : 

Resolved,  That  as  a  proper  mark  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  departed, 
this  body  do  now  adjourn. 

NEW-YORK  HOUSE  OP  ASSEMBLY,  ) 
Saturday,  April  14,  1866.      f 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  presented  by  Mr. 
Eldridge  were  unanimously  adopted : 

Whereas,  By  a  sudden  interposition  of  Divine  Providence,  our  State  and 
Nation  have  been  deprived  of  the  services  of  an  able  and  distinguished  states 
man  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  recently  communicated  intelligence  of  the  death  of 
Hon.  D.  S.  Dickinson,  we  recognize  the  loss  of  one  whose  lofty  patriotism,  wise 
statesmanship,  purity  of  purpose  and  valuable  public  service  have  endeared  him 


30  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  that  we  deeply  and  sincerely  deplore  the  afflict 
ive  dispensation. 

Resolved,  That  we  heartily  sympathize  with  the  family  and  friends  of  the  de 
ceased  statesman  in  this  their  great  bereavement,  and  that  an  engrossed  copy  of 
this  preamble  and  these  resolutions  be  forwarded  by  the  Clerk  of  this  Assembly. 

The  announcement  of  his  death  at  Binghamton,  so  long 
his  dearly  loved  home,  occasioned  the  most  heart-felt  and  pro 
found  sorrow.  Business  was  suspended ;  the  bells  were  tolled ; 
public  and  private  buildings  were  draped  in  mourning ;  the 
municipal  and  other  bodies  met  to  give  expression  to  the  all- 
pervading  grief,  and  to  make  suitable  arrangements  to  pay  the 
last  sad  honors  to  the  neighbor  and  friend  whose  loss  had 
overshadowed  their  community  in  mourning. 

MEETING  OF  THE  BAR  OF  BROOKE  COUNTY. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  Broome  County, 
at  the  office  of  Hon.  George  Bartlett,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
such  measures  as  should  properly  express  their  grief,  occasion 
ed  by  the  loss  of  their  great  leader,  Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dickinson, 
and  as  should  be  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased, 
on  motion,  B.  -N".  Loomis,  Esq.,  was  appointed  Chairman,  and 
Jos.  M.  Johnson,  Secretary. 

John  Clapp,  Esq.,  stated  briefly  the  object  of  the  meeting, 
and  related  in  an  eloquent  and  impressive  manner  his  first 
meeting  with  the  deceased,  and  gave  a  sketch  of  his  early  pro 
fessional  career,  after  which  he  moved  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  draft  such  resolutions  as  should  be  fitting  and  * 
proper. 

The  Chairman  appointed  as  such  committee  John  Clapp, 
Geo.  Bartlett,  E.  C.  Kattell,  Lewis  Seymour,  O.  W.  Chapman, 
Geo.  Park  and  Wm.  Barrett. 

After  consultation,  Mr.  Clapp  reported  from  the  committee 
the  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  which  were  unanimous 
ly  adopted : 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  31 

The  telegraph  announces  that  our  distinguished  townsman,  Daniel  S.  Dickin 
son,  is  numbered  with  the  dead.  He  has  been  stricken  down  whilst  in  full  pos" 
session  of  his  great  mental  power  and  the  discharge  of  duties  connected  with  the 
important  office  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  which,  he  had  been  called  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

The  blow  was  sudden  and  unlocked  for.  His  fellow-townsmen  were  smitten 
with  astonishment  and  grief,  as  .the  sad  news  was  communicated  from  one  to 
another. 

The  tolling  bell,  the  flag  at  half-mast,  and  the  general  display  of  badges  of 
mourning  tell  truly  how  wide-spread  the  lamentation  over  this  sad  visitation. 

The  members  of  the  Bar  of  the  County  of  Broome,  resident  in  Binghamton, 
have  gathered  to  express  their  feelings  and  high  estimation  of  the  qualities  of 
the  illustrious  dead  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  by  the  sudden  death  of  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  the  legal  profes 
sion  has  been  deprived  of  one  of  its  most  distinguished  members,  and  our  coun 
try  of  a  forensic  and  senatorial  debater  of  the  school  of  Webster,  Calhoun  and 
Clay. 

Resolved,  That  we  mourn  the  loss  of  a  professional  brothei",  of  high  attain 
ments  and  varied  qualifications  for  the  earnest,  vigorous,  faithful  discharge  of 
every  duty  which  the  lawyer  owes  the  client ;  but  not  the  great  lawyer  only,  for 
we  have  lost  our  townsman,  neighbor,  guide,  advocate  and  friend. 

Resolved,  That  this  dispensation  of  Providence  has  removed  from  our  midst 
a  statesman  whose  reputation  was  co-extensive  with  the  boundaries  of  the  Repub 
lic  and  not  unknown  to  the  great  reformers  of  Europe,  now  struggling  for  the 
diffusion  of  American  ideas  and  the  recognition  of  the  civil  rights  of  the  masses 
of  mankind. 

Resolved,  that  the  uniform  kindness  of  manner  of  the  deceased,  combined 
with  his  genial  humor,  wit  and  learning,  made  him  a  favorite  in  every  court, 
and  will  keep  green  his  memory  long  after  his  body  has  returned  to  its  native 
dust. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  family  of  the  deceased  our  heartfelt  sympathy 
under  the  crushing  blow  which  has  fallen  upon  them. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  body  we  will  attend  the  reception  of  the  remains  of  our 
deceased  brother,  at  the  depot,  upon  their  arrival  from  New- York,  and  escort 
them  to  his  late  habitation,  and  thence  to  their  final  resting-place. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  this  meeting  prepare  a  copy  of  these  resolu 
tions,  and  deliver  it  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and  also  copies  for  the  papers 
for  publication. 

B.  N.  LOOMIS,  Chairman. 

Jos.  M.  JOHNSON,  Secretary. 

The  following  account  of  the  Proceedings  in  the  Courts  of 
New  York ;  the  Funeral  Obsequies,  and  the  Proceedings  of 


32  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

the  Bar  of  New  York,  are  copied  from  the  "  Testimonial  of 
Respect,"  published  by  the  New  York  Bar. 

PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  NEW   YoEK     COUETS    ON    THE   ANNOUNCEMENT   OP 

THE  DEATH  or  Hox.  DANIEL   S.  DICKINSON,  FEIDAY,  APKIL  13th, 
1866. 

UNITED  STATES  CIRCUIT  COUKT. 

Judge  SIIIPMAX  Presiding. 

At  the  opening  of  this  Court,  Edwin  "W.  Stonghton,  Esq.,  rose  and 
stated,  that,  since  the  adjournment  on  Thursday,  the  Bar  and  public  had 
sustained  a  very  great  loss  in  the  death  of  the  Hon.  DANIEL  S.  DICKIN 
SON,  after  a  very  short  but  very  severe  illness.  He  had  met  him  but 
lately  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  health  and  expectation  of  long  life.  He 
was  a  very  distinguished  man,  and  had  filled  a  large  space  not  only  in 
the  profession,  but  in  public  life.  He  rose  by  his  own  efforts,  as  all 
men  who  attain  real  distinction  must  do.  He  was  not  more  remarka 
ble  by  his  abilities  as  a  lawyer,  and  orator,  and  statesman,  than  by  the 
personal  qualities  which  endeared  him  to  all  those  who  were  connected 
with  him.  But  a  very  few  hours  since,  as  it  seemed  to  the  speaker,  he 
was  sitting  by  him,  talking  to  him  of  anticipated  enjoyment  during  the 
coming  months  in  a  visit  to  his  place.  It  was  only  last  evening  that  he 
had  heard  for  the  first  time  of  his  illness.  He  hardly  need  say  that  his 
loss  called  for  a  public  recognition,  and  he  trusted  that  a  further  oppor 
tunity  might  be  granted  for  the  bar  to  express  their  sense  of  his  loss. 

Under  the  circumstances  he  need  only  move  that  the  Court,  out  of 
respect  for  his  memory,  do  now  adjourn.  He  presumed  that  the  mem 
bers  of  the  bar  would  take  measures  to  express  their  feelings  in  a  more 
formal  manner. 

Sidney  Webster,  Esq.,  in  seconding  the  motion  to  adjourn,  remarked 
that  it  was  not  needful  for  him,  in  seconding  the  motion,  to  say  anything 
in  addition  to  what  had  been  so  properly  expressed  by  Mr.  Stonghton. 
It  was  an  important  event  when  the  person  who  had  been  commissioned 
by  the  President  to  exercise  the  legal  authority  of  the  United  States 
in  this  District  was  suddenly  stricken  down  by  death  ;  but  the  event  had 
additional  importance  and  significance  when,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
DICKINSON,  the  officer  had  been  so  prominently  concerned  in  the 
administration  of  the  National  and  State  Governments  of  the  Union. 
It  had  so  happened  to  him  that  he  had  been  associated  with  Mr.  DICK 
INSON,  in  the  other  Court,  in  the  last  case  in  which  he  had  been  concerned. 
During  the  whole  of  it  Mr.  DICKINSON  appeared  to  be  in  perfect  health 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  33 

and  in  excellent  spirits.  On  Monday  last,  however,  he  complained  a 
little  of  indisposition,  which  he  supposed  was  temporary.  He  left  on 
the  adjournment  of  the  Court  nnd  proceeded  to  his  house.  That  was 
his  last  appearance  in  any  earthly  tribunal.  Mr.  Webster  then  suggested 
that  a  meeting  of  the  bar  be  called  for  some  future  day — say  Wednesday 
next — to  take  such  steps  as  might  he  deemed  proper  to  attest  their 
appreciation  of  the  eminent  services,  legal  and  political,  and  the  striking 
virtues,  of  their  deceased  brother. 

Judge  Shipman  said:  "The  very  high  official  position  of  the  late 
United  States  District  Attorney  will  justify  the  call  for  some  public 
recognition  of  his  death  ;  but,  aside  from  that,  his  very  eminent  public 
character  and  private  worth  require  that  the  Court  should  recognize  its 
misfortune  in  the  sad  event,  and  that  there  should  be  a  more  formal  rec 
ognition  of  it  than  is  possible  now.  The  Court  will,  out  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  the  deceased,  now  adjourn,  and  the  Clerk  will  enter  this 
order  on  the  minutes." 

The  Court  then  adjourned. 

The  United  States  District  Court  not  being  in  session,  no  proceed 
ings  were  had  therein  on  this  day. 


GENERAL  TERM  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

HON.  GEORGE  G.  BARNARD  Presiding. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Court,  Judge  Pierrepont  arose  and  said : 
"May  it  please  your  Honors,  I  arise  to  announce  the  sad  news  of  the 
death  of  that  eminent  lawyer,  statesman  and  patriot,  DANIEL  S. 
DICKINSON,  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York.  He  died  suddenly  last  evening  at  the  house  of  his  son-in- 
law,  Mr.  Courtney,  the  Assistant  District  Attorney.  On  a  more  fit 
occasion,  when  the  Judiciary  and  the  Bar,  and  other  mourning  citizens 
shall  have  assembled  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  a  patriot  whom  the 
nation  will  mourn,  addresses  will  no  doubt  be  made  appropriate  to  the 
sad  event,  and  expressive  of  the  high  appreciation  which  is  generally 
accorded  to  the  great  virtues  of  the  illustrious  deceased.  I  now  move 
that  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Mr.  DICKINSON, 
this  Court  do  now  adjourn." 

The  motion  was  seconded  by  Wm.  M.  Evarts,  Esq.  Presiding 
Justice  G.  G.  Barnard  said  that  he  and  his  associate  Justices  fully 
concurred  in  the  remarks  which  had  been  made  by  the  learned  gentle 
men  of  the  Bar.  Upon  the  occasion  of  the  decease  of  so  great  a  lawyer 
and  statesman,  it  was  eminently  fit  that  this  respect  should  be  paid  to 
his  memory.  The  Court  would  therefore  order  an  adjournment  nntil 
3 


34  BIOGEAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

Monday  next,  at  11  A.  M.,  and  direct  the  Clerk  to  enter  these  pro 
ceedings  on  its  minutes. 


SUPEEME  COUET— SPECIAL  TEEM,  CHAMBEES. 

HON.  THOMAS  "W,  CLERKE  Presiding. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Court,  Major-General  C.  "W.  Sandford  moved 
the  adjournment  of  the  Court  in  the  following  language  : 

I  have  just  heard,  with  great  regret,  of  the  death  of  Mr.  DANIEL  S. 
DICKINSON,  United  States  District  Attorney  for  this  District,  a  gentle 
man  who  has  stood  high  at  our  bar,  and  has  been  a  conspicuous  man  in 
our  State  and  nation.  He  always  possessed  the  esteem  and  respect  of 
his  associates,  and  his  loss  will  be  deeply  felt  by  the  profession.  This 
is  not  the  time  or  place  to  pronounce  a  eulogy,  or  to  descant  upon  the 
merits  or  abilities  of  the  deceased,  and  I  will,  therefore,  simply  content 
myself  with  moving  that  the  Court  do  now  adjourn. 

Mr.  John  McKeon  seconded  the  motion,  and  said  that,  as  he  under 
stood  a  meeting  of  the  Bar  would  shortly  be  held  on  the  subject  of  Mr. 
Dickinson's  death,  he  would  refrain  from  making  any  extended  remarks. 

Judge  Clerke  then  .adjourned  the  Court,  expressing  his  entire  con 
currence  in  the  remarks  made  by  counsel. 

SUPEEIOE  COUET— TEIAL  TEEM. 

Hon.  JOHN  H.  McCuNN  Presiding. 

Henry  L.  Clinton,  Esq.,  announced  the  painful  intelligence  received 
of  the  death  of  the  honored  United  States  District  Attorney,  Daniel  S. 
Dickinson,  and,  in  a  few  remarks  tributary  to  his  great  worth,  eminence 
and  distinguished  public  services,  moved  that  the  Court  stand  adjourned, 
as  a  mark  of  respect  to  his  memory. 

Gunning  S.  Bedford,  Jr.,  Esq.,  seconded  the  motion. 

Judge  McCunn,  concurring  in  the  remarks  made,  fully  appreciating 
the  eminent  worth  of  the  deceased,  and  the  loss  sustained  in  his  death, 
ordered  the  motion  to  be  entered  on  the  minutes,  and  the  Court  ad 
journed. 

SUPEEIOE  COUET— TEIAL  TEEM— PAET  II. 

Eon.  SAMUEL  JONES  Presiding. 
At  the  opening  of  the  Court  Eobert  E.  Holmes,  Esq.,  in  a  few  words 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  35 

announced  to  the  Court  the  fact  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  sudden  death,  de 
livering  a  short  but  happy  eulogy  on  the  character,  accomplishments 
and  virtues  of  the  deceased.  In  accordance  with  a  custom  which,  he 
said,  appeared  to  prevail  almost  solely  among  members  of  the  Bar — 
that  of  adjourning  through  respect  for  the  memory  of  their  distinguished 
brethren — he  moved  that  the  Court  adjourn,  as  a  mark  of  the  deep  re 
gret  felt  for  the  loss  of  the  distinguished  departed. 

'   The  motion  was  seconded  by  A.  S.  Cohen,  Esq.,  in  a  few  appropri 
ate  and  eloquent  remarks. 

Judge  Jones  ordered  that  the  Court  should  be  adjourned  to  Monday 
next,  and  that  the  Clerk  enter  a  suitable  record  of  the  facts  on  the  books 
of  the  Court. 


SUPERIOR    COURT— SPECIAL  TERM. 


At  the  opening  of  this  Court,  Thomas  B.  Barnaby,  Esq.,  arose  and 
said,  that,  although  called  into  Court  to  transact  professional  business, 
he  owned  it  his  duty  to  apprise  the  Court  of  the  melancholy  intelligence 
which  had  just  reached  him  of  the  sudden  death  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  S. 
Dickinson,  the  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York.  Mr.  Dickinson,  he  said,  had  held  many  high 
and  responsible  offices,  and  had  won  the  respect  and  esteem,  not  only 
of  the  Bar,  but  of  the  whole  community.  He  moved,  that,  out  of  re 
spect  for  his  memory,  the  Court  do  now  adjourn. 

The  motion  having  been  seconded  by  Mr.  Boardinan,  Judge  Monell 
remarked  that  he  had,  a  few  moments  previously,  heard  of  the  death 
of  Mr.  Dickinson.  The  shock,  he  said,  had  come  to  him  with  the 
greater  suddenness  and  force,  from  having  seen  Mr.  Dickinson  within  a 
very  few  days  in  apparent  full  vigor  and  health.  He  had  known  Mr. 
Dickinson  long,  and  at  one  period  intimately,  and  had  always  enter 
tained  not  only  the  greatest  admiration  for  his  talents  and  learning,  but 
the  highest  esteem  for  his  goodness,  affability  and  urbanity.  Mr.  Dick 
inson  had  filled  many  high  positions  of  trust  and  honor,  and  was  always 
distinguished  for  the  ability  and  fidelity  with  which 'he  had  discharged 
all  their  duties.  Upon  the  death  of  such  a  man  it  was  eminently  proper 
that  every  respect  should  be  paid  to  his  memory.  The  Judge  concluded 
by  ordering  Mr.  Thomas  Bennett,  Clerk  of  the  Court,  to  enter  an  order, 
adjourning  this  Court  until  Monday  morning. 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


COURT  OF  COMMON  PLEAS. 

Hon.  CHARLES  P.  DALY  Presiding. 

At  the  opening  of  this  Court,  Augustus  F.  Smith,  Esq.,  addressed  tho 
Court  as  follows:  May  it  please  the  Court,  since  coming  into  Court  I 
have  learned  to  my  great  surprise  and  regret,  that  Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dick 
inson  died  last  night,  after  a  very  brief  illness.  In  common,  probably, 
with  many  members  of  the  Bar,  I  had  no  very  intimate  relations  or 
associations  with  Mr.  Dickinson,  for  the  reason  that  but  for  the  very 
brief  period  of  twelve  months  he  has  been  a  resident  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  practising  here  among  us.  It  is  now  but  twelve  months,  1 
think,  since  he  was  appointed  to  the  responsible  and  dignified  position 
which  he  has  filled  to  his  own  credit,  and  to  the  satisfaction  and  benefit 
of  the  Government  which  he  represented  in  that  office.  Mr.  Dickinson, 
however,  not  being  known  to  us  so  much  as  a  practising  lawyer  in  our 
midst,  was  known  to  us  by  reputation.  His  reputation  was  not  con 
fined  to  the  southern  portion  of  the  State,  where  he  practised  for  so 
many  years,  but  reached  us,  not  only  as  a  lawyer,  but  as  being  connected 
with  prominent  political  parties,  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Mr. 
Dickinson  had  been  at  one  time  named  for  the  most  distinguished  posi 
tion  to  which  the  suffrages  of  the  American  people  can  call  any  man. 
I  am  not  able,  sir,  to  speak  from  personal  knowledge  of  him,  further 
than  I  have  now  done.  It  is  unquestionably  appropriate  that  the  Courts 
of  this  City  and  State  should  extend  to  him  and  to  his  memory  some 
appropriate  appreciation  by  an  adjournment,  if  the  Court  approves, 
and  that  there  shall  be  such  an  entry  on  the  minutes  as  shall  show  what 
has  been  done  in  view  of  the  bereavement  which  has  befallen  us.  I 
move,  your  Honor,  that  the  Court  do  now  adjourn. 

Amos  K.  Hadley,  Esq.,  seconded  the  motion  for  adjournment.  He 
had  known  Mr.  Dickinson  for  twenty -five  years,  and  ever  found  him  to 
be  a  man  of  ability,  learning,  and  great  purity  of  character.  As  United 
States  Senator,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Attorney-General,  District-Attor 
ney,  and  in  all  the  public  offices  which  he  has  filled,  Mr.  Dickinson  dis 
charged  the  duties  with  honor  to  himself  and  complete  satisfaction  to 
the  public,  and  sustained  as  high  a  reputation  as  any  man  in  the 
country.  He  was  called  away  full  of  honor,  but  at  a  ripe  old  age,  with 
the  esteem  and  love  of  his  fellow-men. 

Mr.  Brewster,  in  the  course  of  a  very  effecti\7e  speed),  said  that, 
during  the  whole  career  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  it  was  worthy  of  remark, 
that  though  he  had  filled  many  high  offices,  and  taken  part  in  very  warm 
political  contests,  he  had  never  been  charged  with  the  commission  of  a 
single  impure,  corrupt,  or  unjust  action. 

Judge  Daly,  in  answer  to  the  motion,  replied  as  follows :  I  have  also 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  37 

known  Mr.  Dickinson  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  I  was  asso 
ciated  with  him  in  the  Legislature  nearly  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  the 
intimacy  there,  or  which  began  immediately  preceding  that  period,  has 
been  continued,  so  far  as  could  be,  in  the  different  course  of  our  differ 
ent  lives.  I  knew  much  of  his  character,  and  am,  therefore,  able  to 
appreciate  the  justness  of  all  that  has  been  said  respecting  him.  He  was 
a  distinguished  man,  and  deservedly  distinguished.  As  a  lawyer  he  was 
remarkable  for  his  acuteness,  for  more  than  the  usual  share  of  legal 
learning,  and  for  his  untiring  industry.  To  the  close  of  his  protracted 
life  he  filled  offices  not  usually  held  by  men  of  his  advanced  age,  and 
fulfilled  their  duties  with  the  strength  and  vigor  of  youth.  He  was,  as 
the  seconder  of  the  motion  has  remarked,  direct  and  outspoken,  and, 
like  all  strong  and  earnest  natures,  he  very  frequently  brought  himself 
into  collision  with  those  who  differed  from  him  in  opinion.  He  filled 
important  public  stations,  such  as  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  this 
State,  the  representative  of  this  State  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  distinguished  legal  offices  which  he  has  held  subsequently,  in 
all  of  which  he  was  distinguished  by  his  great  private  integrity,  by  his 
disinterested  regard  for  the  public  interests  committed  to  his  charge,  and 
by  the  great  influence  which  he  exercised,  whether  appealing  to  his 
fellow-citizens  upon  great  public  questions,  or  addressing  those  Legisla 
tive  bodies  to  which  the  disposition  of  them  was  intrusted.  The  same 
earnestness  of  character,  the  same  strength  of  conviction  which  marked 
his  whole  career  pervaded  his  public  speeches ;  and  he  was,  therefore, 
as  the  same  speaker  has  remarked,  distinguished  for  his  earnest  elo 
quence,  for  his  impressiveness,  and  for  his  power  in  working  conviction 
in  others.  The  convictions  imbedded  in  his  own  nature  were  impressed 
upon  his  words,  which  kindled  by  their  eloquence,  and  animated  and 
influenced  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed.  He  was,  as  the  same 
gentleman  has  again  remarked,  during  nearly  the  whole  of  his  life,  asso 
ciated  with  one  political  party,  and  the  earnestness  of  his  character  was 
manifested  by  his  fidelity  and  zeal  in  upholding  the  political  views  of 
that  party  on  great  public  questions.  He  was  particularly  earnest,  and 
especially  as  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  in  his  constant  opposition 
to  all  the  public  measures  which  he  thought  might  exasperate  any  por 
tion  of  the  country  and  bring  about  the  calamity  of  civil  war  or  national 
separation.  He  was,  therefore,  known,  and  perhaps  as  prominently 
known  as  any  man  in  the  Northern  States  and  sharing  the  Northern 
interests,  as  a  warm  upholder  of  what  were  regarded  as  the  rights  of 
the  South.  Apprehending,  as  I  have  frequently  heard  him  express, 
that  the  course  of  public  measures  would  lead  to  a  conflict  with  the 
Southern  States,  and  possibly  to  civil  war,  he  was  opposed  to  nearly  all 
the  measures  which  have  precipitated  the  recent  course  of  events,  guard 
ing  and  defending  the  interests  of  the  Southern  States  in  those  rights 


00  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

•  which  he  considered  were  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Constitution. 
But  when  the  Southern  people  broke  loose  from  the  Constitution — when, 
without  cause  or  pretence  of  complaint,  they  raised  their  hands  against 
the  Government  of  their  fathers,  declaring  for  sepa-ation  and  a  distinct 
national  existence,  Mr.  Dickinson,  with  the  same  consistency  of  charac 
ter,  the  same  manly  earnestness  and  the  same  love  of  country,  that  had 
previously  influenced  his  conduct,  took  his  ground,  at  the  very  outset^ 
against  them,  and  upon  all  occasions  raised  his  voice  and  exerted  his 
influence  in  strengthening  the  hands  of  the  Government  in  its  efforts 
for  the  preservation  of  the  nation.  It  is  not  very  easy  now  to  measure 
the  extent  of  the  influence  of  such  a  man,  or  what  it  accomplished  in 
that  perilous  crisis.  He  encountered  then,  as  he  had  encountered  before, 
strong  personal  opposition,  from  men  with  whom  he  had  been  politically 
connected  during  the  principal  part  of  his  life.  But  with  the  instinct 
which  springs  from  love  of  country,  with  the  high  view  it  enforces  of 
national  duty,  and  from  the  strong  convictions  of  his  reason,  he  repudi 
ated  all  personal  and  political  considerations  that  conflicted  with  the 
great  duty  before  him,  and  from  the  beginning  of  the  contest  to  the 
close,  brought  his  great  powers,  his  earnestness  and  his  eloquence,  to  the 
task  of  overcoming  the  arguments  of  opponents,  possibly  as  sincere  as 
himself,  and  of  convincing  all  classes  of  the  duty  of  standing  by  the 
country  in  its  hour  of  peril.  This  alone,  apart  from  his  high  profes 
sional  abilities,  in  the  important  legal  offices  he  has  filled,  would  be  a 
reason  for  paying  this  public  mark  of  respect  to  his  memory  ;  and  the 
time  of  any  tribunal  is  well  employed  in  drawing  attention  to  the  exam 
ple  of  such  a  life.  To  all  this  must  be  added  genial  private  qualities 
which  make  his  loss  sensibly  felt  by  friends  and  associates,  especially 
those  friends  no  longer  looking  forward  upon  life,  and  whose  views  of  it 
are  more  influenced  by  the  contemplation  of  the  years  that  have  passed 
than  by  the  expectations  of  those  that  are  to  come.  I  shall,  therefore, 
direct  the  adjournment  of  the  Court,  in  compliance  with  the  motion 
that  has  been  made,  as  a  proper  tribute  to  a  man  who,  regarded  in  every 
aspect,  professional,  public  or  private,  has  been  so  useful,  so  honorable, 
and  so  prominent  a  citizen. 

During  the  delivery  of  the  address,  his  Honor  was  much  affected. 

COURT  OF  GENERAL  SESSIONS. 

Before  Recorder  HACKETT. 

Information  of  the  death  of  the  United  States  District  Attorney 
having  been  communicated  to  the  Court  by  Assistant  District  Attorney 
Hutchings,  the  Recorder,  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  illustrious  dead, 
adjourned  the  Court. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  39 


MARINE  COURT. 

At  the  sitting  of  this  Court,  Judge  Gross  presiding,  Mr.  Joseph 
Bell,  Assistant  United  States  District  Attorney,  in  a  few  words,  moved 
the  adjournment  of  the  Court  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Dick 
inson.  He  spoke  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  painful  illness,  and  of  his  own 
personal  relations  to  him,  and  said  he  did  not  feel  himself  equal  to  the 
task  of  eulogizing  the  private  or  public  character  of  so  great  a  man 
under  the  circumstances. 

Mr.  Edward  Patterson,  in  some  appropriate  remarks,  seconded  the 
motion  for  adjournment. 

Judge  Gross,  after  expressing  his  entire  approbation  of  the  motion, 
and  the  sorrow  felt  by  the  Bench,  the  Bar,  and  the  country,  at  the  loss 
sustained  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  ordered  the  court  to  be  ad 
journed  till  Monday. 


FUJSTEEEAL     OBSEQUIES. 

Brief  funeral  services  were  held  on  Friday  evening,  April  13th,  at 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Courtney,  preparatory  to  the  removal  of  the  re 
mains  for  burial  at  Binghamton,  which  removal  was  effected  on  Satur 
day,  April  14th. 

He  was  interred  at  the  cemetery  of  the  village  of  Binghamton, 
Sunday,  April  15th,  and  the  following  account  of  the  reception  by 
his  friends  and  fellow-townsmen,  and  the  last  sad  rites  to  his  re 
mains,  has  been  selected  from  the  columns  of  the  Binghamton 
Republican : 


THE  VILLAGE  IN  MOURNING. 

The  Court  House,  whose  grim  outline  at  all  times  presents  a  solemn 
and  imposing  spectacle,  to-day  had  that  effect  heightened  in  the  highest 
degree.  The  four  massive  Corinthian  columns  were  covered  with  crape? 
from  the  base  to  the  capitals ;  and  floating  streamers  of  the  same  mate 
rial  were  flying  from  end  to  end  of  the  massive  structure.  In  the  cor 
nice  of  the  arch  appears  the  words  :  "  WE  MOUEN  THE  Loss  OF  OUB 
DISTINGUISHED  FELLOW-TOWNSMAN: — PATEIOT,  STATESMAN,  FEIEND  : — 
HON.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON." 

There  was  not  a  block  in  the  whole  village  that  did  not  exhibit  some 
token  of  bereavement,  and  scarce  a  countenance  that  did  not  betray 


40  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

how  deep  the  wearer  felt  his  loss.  Nothing  of  the  kind  ever  wrought 
our  people  more  general  affliction  than  this  sad  news.  Daniel  Stevens 
Dickinson  was  to  our  village  its  noblest  man,  and  our  posterity  will 
view  with  sacred  awe  how  deeply  we  mourned  his  loss  to-day. 


THE  RECEPTION. 

The  train,  bearing  the  remains  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  arrived  about 
fifteen  minutes  of  four  o'clock  p.  M.  Around  the  depot,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  distinguished  dead,  was  an  assemblage  the  like  of  which 
before  was  never  witnessed  in  Binghamton.  The  rich  and  poor  here 
gathered  to  greet,  with  heavy  hearts,  the  lifeless  form  of  him  whom,  in 
life,  they  had  learned  to  cherish  as  the  most  benevolent  of  men,  the 
wisest  of  counsellors,  and  the  ablest  statesman  they  had  ever  sent  forth 
to  guard  their  interests  and  protect  their  homes.  All  present  partook 
of  the  solemnity  of  the  scene  and  shared  in  the  common  affliction. 

Immediately  upon  the  arrival  of  the  train,  the  coffin  containing  the 
body — a  rich,  but  plain  rosewood  sarcophagus — was  conveyed  to  the 
hearse,  while  the  family  of  the  deceased  statesman  were  conducted  to 
the  carriages  awaiting  their  entry. 

All  was  soon  in  readiness,  arid  the  funeral  cortege  moved  off  at  a 
slow  and  measured  pace.  The  procession  was  composed  of  the  village 
authorities,  members  of  the  Bar,  Masonic  fraternity,  the  firemen,  the 
Press  and  the  citizens,  friends  and  family  of  the  deceased.  The  Bing 
hamton  band  preceded  the  long  line,  playing  solemn  dirges.  The 
avenues  were  lined  with  a  vast  assemblage  of  sympathizers  with  the 
family  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  making  the  scene  impressively  solemn. 

The  body  was  escorted  to  the  late  residence  of  the  deceased,  known 
as  "  The  Orchard,"  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Chenango,  and  which,  while 
living,  he  sought  in  his  periods  of  retirement  and  rest,  when  his  duties 
as  a  public  man  would  permit. 

All  that  is  mortal  of  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  is  now  lying  in  his  late 
home.  After  the  fitful  fever  of  life,  he  has  been  gathered  to  the  spot 
of  his  adoption,  here  to  rest  in  undisturbed  sleep  till  the  dead  awaken. 
Though  he  was  denied  the  fondly  cherished  hope  that  he  would  be  per 
mitted  to  die  in  his  own  home,  yet  his  second  desire,  to  be  laid  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Chenango,  has  not  been  denied  him. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 
THE  LAST  SAD  RITES. 


THE    ORCHARD. 


The  late  home  of  the  deceased  was  thrown  open  to  the  public  in  the 
forenoon  of  yesterday,  and  the  coffin  being  placed  in  a  favorable  posi 
tion,  the  village  populace  were  enabled  to  behold  the  features  of  the 
great  man  for  the  last  time.  The  assemblage  here  gathered  was  up 
wards  of  six  thousand.  The  time  consumed  in  passing  in  and  from  the 
house  was  upwards  of  three  hours. 

The  body  of  Mr.  Dickinson  was  laid  in  a  rich  plain  rosewood  coffin, 
and  was  dressed  in  full  natural  attire.  Within  the  coffin  the  corpse 
was  covered  in  part  with  flowers,  while  the  cover-lid  revealed  wreaths 
of  myrtle  with  flowers  interwoven.  The  body  was  laid  in  the  north 
west  parlor,  and  the  vast  concourse  that  thronged  to  take  a  last  look 
upon  the  features  of  the  great  statesman  entered  from  the  south,  passed 
around  the  coffin,  and  was  permitted  to  leave  from  the  east  entrance. 
The  features  of  the  deceased  presented  the  appearance  of  one  in  natu 
ral  slumber  rather  than  in  death.  The  effacing  finger  of  death  had  not 
swept  one  line  of  beauty  from  his  venerable  countenance.  The  sweet 
and  goodly  expression  still  lingered,  unwilling  to  be  replaced  by  any 
other. 


THE  FUNERAL  CEREMONIES. 

The  funeral  ceremonies  were  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Episcopal  Clergy,  and  were  performed  by  Rev.  Dr.  Andrews,  who  read 
the  first  part  of  the  service,  joined  by  Rev.  Rodman  Lewis,  Chaplain 
United  States  Navy,  and  followed  by  Rev.  Chas.  H.  Platt,  Rector  of 
Christ  Church,  of  which  Mr.  Dickinson,  in  life,  was  a  member.  No 
extended  remarks  were  indulged  on  the  occasion,  but  it  was  announced 
a  sermon  at  length  would  be  preached  at  a  future  day. 

There  were  present  at  the  services,  both  at  the  deceased's  late  home 
and  the  grave,  many  distinguished  gentlemen  from  all  parts  of  the 
county  and  State. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENE. 

Between  3  and  4  o'clock  the  long  procession  was  moved  into  line, 
and  the  body  was  slowly  and  solemnly,  without  music,  borne  to  its  final 
resting  place. 

The  procession  reached  from  the  late  home  of  the  deceased  to  the 


42  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

grave,  and  the  avenues  leading  to  and  from  these  places  were  lined  with 
a  dense  concourse  of  our  citizens. 
The  following  order  was  observed : 

1.    FIRE   DEPARTMENT   OF   BINGHAMTON. 

2.    OFFICIATING   CLERGYMEN. 

3.    THE   HEARSE. 

ATTENDED   BY  EIGHT   PALL   BEARERS,   CONSISTING  OF 

AMMI   DOUBLEDAY,  I.    R.    SANDS, 

AUGUSTUS   MORGAN,  S.    II.    P.   HALL, 

JOHN   CLAPP,  :  W.    B.    OSBORN, 

GEORGE  BURR,  S.    D.   PHELPS. 

4.    FAMILY   OF   DECEASED. 
5.   DELEGATION   OF    CITIZENS   FROM   ABROAD. 

6.   BOARD   OF   TRUSTEES   OF   BINGHAMTON. 
7.    MEMBERS   OF   THE   BAR   OF  BROOME   COUNTY. 

8.   MASONIC   FRATERNITY. 
9.    CITIZENS   OF  BINGHAMTON    AND   VICINITY. 

THE   GRAVE. 

How  sweet  the  grave  wherein  he  lies  entombed.  A  little  mound, 
shaded  by  an  adjoining  hill,  was  the  spot  selected  for  the  final  resting 
place  of  this  great  and  goodly  man.  A  little  fretful  brook,  whose  wan 
dering  course  leads  along  the  base  of  this  mound,  sings  gentle  dirges  on 
its  rippling  surface,  as  if  to  soothe  the  calm  sleeper  who  rests  so  near  its 
borders.  Beside  him  lie  the  bodies  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Virginia  E. 
Murray,  and  his  son,  Manco  Oapac  Dickinson.  The  little  cemetery  con 
taining  the  honored  dead  is  on  the  village  limits,  and  is  known  as 
Spring  Grove.  Its  situation  is  not  above  half  a  mile  from  the  late  home 
of  the  deceased  statesman. 

INCIDENTS. 

The  pew  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  was,  on  Sunday, 
draped  in  mourning.  Its  solemn  weeds  and  vacant  seats  told  their  sad 
and  impressive  tale. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  4:3 

At  the  Episcopal  Church,  on  Sunday,  of  which  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a 
member,  a  clergyman  from  Canada  preached  in  the  forenoon,  and  in  the 
course  of  his  sermon  made  an  appropriate  allusion  to  the  death  of 
Mr.  Dickinson,  and  stated  that  several  years  ago  he  had  met  him  as 
the  first  public  man  in  this  country,  and  was  much  impressed  with 
his  appearance  and  character. 

Mi*.  Keyser,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  preached  a  funeral  sermon  on  the 
death  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  last  evening.  The  words  of  his  text  were  the 
same  that  he  selected  upon  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  President  Lin 
coln,  although  the  sermon  was  altogether  different.  The  text  alluded  to 
was  taken  from  Proverbs  xx.,  1st  verse,  and  read,  "  A  good  name  is 
rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches,  and  loving  favor  rather  than  silver 
or  gold."  The  discourse  was*  one  of  the  speaker's  finest  effort?,  and 
adds  to  his  growing  popularity. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  hold  which  Mr.  Dickinson  had  on  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  at  the  religious  exercises  at  the 
Baptist  Church,  on  Friday  evening  last,  there  were  no  prayers  or  re 
marks  made,  that  did  not  contain  some  allusion  to  his  death. 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon  in  the  Catholic  church  yesterday,  the  Rev. 
Father  Hourigan  referred  to  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dickinson, 
in  a  feeling  and  appropriate  manner,  lauding  his  many  virtues,  both  as 
a  citizen  and  statesman.  He  spoke  of  his  unbounded  liberality  to  the 
poor,  with  whom  he  would  willingly  divide  the  last  meal  upon  his 
table  ;  he  said  but  few  knew  as  well  what  the  lamented  Dickinson  had 
done  for  the  poor  and  destitute  of  Binghamton,  as  the  speaker ;  no  per 
son  was  ever  turned  from  his  door  empty  handed ;  he  was  a  man  that 
could  not  from  his  very  nature,  refuse  assistance  to  any  person,  whoever 
he  might  be.  In  the  death  of  this  genius  and  scholar,  this  honest,  kind- 
hearted,  generous,  self-made  man,  the  country  has  lost  one  of  its  purest 
and  most  devoted  statesmen ;  Binghamton  one  of  its  best,  most  enter 
prising,  beloved  and  prominent  citizens ;  and  the  poor  one  of  their  truest 
of  earthly  friends.  The  reverend  gentleman  then  referred  to  his  inti 
mate  acquaintance  with  the  deceased,  to  his  genial  nature  and  pleasing 
conversational  powers,  and  classed  him  as  one  who  had  spent  his  life 
and  means  in  trying  to  benefit  humanity  and  his  country,  which  he  had 
served  faithfully  and  successfully  even  to  the  detriment  of  his  own 
health.  Time  or  space  will  not  permit  of  our  referring  further  to  the 
eloquent  remarks  of  the  reverend  gentleman,  which  drew  tears  to  the 
eyes  of  many  of  the  congregation.  He  closed  his  remarks  by  referring, 
in  a  beautiful  manner,  to  Mr.  Dickinson's  family,  who,  he  said,  were  in 
stilled  with  the  same  kind,  charitable  disposition,  and  the  happiest  mo 
ments  in  their  lives  seemed  to  be  when  they  were  helping  the  poor  and 

>dy. 

Funeral  sermons  were  subsequently  preached  in  all  the  churches 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BAR  OF  NEW  YORK 

IN   RELATION   TO  THE 

DEATH  OP  HON.  D.  S.  DICKINSON 


PEELIMINAEY   MEETING. 
HELD  AT  THE  NEW  YOBK  LAW  INSTITUTE,   SATURDAY,   APRIL   UlH,   1866. 

There  was  a  large  attendance  of  the  prominent  members  of  the  Bar 
present  at  the  hour  appointed. 

GEOEGE  T.  CUETIS,  Esq.,  was  elected  as  Chairman,  and  Jonx  J.  HILL, 
Esq.,  as  Secretary. 

The  following  named  persons  were  elected  as  members  of  a  Com 
mittee  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  proposed  meeting 
of  the  Bar,  and  to  prepare  and  report  appropriate  resolutions  for 
adoption  at  that  meeting  : 

Hon.  EDWAEDS  PIEEEEPONT, 

DANIEL  LOED,  Esq., 
Hon.  JOSEPH  S.  BOSWOETH, 
Hon.  ALEXANDEE  W.  BEADFOED, 
WILLIAM  M.  EVAETS,  Esq., 
Hon.  WILLIAM  F.  ALLEN, 

EDWIN  W.  STOTTGHTON,  Esq. 

The  meeting  of  the  Bar  was  afterwards  appointed,  by  said  Committee, 
to  be  held  at  the  U.  S.  District  Court  Rooms,  April  18th,  1866. 


MEETING  OF  THE  BAR  OF  NEW  YORK. 

HELD  AT   THE  UNITED  STATES    DISTEICT  COUET   BOOMS,    WEDNESDAY,    APRIL 

18TH,  1866. 

At  this  meeting  there  was  a  very  large  attendance  of  the  Judiciary 
and  most  distinguished  members  of  the  Bar. 

The  Judges  of  the  United  States  Courts,  the  Supreme  and  Superior 
Courts  and  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Mayor  HOFFMAN  and  General  Dix, 
Hon.  HENEY  E.  DA  VIES,  Judge  of  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  45 

many  other  distinguished  citizens  of  the  city  and  State  of  New  York, 
were  present,  and  occupied  seats  near  the  bench,  and  within  the  bar. 

This  large  Court  Room  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

On  motion  of  Judge  PIERREPONT,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  Hon.  SAMUEL  R.  BETTS  was  appointed  President  of  the 
meeting. 

On  motion  of  EDWIN  W.  STOUGHTON,  Esq.,  Judges  DAVIES,  SHIP- 
MAN,  BENEDICT,  DALY,  BAENARD,  ROBERTSON,  MASON,  and  DAVIS  were 
appointed  Vice-Presidents. 

On  motion  of  Hon.  William  F.  Allen,  Samuel  Blatchford,  Esq.,  and 
James  C.  Spencer,  Esq.,  of  the  New  York  Bar,  were  appointed  Secre 
taries  of  the  Meeting.  Judge  PIERREPONT  then  addressed  the  meeting 
as  follows : 

MR.  PRESIDENT, 

Although  it  is  very  generally  known  that  the  eminent  man,  to  whose 
cherished  memory  we  have  met  to  pay  our  grateful  tribute,  was  religious 
in  his  sentiments,  yet  it  may  not  be  so  generally  understood  that  he  was 
a  communicant  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  had  not  long  resided  with 
us,  and  his  private  life  and  his  charming  domestic  virtues  may  not  be  so 
well  known  here  as  in  the  country,  at  Binghamton,  where  his  earlier 
and  middle  life  was  spent,  and  where  he  was  known  as  only  those  who 
live  in  the  country  are  known,  and  where  such  a  vast  concourse  of  sin 
cere  mourners  followed  him  to  his  grave. 

Five  days  before  his  death,  and,  it  would  seem,  with  some  premoni 
tions  of  his  approaching  end,  he  wrote  some  lines  of  poetry,  addressed  to 
his  wife,  the  touching  beauty  of  which  will  perhaps  more  truly  reveal 
the  tenderness  and  purity  of  his  inner  life  than  any  speech  that  can  be 
made.  I  propose  to  read  them  : 

TO    LYDIA. 

In  youth's  bright  morn,  when  life  was  new, 
And  earth  was  fresh  with  dew  and  flowers, 

And  love  was  warm  and  friendship  true, 
And  hope  and  happiness  were  ours, 

We  started  hand  in  hand  to  thread 

The  chequered,  changeful  path  of  life, 
And  with  each  other,  trusting,  tread 

The  battle  fields  of  worldly  strife. 

We  ranged  in  walks  obscure,  unseen, 

O'er  rugged  steep,  through  vale  and  glen, 
And  climbed  along  the  hillside's  green, 

Unmindful  of  the  future  then. 


46  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

We  caught  the  song  of  earliest  birds, 
We  ciilled  the  loveliest  flowers  of  spring, 

We  plighted  love  in  whispering  words, 
And  time  sped  by  on  fairy  wing. 

And  as  it  passed,  new  joys  were  found, 
And  life  was  gladdened  by  the  birth 

Of  prattling  babes,  who  clustered  round, 
To  cheer  with  smiles  our  humble  hearth. 

Fate  thrust  us  forth,  before  the  world, 
And  phantoms  whispered  earthly  fame, 

Where  hope's  proud  banner  is  unfurled, 
And  happiness  too  oft  a  name. 

Thus  lured  along,  we  rode  the  dark 
And  foaming  tide  of  public  life, 

And  proudly  dared  with  slender  barque, 
The  elements  of  storm  and  strife. 

But  storm  and  strife,  thank  Heaven,  have  passed- 
The  night  has  fled  and  morning  come ! 

And  we,  tossed  mariners,  at  last 
Returned  once  more  to  hearth  and  home. 

But  of  the  loved  ones  God  had  given, 
Two  have  returned — two  sunk  to  rest — 

In  life's  gay  morning  called  to  Heaven, 
To  the  bright  mansions  of  the  blest. 

They  sleep  amidst  Spring-Forest's  glades, 
Where  flow  its  streamlets'  murmuring  waves, 

And  oft  at  evening's  gentle  shades, 
We'll  weep  beside  their  early  graves. 

Yet  loved  ones  cluster  round  us  still, 
To  gild  the  days  of  life's  decline, 

And  whisper — 'tis  our  Father's  will 
That  blessings  yet  are  yours  and  mine. 

No  change  of  life,  no  change  of  scene, 
No  fevered  dreams,  no  cankering  cares, 

No  hopes  which  are,  or  e'er  have  been, 
Nor  wrinkled  brow,  nor  silver  hairs, 

Have  ever  changed  that  vow  of  youth, 
Or  blotted  it  from  memory's  page ; 

But  warm  as  love,  and  pure  as  truth, 
It  ripens  with  the  frosts  of  age. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  47 

A  few  more  days — a  few  more  years — 

Of  life's  capricious  fitful  tide  ; 
A  few  more  sorrows,  joys  and  tears, 

And  we  shall  slumber  side  by  side. 

Then  let  us  live — then  let  us  love — 

As  when  life's  journey  first  begun, 
Until  we  meet  in  worlds  above, 

When  this  sad  pilgrimage  is  done. 


In  behalf  of  the  Committee,  appointed  by  the  New  York  Bar,  I 
have  the  honor  to  present  the  following  RESOLUTIOXS,  and  move  their 
adoption : 

To  preserve  in  sacred  memory  the  virtues  of  the  deceased,  and  as  a 
faint  tribute  of  their  respect  for  the  late  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  the  Bar 
of  the  city  of  New  York  adopt  the  following  RESOLUTIONS  : 

RESOLVED,  That  by  the  sudden  death  of  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  while  in  the 
high  and  responsible  office  of  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States,  the  Bar 
has  been  deprived  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  and  the  Government  of 
one  of  its  most  faithful  officers. 

RESOLVED,  That  in  the  late  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  we  recognize  an  eminent 
example  of  a  zealous,  fearless  and  able  advocate,  and  of  a  sagacious,  incorrupt 
ible  and  patriotic  statesman.  That  we  shall  ever  remember  him  as  a  man  of 
enlarged  understanding,  of  quick  perceptions,  of  noble  impulses,  of  generous 
and  kindliest  sympathy  with  his  fellow-men  ;  as  a  true  and  devoted  friend,  of 
a  warm  heart  and  an  honest  mind  ;  as  one  of  purest  domestic  virtues,  and  in 
every  relation  of  private  life  as  faithful,  loving  and  beloved,  and  in  the  places  of 
public  trust  which  he  so  often  and  so  honorably  filled,  as  always  upright, 
courteous  and  just. 

RESOLVED,  That  while  we  tender  our  sympathy  and  our  condolence  to  the 
bereaved  wife  and  the  afflicted  family  of  the  deceased,  we  find  mixed  with  our 
sorrow  consolation  from  the  fact,  that  he  died  after  an  active  and  useful  life, 
devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country,  and  to  the  good  of  his  fellow-men ;  and 
that  he  passed  from  the  busy  scenes  of  his  earnest  life,  serene  and  peaceful, 
reposing  with  unfaltering  trust  upon  the  Christian's  hope  of  a  glorious  immor 
tality. 

RESOLVED,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  duly  attested  by  its 
officers,  be  presented  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and  that  a  copy  of  these 
resolutions  be  published  in  the  journals  of  the  city. 

The  resolutions  were  then  adopted. 


48  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

REMARKS  OF  JUDGE  BOS  WORTH. 

ME.  PttESIDEXT, 

Sympathizing  with  the  family  and  relatives  of  the  de 
ceased  in  their  great  bereavement,  and  sharing  in  the  respect  which 
Acquaintances  and  friends  entertain  for  his  memory,  I  can  only  regret 
that  my  ability  is  not  commensurate  with  my  wish  to  do  justice  to  his 
merits  as  a  citizen,  lawyer,  and  statesman. 

My  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  at  Binghamton,  in  1831.  In 
the  fall  of  that  year  he  removed  to  that  place  from  Guilford,  in  the 
county  of  Chenango,  in  this  State.  At  that  time  there  was  but  one 
member  of  the  Bar  of  that  county,  standing  concededly  and  pre-emi 
nently  higher  than  any  other  in  legal  learning  and  ability.  It  was, 
therefore,  a  fair  fi eld  for  talent,  united  with  industry  and  integrity,  to 
struggle  for  professional  success  and  eminence. 

Mr.  Dickinson,  like  many  other  men  of  our  country  who  have  at 
tained  great  distinction,  and  secured  and  deserved  public  confidence  and 
respect,  began  life  without  other  r^sjurces  than  his  ability,  professional 
knowledge,  industry,  and  integrity.  lie  possessed  a  genial  disposition, 
and  this  rapidly  conciliated  good-will.  He  was  never  found  wanting  in 
professional  preparation  or  sound  practical  judgment,  and  these  qualities 
soon  won  for  him  the  confidence  of  suitors. 

His  earlier  years  had  been  passed  in  laborious  and  varied  occupa 
tion,  and  his  earlier  associations  and  experience  had  made  him 
acquainted  with  the  struggles  and  emotions,  and  the  feelings  and  views 
common  to  the  mass  of  the  intelligent  and  honest  yeomanry  of  the 
country.  It  was  natural  for  him  to  feel  and  think  in  unison  with  their 
feelings  and  thoughts,  and  he  was  consequently  a  formidable  antagonist 
before  a  jury. 

Within  a  short  time  after  he  became  a  resident  of  Binghamton,  he 
was  selected  as  the  attorney  and  counsel  of  the  Broome  County  Bank. 
He  soon  acquired  a  good  practice,  and  one  that  was  considered  profitable, 
in  the  moderate  views  which  then  prevailed  in  that  locality. 

Within  a  few  years,  after  removing  to  that  county,  he  was  usually 
retained  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  every  important  controversy.  His 
growing  reputation  soon  brought  him  retainers  as  counsel  in  heavy 
suits  in  adjoining  counties.  In  the  fall  of  1836,  when  he  was  elected  to 
the  Senate  of  this  State,  his  practice  was  as  lucrative  and  gratifying  to 
professional  pride,  as  that  of  any  member  of  the  Bar  in  that  Senatorial 
District.  Four  years  of  service  in  the  Senate  of  this  State,  and  subse 
quently  two  years  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  followed  by  six  years  of  ar 
duous  labor  and  engrossing  duties  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in 
terrupted  his  professional  career.  When  he  retired  from  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  with  great 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  49 

success,  aud  has  since  devoted  himself  to  it,  except  during  those  inter 
vals,  at  times  somewhat  lengthy,  when  he  addressed  his  fellow-citizens, 
in  masses,  on  the  exciting  questions  which,  for  a  tiins,  divided  the  two 
great  political  parties ;  or  at  a  later  period,  on  those  higher  political 
questions,  in  view  of  which,  and  in  his  view  of  duty,  patriotism,  honor 
and  the  interests  and  the  safety  of  the  country,  alike  required  him  to 
rally  all  he  could  influence,  to  support  the  Government,  and  maintain 
the  integrity  of  the  Union,  without  pausing  to  consider  by  what  party 
the  Government  was  administered,  or  whether  each  of  its  measures 
met  his  full  approbation. 

His  life,  which  has  been  abruptly  and  unexpectedly  terminated,  was 
closed  in  the  uiidst  of  high  and  responsible  professional  duties,  as  the 
Attorney,  for  this  District,  of  the  Government,  in  support  of  which  he 
had  severed  the  ties  and  associations  of  party,  without  renouncing  its 
historic  principles,  and  of  a  government  whose  authority  over  all  the 
States  and  territories  of  the  Union  he  had  lived  to  sae,  as  we  hope, 
practically  re-established. 

I  have  mentioned  that  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  this  State,  in 
the  fall  of  1836.  From  that  time  to  the  time  of  his  decease,  he  has 
been  more  prominently  and  extensively  known  as  one  active,  able,  and 
influential  in  the  political  world,  rather  than  as  a  lawyer.  By  his  in 
dustry,  firmness  and  ability  as  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
his  reputation  became  nationnl.  He  had  while  there,  the  entire  and 
highest  confidence  of  the  great  party  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and 
eventually  commanded  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  political  ene 
mies. 

The  great  jmist  and  statesman  of  New  England,  in  the  beautiful 
and  unsolicited  note  which  has  recently  met  the  public  eye,  paid  to 
Mr.  Dickinson,  about  the  close  of  his  Senatorial  career,  a  generous  and 
eloquent  tribute  which  must  have  been  gratifying  to  him,  and  one 
which  his  children  may  preserve  as  an  honorable  trophy  won  by  the 
great  ability  and  unflinching  firmness  of  their  father,  in  his  support  of 
measures  which  he  believed  essential  to  the  well-being  of  our  common 
country.  But  his  political  life  I  shall  leave  to  be  delineated  by  others 
more  familiar  with  the  inner  view  of  the  political  scenes  in  which  the 
deceased  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part. 

Of  his  neighborhood  associations,  and  of  the  place  he  occupied  in  the 
feelings  and  regard  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  daily  contact  in  the 
place  of  his  residence,  I  may,  with  propriety,  bear  testimony  on  this 
occasion.  Our  personal  relations  were  friendly  from  the  time  our  ac 
quaintance  began,  until  his  death.  Although  I  removed  to  this  city  in 
the  fall  of  1836,  yet  the  residence  of  kindred  and  friends  in  Broome 
County,  made  me  a  frequent  visitor  there,  and  I  think  I  know  the  feel 
ings  of  that  community  in  regard  to  him.  He  early  became  very  popu- 
4 


50  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

lar  with  the  muss  of  the  people,  and  soon  won,  and  ever  subsequently 
retained,  the  sincere  respect  and  regard  of  all  classes.  He  was  always 
active  and  efficient  in  furthering  matters  of  public  enterprise,  calculated 
to  develop  the  resources  or  advance  the  interests  of  that  section  of  the 
State.  He  had  a  heart  that  sympathized  with  all  cases  and  occasions 
appealing  for  relief  or  benevolent  aid.  He  acted  as  well  as  spoke,  and 
gave  in  the  spirit  of  liberality  which  he  urged  others  to  exercise.  His 
death  made  that  community  a  sad  one.  On  Saturday  last  his  remains 
were  taken  to  the  beautiful  village  of  Binghamton,  to  find  their  final 
resting  place  in  the  cemetery  of  the  town  where  he  has  so  long  resided 
in  increasing  honor. 

On  that  day  all  business  there  was  suspended,  private  dwellings  as 
well  as  the  public  buildings  were  draped  in  mourning,  and  all  classes  of 
the  community  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  his  remains,  and  accom 
panied  them,  with  every  demonstration  of  sincere  grief  and  respect,  to 
his  late  residence.  No  more  need  be  said  to  illustrate  the  esteem  with 
which  he  was  cherished  by  those  who  knew  him  most  intimately,  or 
their  grief  at  his  loss. 

The  many  who  have  admired  or  respected  him,  but  never  entered 
his  dwelling,  may  desire  to  know  something  of  his  life,  in  the  relations 
of  husband  and  father.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  domestic  tastes  and 
habits.  He  was  hospitable,  but  without  the  slightest  effort  at  ostenta 
tious  display.  He  was  emphatically  an  affectionate  father,  every  mind 
ful  of  the  interests  and  happiness  of  his  children.  They  reciprocated 
his  interest  in  them,  and  requited  it  with  steadfast  affection,  and  the 
most  sincere  respect. 

The  widow  who  survives  him,  has  been  a  great  invalid  during  the 
whole  period  of  my  acquaintance  with  them.  She  has  been  largely 
dependent  upon  him,  in  the  varying  changes  of  uniform  ill  health. 

Neither  the  exactions  upon  his  time  by  active  professional  occu 
pation,  however  great,  nor  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  official  and  po 
litical  life,  however  absorbing,  ever  found  him  weary  or  thoughtless 
in  his  attentions  to  her,  or  in  consulting  her  comfort  and  happiness. 

But,  notwithstanding  her  life  has  been  that  of  an  invalid,  and  his 
that  of  a  man  of  uniform  good  health,  he  has  been  suddenly  removed 
from  the  scenes  of  this  life,  and  she  survives,  to  mourn  her  great  and 
irreparable  loss. 

In  her  deep  mourning,  there  must  come  the  consolation,  that  the 
kind  and  beloved  husband,  who  so  long  and  devotedly  journeyed  with 
her  along  the  pathway  of  life,  has  gone  to  his  rest,  after  a  well-spent 
life,  full  of  years  and  honor.  But  she  has  the  more  cheering  consola 
tion,  that  he  died  in  the  assured  hope  of  a  higher  and  happier  life  be 
yond  the  grave. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  51 


REMARKS  OF  CHARLES  P.  KIRKLAND. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Dickinson  furnishes  a  proud  illustration  of  the  beauty 
and  beneficence  of  our  form  of  Government.  Born  in  humble  circum 
stances,  with  no  inheritance  on  his  arrival  at  manhood  but  poverty  and 
the  name  of  honest  parents,  with  no  education  except  that  obtained  at 
the  common  schools  of  forty-five  years  ago,  his  time  was  spent  from 
his  majority  till  the  age  of  twenty-eight  in  obtaining  the  means  of  sup 
port,  in  self-education,  and  in  preparing  himself  for  admission  to  the  bar. 
This  long  period  of  legal  clerkship  was  then  requisite  in  his  case,  as  he 
could  furnish  no  certificate  of  time  spent  in  classical  studies.  I  was 
informed  last  evening  by  a  gentleman  who  knew  him  in  his  younger 
days,  that  he  was  once  an  apprentice  to  a  respectable  but  humble  trade. 
But  all  this  time  he  knew  that  wealth  and  birth  were  not  passports  in 
the  "Great  Republic"  to  eminence  and  fame;  that  the  want  of  them 
was  no  bar  to  advancement ;  and  under  the  genial  influence  of  the  con 
sciousness  of  this  truth  he  entered  on  the  battle  of  life,  and  manfully 
fought  his  way  to  positions  of  honor  and  distinction.  It  is  indeed  won 
derful  that,  under  all  his  circumstances,  he  could  have  made  the  acqui 
sitions  requisite  to  enable  him  to  obtain  the  reputation  he  subsequently 
enjoyed  as  a  statesman,  a  lawyer,  a  speaker  and  a  writer. 

I  met  him  first  in  the  year  1832,  at  a  convention  in  the  County  of 
Chenango,  in  reference  to  a  matter  then  of  great  interest,  and  deemed 
of  vital  importance  to  his  section  of  the  State,  and  though  he  was  at 
that  time  unknown  to  fame,  I  well  remember  his  earnest  and  impres 
sive  appeals  in  behalf  of  the  measure  under  consideration. 

I  will  not  dwell  on  his  literary  attainments,  and  will  only  say  that 
the  address  which  he  delivered  in  July,  1861,  before  the  Literary  Soci 
eties  of  Amherst  College,  was  the  work  of  an  accomplished  and  cultivated 
mind,  and  would  have  done  no  discredit  to  the  best  of  our  writers  and 
orators. 

In  1836,  he  was  elected  Senator  of  this  State,  and  thus  became  a 
member  of  our  highest  court ;  and  in  1837,  the  first  year  of  his  taking 
his  seat  in  that  body,  he  delivered  a  number  of  very  able  and  learned 
opinions,  which  will  be  found  in  the  reports  of  that  day,  and  this,  it 
must  be  remembered,  only  six  years  after  his  admission  to  the  bar  as 
counsel. 

In  1842,  he  was  Lieutenant-Govern  or  of  the  State  and  ex-officio 
President  of  the  Court  just  mentioned,  and  there  again  he  manifested 
his  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  a  judge. 

From  1844  to  1851,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  for  much  of  that  time  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Finance.  You  will  want  no  better  evidence  of  the  position  he  occupied 
in  that  distinguished  body  than  is  contained  in  a  letter  of  Daniel  Web- 


52  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

ster  to  him,  written  after  they  had  served  together  as  Senators  six  years, 
and  when  Mr.  Webster's  term  had  expired.  I  cannot  gratify  this  large 
assemblage  more  than  by  reading  that  honest  and  heartfelt  testimony 
of  the  great  statesman  and  lawyer  to  the  merits  and  worth  of  our 
departed  friend. 

[The  Letter  read  ly  Mr.  Kirldand,  appears  in  the  foregoing  Biograph 
ical  Sketch.] 

Mr.  Dickinson's  reply  to  that  letter  could  not  have  been  surpassed 
in  beauty  of  sentiment  and  elegance  of  diction  by  the  most  graceful 
writer  of  our  country. 

Mr.  Dickinson  is  the  only  man  who  has  lived  since  Washington,  and 
the  only  man,  it  may  well  be  said,  who  ever  will  live,  who  could  with 
truth  say  that  he  could,  if  he  had  chosen,  have  been  President  of  the 
United  States.  In  1852  he  was  offered  the  Presidential  nomination, 
and,  had  he  accepted  it,  would  have  been  elected,  as  subsequent  events 
demonstrated ;  but  he  magnanimously  declined  the  proffered  honor  in 
view  of  what  he  then  deemed  his  honorary  obligation  to  another. 

Since  his  retirement  from  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  he  has 
had  the  offer  of  several  distinguished  positions :  Collector  of  this  port, 
Commissioner  to  settle  the  Oregon  Boundary,  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  of  New- York,  all  which  he  declined. 

Day  after  to-morrow  (April  20th)  will  be  the  anniversary  of  the 
day  which,  after  all,  Mr.  Dickinson  himself  regarded  as  the  most  mem 
orable  of  his  life.  On  that  day  the  great  uprising  of  the  people  at 
Union  Square,  in  this  city,  took  place.  Mr.  Dickinson,  on  the  morning 
of  that  day,  left  his  house,  over  two  hundred  miles  distant,  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  being  present  and  taking  part  on  that  great  occasion ;  and 
well  do  I  remember  his  appearance,  as  he  arrived  in  his  travelling 
dress,  and  covered  with  the  dust  and  smoke  of  a  long  railroad  journey, 
just  as  the  meeting  was  being  organized.  He  came  under  the  inspira 
tion  of  a  pure  and  exalted  patriotism,  and  it  may  well  be  imagined 
how  his  enthusiasm  kindled  into  the  highest  glow  when  he  found 
himself  speaking  in  the  shadow  of  the  statue  of  Washington,  and 
under  the  folds  of  the  flag  suspended  over  it,  that  had  just  been 
brought  from  Fort  Sumter  by  the  noble  Anderson  and  his  brave  com 
panions.  The  address  he  then  delivered  was  of  exceeding  power  and 
eloquence.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  he  then  belonged  to  the  party, 
and  to  the  "  strictest  sect "  of  the  party,  opposed  to  that  then  in  power, 
and  that,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  his  example  and  his  teachings 
were  of  ten-fold  influence.  If  all  who  were  present  at,  and  actually 
participated  in  that  meeting,  and  all  who  then  sympathized  with  it,  had 
remained  firm  in  the  faith  and  true  to  the  spirit  of  that  occasion,  the 
war  of  the  rebellion  would  have  been  of  comparatively  brief  duration 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  53 

— vast  amounts  of  treasure  would  have  been  saved,  and  the  lives  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  our  patriot  heroes  would  have  been  spared. 
He  persevered  and  continued  steadfast  to  the  end,  and  did  more,  it  may 
with  truth  be  said,  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  and  the  overthrow 
of  the  rebellion,  than  any  other  single  individual.  His  fellow-citizens 
very  soon  gave  him  the  most  flattering  testimony  of  their  appreciation 
of  his  merit  and  his  services ;  in  1861  he  was  elected  Attorney-General 
of  New  York  by  the  unprecedented  majority  of  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand. 

How  grateful  it  was  to  him  to  witness  the  glorious  results  of  the  ef 
forts  of  himself  and  his  compatriots  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union 
and  the  preservation  of  the  Nation !  And  if  it  is  given  to  him  now  to 
know  what  is  doing  here,  we  may  feel  well  assured  that  nothing  would 
be  more  satisfactory  to  him  than  the  mention  of  his  career  since  the 
20th  of  April,  1861. 

How  awfully  sudden,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  departure  of  our  friend ! 
On  Monday,  in  the  vigorous  performance  of  his  official  duty  in  this  very 
Hall — on  Thursday  his  spirit  returned  to  Him  who  gave  it.  And  how 
vividly  should  this  event  remind  us  of  the  lesson,  so  often  taught  and 
so  little  heeded,  of  the  uncertainty  of  life  ! 

His  character  unsullied  throughout  life,  presenting  an  uniform  exam 
ple  of  industry,  perseverance,  integrity — his  sincerity  and  honesty 
acknowledged  by  all,  and  forming  the  basis  of  his  powerful  personal  in 
fluence — we  have  in  him  a  model  worthy  of  imitation  everywhere ;  and 
his  history,  from  its  beginning  to  its  end,  may  well  be  studied  by  every 
ingenuous  and  high-spirited  youth  of  the  Eepublic. 

Nothing  could  be  more  grateful  to  me  personally  than  to  have  the  op 
portunity  of  paying  this  feeble  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  one 
who  rose  from  obscurity  to  the  highest  position,  who  exhibited  so  much 
intellectual  power  and  so  much  moral  worth ;  who,  in  his  own  person, 
presented  so  shining  an  illustration  of  the  kindly  effects  of  our  free  gov 
ernment  on  the  individual  man  ;  who,  in  the  time  of  his  country's  peril, 
stood  manfully  forth  for  her  defence  and  salvation ;  and  who  was  so 
eminently  entitled  to  the  respect,  esteem  and  gratitude  of  his  country 
men. 

REMARKS  OF  GENERAL  JOHN  A.  DIX. 

ME.  PRESIDENT, 

I  have  come,  not  without  hesitation,  to  take  part  in  this  meeting ; 
for.  although  my  admission  to  the  Bar  of  New  York  dates  as  far  back  as 
1824,  many  years  have  elapsed  since  I  withdrew  from  the  practice  of  the 
law,  and  I  have  become  unknown  as  a  member  of  the  profession.  But  I 
have  yielded  to  the  reflection  that  my  association  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  with  our  deceased  friend,  during  five  annual  sessions  of 


54  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

Congress,  makes  my  presence  here  not  altogether  out  of  place,  and  en 
ables  me  to  speak  of  his  many  excellences  of  mind  and  heart  with  the 
advantage  of  a  somewhat  close  and  prolonged  acquaintance.  I  believe 
I  may  truly  say  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  that  at  every  period  of  his  life — from 
its  first  unassisted  beginnings  to  the  full  development  of  his  intellectual 
powers — he  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  vigor,  intelligence  and 
determination.  He  went  out  into  the  battle  of  life  with  no  other  armor 
than  his  own  indomitable  courage,  and  triumphed  over  all  the  obstacles 
to  his  success  by  the  force  of  a  steady  and  unwavering  resolution.  His 
walk  may  be  said  to  have  been  in  the  open  arena  of  intellectual  conflict, 
relying  less  on  resources  gathered  by  abstraction  and  study,  than  on  the 
knowledge  gained  by  observation  and  experience  in  the  ever-shifting 
scenes  of  active  life,  where  men  are  brought  into  perpetual  contact  with 
each  other  ;  and  it  was  to  this  practical  discipline  during  the  period  of 
half  a  century,  that  he  owed  his  efficiency  and  success  in  his  professional 
and  political  career.  His  familiar  acquaintance  with  men,  their  busi 
ness,  their  interests,  their  pursuits,  their  habits  of  thought,  and  the  in 
fluences  by  which  they  are  most  commonly  governed,  made  him  always 
prepared  to  take  part  in  popular  movements,  always  ready  to  act  with 
decision,  and  always  capable  of  speaking  with  point  and  effect. 

Kindred  to  these  qualities,  and  almost  inseparable  from  them,  were 
a  boldness  in  action  and  a  fearlessness  in  speech  very  rarely  surpassed. 
I  never  knew  a  man  more  free  from  all  concealment.  What  he  thought 
of  men  or  measures,  he  never  hesitated  to  speak.  There  was  nothing 
about  him  of  what  the  world  calls  policy;  nothing  of  what  the  phre 
nologists  call  secretiveness ;  nothing  clandestine,  nothing  tortuous ;  but 
everything  fair,  open  and  direct.  In  controversy  he  might  have  been 
rough  with  an  adversary;  but  he  would  have  scorned  to  circumvent 
him  by  hidden  and  unworthy  arts. 

A  man  with  characteristics  like  these  could  not  he  without  ardent 
admirers  and  devoted  friends  ;  and  that  he  possessed  social  virtues,  of 
which  the  outer  world  could  know  little  or  nothing,  but  which  his  inti 
mate  associates  appreciated  at  their  true  value,  is  manifest  from  the 
universal  sorrow  caused  by  his  death  in  the  town  in  which  he  lived,  and 
in  which  the  whole  population,  with  a  common  and  spontaneous  accord, 
have,  as  stated  by  Judge  Bos  worth,  clad  their  dwellings  in  the  habili 
ments  of  mourning. 

Such  public  demonstrations  of  respect  go  very  far  to  embalm  in  the 
memory  of  a  community  the  virtues  of  those  to  whom  they  are  paid. 
But,  sir,  there  is  something  higher  and  better.  The  estimation  in  which 
a  man  is  held  at  his  own  fireside,  is  the  best  evidence  of  his  purity  and 
worth.  No  man  was  more  beloved  by  his  family  than  Mr.  Dickinson ; 
no  family  was  more  blessed  than  his  in  the  bountiful  affection  it  receiv 
ed  and  returned.  "We  need  no  other  proof  of  the  truth  of  what  I  say 


BIOGEAPIIICAL    SKETCH.  55 

than  the  lines,  full  of  deep  feeling  and  poetic  grace,  read  by  Judge 
Pierrepont  at  the  opening  of  this  meeting.  Sir,  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  of 
posthumous  triumphs  for  those  who  have  been  prominent  in  public  affairs, 
when  the  appreciation  of  their  excellences  and  the  sorrow  for  their  loss 
grow  more  intense  as  we  recede  from  the  circumference  of  the  great  cir 
cle  within  which  they  moved,  and  draw  nearer  to  the  centre  where 
they  were  most  familiarly  known. 

You  have,  no  doubt,  noticed,  Mr.  President,  that  this  year  has,  thus 
far,  been  one  of  extraordinary  mortality  among  men  ranging  in  age  from 
three  score  years  to  three  score  years  and  ten.  Whether  it  be  from 
the  severity  or  the  changefulnesa  of  the  season,  or  some  special  atmos 
pheric  influences,  that  death  has  made  such  unusual  havoc  with  them, 
we  know  not.  But  we  do  know  that  numbers  have  been  stricken  down, 
almost  without  warning,  and  apparently  in  the  fulness  of  their  strength. 
It  was  so  with  Mr.  Dickinson.  It  is  but  a  few  days  since  he  was  mov 
ing  about  among  us,  in  the  active  discharge  of  his  official  duties,  with  a 
frame  which  the  hand  c;f  time  seemed  scarcely  to  have  touched,  except 
in  blanching,  somewhat  more  prematurely  and  completely  than  with 
most  men  of  his  age,  the  flowing  hair  by  which  his  general  appearance 
was  so  conspicuously  marked. 

But,  sir,  I  must  not  draw  too  largely  on  the  indulgence  of  the  gen 
tlemen  assembled  here.  My  purpose  was  to  offer,  in  the  briefest  man 
ner,  my  tributa  to  the  common  stock  of  sadness  for  the  sudden  death  of 
the  departed  statesman,  and  of  sympathy  with  his  sorrowing  friends. 
Having  stood  side  by  side  with  him  in  the  Senate  Chamber  at  an  event 
ful  period  in  our  history,  not  always  agreeing  with  each  other  in  opin 
ion,  never  differing  in  unkindness,  always  cherishing  for  him  a  sincere 
respect,  which  I  have  reason  to  believe  was  as  sincerely  returned,  it  was 
thought  that  a  few  words  from  me  in  remembrance  of  our  former  associa 
tion  would  neither  be  inappropriate  or  unacceptable  to  the  gentlemen  as 
sembled  here,  though  their  professional  avocations  brought  them  much 
nearer  to  him  than  myself  in  the  closing  scenes  of  his  life.  Having  per 
formed  this  office — a  grateful  and  yet  a  sorrowful  one,  as  all  such  offices 
are — I  desire  to  make  a  single  concluding  remark.  When  we  pass  in 
review  the  varied  incidents  of  his  life — his  youth  of  earnest  and  perse 
vering  labor,  his  manhood  of  official  and  forensic  activity,  his  public  ser 
vices,  the  social  position  he  occupied  in  his  latter  years  as  the  well-earn 
ed  reward  of  half  a  century  of  unremitting  toil,  and,  above  all,  his  fidel 
ity  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  through  all  vicissitudes — by  conciliation  as 
long  as  there  was  any  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  sectional  contro 
versy,  and  by  a  zealous  and  patriotic  devotion  to  the  Government  when 
its  existence  was  threatened  by  force,  when  we  regard  him  under  all  these 
phases  of  his  valuable  life,  we  may  truly  say  that  a  remarkable  man  has 
gone  from  amongst  us,  and  that  his  career  is  a  distinguished  example  of 


56  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

successful  effort,  well  directed  and  well  sustained,  in  the  acquisition  of 
official  and  professional  fame. 

ADDRESS  OF  WILLIAM  M.  EYARTS,  ESQ. 

ME.  PRESIDENT,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  JUDICIARY  AND  OF  THE  BAR  : 

As  we  have  been  interested  listeners  thus  far  to  Chief  Justice  Bos- 
worth,  who  brings  to  us  knowledge  of  the  early  life  of  the  eminent 
man  whose  decease  we  meet  to  lament,  and  to  the  observations  of  Mr 
Kirkland  respecting  his  professional  career,  who  has  a  wide  range  of 
knowledge,  situated  as  he  was  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  own  professional 
life,  a  witness  of  his  exertions  and  his  success,  also  to  the  history  which 
General  Dix  has  given  of  the  public  labors  and  political  distinctions  of 
Mr.  Dickinson,  I  can  find  but  one  reason  why,  from  this  assembly  of 
the  Bar,  I  should  have  been  asked  by  the  Committee  to  bear  a  share,  so 
grateful,  indeed,  to  me,  on  this  commemorative  occasion — and  that  is  in 
the  fact  that  in  the  last  scenes  of  the  efforts  at  our  bar  of  this  lawyer, 
this  public  man,  this  public  officer,  I  bore  a  part.  For  it  was  in  the 
case  of  so  great  public  importance  now  pending  before  his  Honor, 
Judge  Betts,  in  which  the  Government  was  represented  by  the  District 
Attorney,  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  the  claimants  by  myself,  that  his  last  ap 
pearance  in  public,  his  last  exertions  in  the  labors  and  duties  of  life, 
.took  place.  At  the  adjournment  of  the  Court  on  Monday  of  this  week, 
I  left  it,  by  your  Honor's  indulgence,  to  perform  the  duty  of  attending 
the  funeral  of  a  deceased  relative  in  &  neighboring  State,  and  Mr.  Dick 
inson,  it  seems,  went  to  meet  that  death  which  now  brings  us  here.  In 
these  strenuous  contests  of  our  profession,  death  comes  in  a  more  or 
less  impressive  form  always,  to  those  who  are  active  and  vigorous  in 
the  exercise  of  the  duties  and  labors  of  our  calling;  and  to  all  of  us  the 
death  of  Governor  Dickinson  was  impressive,  for  his  robust  frame,  his 
vigorous  constitution,  his  unbroken  health,  his  moderate  age.  attracted 
as  little  as  to  any  one,  solicitude  or  expectation  of  his  passing  away 
from  us.  But  to  me  who,  in  this  last  of  his  conflicts,  was  his  oppo 
nent,  it  seems  as  it  were  in  one  of  the  contests  of  the  ancient  games, 
when  one  should  find  the  swift  runner  dropping  at  his  side  in  the  cramp 
of  death,  or  the  strong  wrestler's  spent  life  yielding  in  the  last  struggle 
of  the  combat.  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a  new  comer  to  this  bar,  but  he 
had  been  preceded  by  a  distinguished  reputation  as  a  lawyer  and  as  a 
public  orator,  so  that  at  once  he  assumed,  in  the  recognition  of  the 
community  and  of  our  profession,  an  eminent  position,  when  the  high 
station  to  which  the  Government  had  called  him  brought  him  here  as  a 
resident  and  a  leader  for  the  Government  in  all  its  public  cases,  as  well 
as  in  the  routine  of  the  business  of  the  office  of  District  Attorney. 
This,  for  the  first  time,  introduced  him  to  the  personal  and  social  ae- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  57 

quaintance  of  any  considerable  number  of  our  citizens,  and  I  think  that 
"  every  one  who  knows  the  facts  will  agree  with  me  in  saying  that,  in  the 
domestic  circles  and  the  social  life  of  this  great  community,  he  won 
universal  favor  by  the  manliness  and  sincerity  of  his  bearing  and  con 
duct.  Mr.  Dickinson  impressed  everybody  as  an  honest  man  and  as  an 
earnest  man,  and  his  honorable  poverty,  which  in  his  youth  led  him 
forward  to  such  great  services,  attended  him  during  his  life,  and  is  at 
the  close  still  the  companion  of  his  unsullied  fame.  In  a  community — 
in  a  nation — which,  of  late,  at  least,  has  shown  so  much  of  that  greed 
of  wealth  which  is  sure  to  accompany  so  rapid  a  development  of  its  re 
sources,  this  is  undoubtedly  a  great  tribute  to  one  who  has  had  so  many 
opportunities,  so  many  reasonable  occasions,  as  the  world  goes,  for  hav 
ing  made  advantage  to  himself  out  of  his  services  to  the  public.  Mr. 
Dickinson  impresses  us  all,  too,  as  a  man  who  was  altogether  on  one 
side;  not  partly  on  one  side  and  partly  on  another ;  and  I  need  not  say 
that,  in  any  manly  estimate  of  public  duty  or  private  conduct,  that  is  a 
character  entitled  to  respect  and  affection,  and  sure  to  command  them. 
My  first  personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Dickinson  grew  out  of  the  fact 
that,  in  the  political  agitations  of  1850  and  1851,  he  was  thrown  mainly 
into  a  co-operation  with  the  great  leaders  of  the  party  of  which  I  was 
an  humble  member,  in  company  with  the  great  leaders  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  of  which  he  had  always  been  a  prominent,  zealous,  and 
efficient  advocate.  The  great  tie  which  brings  men  together,  and  which 
was  so  conspicuously  exhibited  in  the  notable  letter  of  Mr.  Webster  to 
Mr.  Dickinson,  at  that  time,  brought  together  many  men  who,  in  the 
traditions  or  in  the  habits  of  their  respective  parties,  had  looked  upon 
one  another  with  suspicion,  distrust,  and  hostility.  Now,  there,  Gov 
ernor  Dickinson,  in  the  active  part  he  took,  was  wholly  on  one  side  of 
the  great  question  then  pending,  which  was  of  union  or  estrangement 
between  the  States.  Mr.  Webster  was  not  so  correct  in  the  horoscope 
he  cast  for  Governor  Dickinson's  future  life,  in  that  touching  note  of 
his,  which  has  been  read,  as,  twenty  years  before,  when  there  was  the 
first  dawn  of  the  trouble  and  darkness  which  were  to  burst  over  this 
country,  he  was  in  his  prayer  for  himself,  that  when  he  should  last  look 
upon  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  he  might  behold  our  flag,  without  a  single 
star  obscured  or  a  single  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  he  might  not  look  upon 
States  dissevered  and  belligerent,  or  upon  a  land  drenched  with  frater 
nal  blood.  And,  in  the  settlement  of  1850,  that  great  statesman  found 
a  serene  sky  for  his  country,  upon  which  he  last  looked  in  death.'  But 
you  will  remember  that  he  foresaw  for  Governor  Dickinson  no  prob 
able  occasion  for  as  great  fortitude,  as  great  patriotism,  as  great  servi 
ces  to  this  nation,  as  he  had  rendered  in  the  pacification  of  our  politics 
in  1850.  Governor  Dickinson  lived  to  exercise  the  same  spirit,  to  show 
the  same  determination  to  be  wholly  on  one  side,  as  much  and  through- 


58  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

out  during  the  civil  war,  and  for  the  Union  first,  always  and  forever, 
and  to  bear  a  part  in  civil  life  and  in  popular  influence  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  this  whole  struggle,  which,  happily  concluded,  permitted 
him  to  look  once  more  upon  the  flag  of  his  country  without,  a  single 
star  obscured  or  a  single  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  however  many 
honorable  wounds  it  may  have  received  in  the  smoke  and  fire  of  battle. 
Now,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of  the  profession,  we  must  pro 
nounce  the  career  of  Governor  Dickinson  earnest,  useful,  distinguished, 
eminent,  famous ;  yet  it  is  made  np  of  the  materials  of  the  life  of  Amer 
icans  open  to  the  same  traits  of  character  and  the  same  powerful  intel 
lect,  whoever  shall  possess  them,  and  whoever  shall  exercise  them.  He 
possessed  those  traits  of  character,  he  exercised  those  forms  of  prepara 
tion,  and  he  acted  in  those  paths  of  conduct  which,  under  institutions 
like  ours,  are  the  most  useful  to  the  country,  and  receive  the  largest 
share  of  popular  favor  and  of  public  distinction.  And  yet  there  was 
not  the  slightest  sacrifice  of  any  private  virtue,  nor  the  least  surrender 
of  domestic  duties.  The  judgment  of  his  countrymen  of  his  public 
conduct  would  have  procured  no  such  attendance  about  his  obsequies 
as  was  shown  at  Binghamton,  if  his  private  character  had  been  less 
pure,  if  his  life  had  been  less  beautiful ;  and,  under  the  clear  light  of 
that  judgment  of  the  thousands  that  were  within  the  range  of  personal 
knowledge  of  him,  we  see  the  estimate  which  our  kind  makes  of  such 
men;  for  I  am  told  that  as  the  train,  which  carried  his  remains,  without 
the  noise  of  bells  or  whistle  of  the  engine,  slowly  and  silently  entered 
the  station-house,  thirty  thousand  of  his  fellow-citizens  were  there  in 
sorrow  to  receive  him,  and  that  when  the  procession  formed  which  fol 
lowed  him  from  his  house  through  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
the  place  of  his  burial,  through  this  w^hole  passage,  from  the  home  of 
his  affections  to  that  house  appointed  for  all  the  living,  there  was  one 
continuous  unbroken  stream  of  living  affection  and  respect,  that  thus 
connected  these  two  abiding  places  of  mortality. 


ADDRESS  OF  JAMES  T.  BRADY,  ESQ. 

ME.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  OP  THE  BAE, 

Although  I  accepted  with  pleasure  the  invitation  to  attend  this 
meeting,  and  to  say  a  few  words  to  my  brethren  to-day,  I  did  so  with 
a  consciousness  that  the  state  of  my  voice,  which  you  may  readily 
notice,  would  prevent  my  making  any  extended  remarks,  even  if  in  the 
absence  of  that  difficulty  I  felt  the  slightest  inclination  to  do  so.  I  have 
listened  with  you  attentively  to  the  truthful,  eloquent  and  touching 
addresses  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me,  to  the  eloquent 
elegies  and  eulogies  of  a  good  man.  I  do  not  know,  gentlemen,  how 


BIOGKAPII1CAL    SKETCH.  59 

those  who  have  arrived  at  the  period  of  life  in  which  I  exist  estimate 
their  fellow-creatures.  Like  you,  I  honor  greatness,  genius  and  achieve 
ments  ;  but  I  honor  more  those  qualities  in  a  man's  nature  which  show 
that  while  he  holds  a  proper  relation  to  the  Deity,  he  has  also  a  jusfc 
estimate  of  his  fellow-men,  and  a  kindly  feeling  towards  them.  I  would 
rather  have  it  said  of  me,  after  death,  by  my  brethren  of  the  bar,  that 
they  were  sorry  I  had  left  their  companionship,  than  to  be  spoken  of  in 
the  highest  strains  of  gifted  panegyric.  When  I  think  of  Mr.  Dick 
inson,  I  think  of  a  man  who,  I  am  quite  sure,  had  no  guile  in  his 
nature,  and  who  died  leaving  no  living  creature  to  rejoice  at  his  death ; 
and  the  man  who  can  say  that  of  himself,  in  the  still  watches  of  the 
night,  when  his  conscience  is  inspected  only  by  the  Almighty  and  him 
self,  need  not,  in  my  imperfect  view  of  religious  sentiment  and  duty,  be 
much  afraid  to  die. 

I  have  no  tear  to  shed  over  the  grave  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Dickinson. 
He  might  have  lived  longer,  and  his  constitution  seemed  to  indicate 
that  he  would ;  and  for  the  sake  of  that  dear  partner  of  his  young,  as 
of  his  old  affections,  to  whom  Judge  Bosworth  so  touchingly  alluded, 
I  wish  that  she  had  still  retained  his  kindly  attention  and  sweet  society. 
But  there  is  a  time  to  die,  appointed  for  all  men.  It  was  the  will  of 
the  Creator  that  he  should  depart,  and  he  has  gone,  gone  gracefully 
and  hopefully,  out  of  this  busy,  distracting  world.  I  say  he  went  out 
of  it  gracefully,  for  we  are  told  to-day  (what  I  was  delighted  to  hear), 
that  almost  the  last  act  of  his  life  which  could  properly  be  communica 
ted  to  the  public  here,  is,  that  in  this  spring  time,  with  the  vision  of  his 
sick  wife  before  him,  he  went  out,  not  amongst  the  children  of  the 
ground,  which  the  poet  has  so  beautifully  called  "the  stars  of  earth," 
for  a  cluster  of  flowers  to  place  in  her  delicate  hand,  but  he  culled 
them  out  of  his  own  heart,  and  he  has  gone  to  the  presence  of  his 
Maker  with  the  odor  of  that  intellectual  bouquet  pervading  his  soul. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  Mr.  Dickinson  at 
Binghamton.  It  was  on  a  memorable  occasion — one  of  the  many 
which  illustrated  that  it  seemed  designed  that,  between  him  and  myself, 
there  should  exist  various  and  strong  sympathies,  political,  professional 
and  social.  Mr.  Dickinson  and  myself,  as  some  gentleman  here  may 
remember,  belonged  to  the  small,  despairing  band  in  this  State  who 
carried  into  the  political  contest  of  the  North,  for  the  last  time,  the 
flag  of  the  South,  contending  that  the  South  should  enjoy  to  the 
utmost,  and  with  liberal  recognition,  all  the  rights  she  could  fairly 
claim  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  How  small  that 
band  was,  all  familiar  with  the  political  history  of  this  State  can  tell. 
I  was  at  his  home.  Hospitality  is  known  and  has  always  been  known 
among  all  conditions  of  men.  The  fact  that  we  have  enjoyed  it  in  the 
residence  of  a  friend  often  prevents  breaches  of  acquaintance,  which, 


60  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

but  for  that  pleasant  influence,  might  cease ;  and  when  once  the  foot 
has  fallen  upon  the  threshold  with  the  certainty  of  welcome,  it  is  the 
saddest  thing  in  nature  to  feel  that  it  can  never  press  that  threshold 
more.  I  observed  there  the  beautiful  relations  between  Mr.  Dickinson 
and  his  family  so  well  depicted  by  Judge  Bosworth  here.  I  saw  him 
with  his  children  entering  into  their  sports.  I  witnessed  his  delight 
when  music  came  to  his  pleased  senses.  I  recognized  in  him  that 
which  never  can  be  absent  from  a  man  and  leave  him  entirely  lovable, 
that  the  boy  was  not  yet  extinct.  I  am  very  happy  to  hear  from  my 
friend,  Judge  Bosworth,  that  our  distinguished  brother  had  devoted 
himself  to  religion.  It  is  refreshing,  when  we  know  the  tendency  of 
the  American  people  to  infidelity,  and  which  is  a  strongly  marked 
characteristic  of  the  times  in  which  we  live.  I  am  sure  he  had  a  deep 
and  an  instructive  sense  of  responsibility  to  Him 

"  Who  sees  with  equal  eye,  as  God  of  all, 
A  hero  perish  or  a  sparrow  fall." 

And  I  know,  from  his  love  of  poetry,  that  he  must  have  read  and 
often  repeated  to  himself  those  exquisite  lines  : 

"  There  is  a  God  on  high  who  stoops  to  feed 
The  humming  bird,  and  catch  the  tiny  seed 
Which  falls  from  lovely  wild  flowers, 
And  in  turn  He'll  garner  up  man's  soul, 
That  precious  germ,  which  but  takes  root 
On  earth  to  bloom  on  high, 
A  bright  immortal  flow'r  that  cannot  die." 

The  proceedings  were  concluded  by  the  movement  of  a  resolution 
by  D.  0.  BIRDSALL,  Esq.,  as  follows : 

I  could  not,  if  I  desired,  add  one  word  to  the  many  eloquent 
eulogies  that  we  have  just  listened  to,  respecting  our  dear  departed 
friend.  It  has  been  truthfully  said  that  he  spent  a  long  life  in  the 
useful  service  of  his  country.  He  has  gone  to  that  bourne  from  which 
no  traveller  returns,  leaving  as  an  inheritance  to  his  dearly  loved 
family  but  little  except  a  spotless  reputation,  and  a  name  that  will  live 
in  fond  remembrance  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people.  I  think  it 
but  proper  that  the  citizens  of  ISTew  York,  more  especially  the  bar, 
should  take  some  action  towards  the  erection  of  a  mortuary  memorial, 
in  commemoration  of  his  many  virtues,  that  future  generations  may 
jook  upon  it  and  say,  '•  Here  lie  the  remains  of  a  great  and  good  man." 
It  may  truly  be  said  of  him,  that  "  his  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 
so  mixed  in  him,  that  nature  might  stand  up  and  say  to  all  the  world — 
This  was  a  man."  I,  therefore,  offer  the  following  resolutions : 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH.  61 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed,  consisting  of  Hon.  Joseph 
S.  Bosworth,  Hon.  John  A.  Dix,  Hon.  Henry  E.  Davies,  Hon.  Edwards  Pierre- 
pont  and  Hon.  William  F.  Allen,  who  shall  be  authorized  to  take  such  meas 
ures  as  may  to  them  seem  most  expedient,  to  raise  a  fund  for,  and  cause  the 
erection  of,  a  suitable  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Daniel  S. 
Dickinson. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  so  appointed  correspond  and  act  with  like 
Committees  that  may  hereafter  be  appointed  for  this  purpose  at  Binghamton 
or  elsewhere. 


The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted,  and,  on  motion  of  Judge 
Pierrepont,  the  meeting  adjourned. 

SAMUEL  E.  BETTS, 

President. 
HENRY  E.  DAVIES, 
WILLIAM  D.  SHIPMAN, 
CHAELES  L.  BENEDICT, 
CHARLES  P.  DALY, 
GEOEGE  G.  BARNARD, 
CHARLES  MASON, 
NOAH  DAVIS, 
ANTHONY  L.  EOBEETSON, 

Vice-Presidents. 
SAMUEL  BLATCHFOED, 
JAMES  C.  SPENCER, 

/Secretaries. 


DICKINSON'S    SPEECHES. 


SPEECH 

ON  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USURY  LAWS. 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  NEW  YOKE,  February  10,  1837. 

[THIS  Speech  is  the  earliest  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  public  addresses, 
of  which  a  report  has  been  preserved.  It  was  made  under  the  follow 
ing  circumstances.  Gov.  Marcy  had,  in  his  message  to  the  Legisla 
ture,  recommended  the  repeal  of  the  Usury  Laws ;  and  the  measure 
was  brought  forward  in  the  Senate  by  the  late  Col.  Young,  of  Sara 
toga,  and  supported  with  all  his  great  and  peculiar  ability.  At  his 
instance  the  Senate  ordered  the  printing  of  Jeremy  Bentham's  work 
against  the  policy  and  sense  of  anti-usury  laws.  Mr.  Dickinson  led 
the  opposition  to  the  proposed  repeal.  The  discussion  of  the  question 
in  the  Legislature  was  very  animated,  but  the  agitation  ended  for  the 
time,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  as  a  public  question  in  the  State, 
by  the  adoption,  at  the  same  session,  of  a  law  providing  additional 
safeguards  and  severer  penalties  against  usury.] 

ME.  -CHAIRMAN — Having  been  placed  upon  the  select  com 
mittee  to  which  was  referred  that  part  of  his  excellency's  mes 
sage  which  relates  to  a  repeal  of  the  usury  laws,  it  would  seem 
to  be  proper  that  the  views  which  influence  me  in  my  conclu 
sion  should  be  submitted.  It  will  be  recollected  that  when 
this  bill  was  reported  by  the  Honorable  Chairman  of  the  select 
committee,  I  reserved  to  myself  the  right  to  act  as  subsequent 
reflection  might  dictate.  I  had  previously  looked  at  the  laws  as 
they  existed  ;  had  witnessed,  as  I  supposed,  their  salutary  influ 
ences  upon  community,  but  had  not  examined  in  detail  the  causes 
by  general  reasonings,  independent  of  their  practical  utility, 
which  led  to  their  enactment,  or  whether  they  could  be  sustained 

Inasmuch  as  the  Honorable  Chairman  of  the  committee,  who 
has  advocated  the  repeal  of  these  laws,  did  not  submit  his  views 
by  way  of  a  report,  I  had  indulged  the  hope,  that  in  discussing 


this  bill,  he  would  have  favored  us  with  all  the  reasons  which 
he  seems  to  suppose  exist  in  favor  of  the  proposed  repeal ; — 
that  in  addition  to  the  splendid  theory  he  has  given  us,  he 
would  have  descended  from  this  giddy  height,  and  for  a  mo 
ment  showed  us  the  practical  operation  of  this  great  and  extra 
ordinary  change,  upon  the  sober  realities  of  human  life  ; — that 
his  giant  intellect  would  have  produced  some  reason  which 
would  tend  to  dispel  the  moral  darkness,  which  he  supposes 
pervades  our  land.  But  the  Honorable  Senator  informs  us  he 
has  no  further  affirmative  reasons  to  urge — that  he  has  said  all 
he  deems  necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  subject, 
and  that  we  shall  hear  his  voice  no  more,  except  by  way  of 
reply ;  and  the  friends  of  the  existing  laws  are  called  upon  to 
show  cause,  if  any  they  have,  why  they  should  not  be  forthwith 
repealed. 

Since  this  question  was  first  agitated,  I  have  brought  to  it 
my  best  consideration.  I  have  endeavored  to  find  out  the 
reason  for  these  laws  as  well  as  to  test  their  practical  operation. 
I  have  read  the  works  of  the  celebrated  Jeremy  Bentham,  to 
gether  with  those  of  various  other  writers  who  assert  their  in- 
utility.  I  have  listened  with  profound  and  deep  attention  to 
the  learned  and  eloquent  reasoning  of  the  Honorable  Senator 
from  the  Fourth  ;  and  the  result  has  been,  that  I  am  more  than 
confirmed,  in  the  opinions  which  I  had  previously  entertained. 
I  have  become  satisfied  that  usury  laws  are  not  only  proper, 
necessary  and  highly  beneficial  in  their  practical  operation  ;  but 
that  they  can  be  sustained  and  justified  upon  abstract  principles 
alone. — Nothing  but  a  great  and  abiding  confidence  in  the 
justice  of  the  conclusions  I  have  adopted,  could  have  induced 
me  to  trespass  upon  the  time  of  this  body ;  I  do  so  with  ex 
treme  diffidence  and  against  fearful  odds.  The  prompt  and  un 
equivocal  recommendation  of  his  excellency,  for  whose  opinions 
I  entertain  the  most  unqualified  respect ;  the  unconquerable 
desire  abroad  to  originate  something  new  in  monetary  affairs ; 
and  the  flood  of  light  and  learning  shed  abroad  by  the  Honor 
able  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  all  seem  to  admonish  me  of  the 
presumptuous  task  I  have  undertaken.  But  the  laws  sought  to 
be  repealed  have  had  existence  from  the  earliest  history  of  man 
— in  all  ages  and  in  aU  governments  ;  they  have  become  a  part 
of  our  institutions ;  they  have  received  the  sanction  of  age ; 


THE  EEPEAL  OF  THE  USURY  LAWS.  65 

they  have  stood  the  tests  of  experience  ;  they  were  incorporated 
into  our  system,  and  have  been  retained  by  wise  and  patriotic 
statesmen,  and  no  system  based  upon  mere  theoretic  speculation, 
however  gaudy  and  inviting,  should  induce  us  to  a  change 
without  looking  to  the  reasons  which  move  us,  and  the  conse 
quences  likely  to  follow. 

The  bill  introduced  by  the  Honorable  Senator  from  the 
Fourth,  repeals  the  laws  as  to  individuals,  but  retains  their 
prohibitions  as  to  corporations — thus  admitting  that  the  laws 
are  just  in  principle,  and  necessary  to  be  retained,  to  prevent 
enormous  exactions  by  the  banks  ;  and  yet  the  bill  tempts  them 
to  do  indirectly  what  it  seeks  to  restrain  them  from  doing.  By 
far  the  greatest  portion  of  moneyed  capital  within  this  State  is 
contained  in  banks  ;  it  is  their  exclusive  business  to  lend  money ; 
the  profit  of  a  country  bank  depends  mainly  on  the  amount  of 
its  loans  upon  circulation ;  and  of  the  city  bank  upon  the 
amount  of  its  loans  made  upon  deposits ;  ah1  are  interested  to 
extend  their  loans  to  their  utmost  means ;  they  are  daily 
brought  into  competition ;  and  yet  a  proposal  to  permit  them 
to  deal  in  money  at  the  "  market  price,"  would  meet  with  but 
little  favor;  and  why?  Because  a  moment's  reflection  must 
convince  the  most  inexperienced  that  such  a  measure  would  be 
fraught  with  consequences  the  most  ruinous  and  fearful,  and 
that  their  "  competition,"  like  that  of  moneyed  individuals  would 
be  combination.  The  sense  of  the  community  has  been  aroused 
upon  the  subject  of  moneyed  monopolies.  The  people  virtually 
ask  for  such  modification  of  existing  laws  as  shall  reduce  the 
profits  of  the  banks  to  seven  per  cent. ;  and  they  will  receive 
with  an  unwelcome  spirit  indeed,  a  law  which  turns  loose  upon 
them  the  united  moneyed  power  of  the  country.  They  have 
asked  for  a  fish,  and  this  bill  offers  them  a  serpent — one  too  of 
deadly  kind  that  will  sting  them  to  the  heart,  however  beautiful 
its  lustre  or  insinuating  its  approaches. 

The  banks  have  been  held  forth  here  as  soulless  monsters 
of  iniquity.  In  the  fertile  imagination  of  some,  they  stalk  with 
horrid  and  terrific  aspect  through  this  hall ;  now  they  stand 
forth  in  battle  array  and  "  shake  their  gory  locks  at  us,"  and 
anon  they  flit  among  us  like  the  disembodied  forms  of  pestilence 
and  famine,  and  we  breathe  their  contagion,  and  wot  not  of 
their  approaches  ;  they  are  made  to  be  the  evil  genius  of  noon- 
5 


66  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

day,  and  to  fill  the  visions  of  the  night  with  fear  and  conster 
nation  ;  and  yet  it  is  proposed  both  to  extend  and  perpetuate 
their  power.  The  intimate  connection  of  the  banks  with  the 
moneyed  men  of  this  day,  forbids  the  idea  of  "  compet&ion" 
They  are  bound  together  in  a  common  cause  with  chains  of 
gold.  Man  is  fond  of  power,  and  all  experience  has  proved 
that  a  constant  check  is  needed  to  prevent  its  abuse.  Money 
has  at  all  times,  in  all  ages,  and  under  every  condition,  been 
power  of  itself;  and  has  shown  that  its  career  must  be  watched 
with  that  jealous  and  sleepless  vigilance  which  is  the  peculiar 
characteristic  of  a  free  people,  to  prevent  it  from  accumulating 
force  to  an  extent  which  will  enable  it  to  aim  at  "  undivided 
empire."  No  plan  could  be  devised  which  would  more  effectu 
ally  place  the  lash  within  the  hands  of  moneyed  monopolists,  to 
scourge  and  chastise  a  people,  than  a  repeal  of  the  usury  laws. — 
Repeal  these  laws  as  to  banks,  as  well  as  individuals,  and  a 
scene  of  extortion,  ruin  and  distress  which  would  put  the 
darkest  portions  of  the  history  of  the  old  world  to  the  blush, 
would  follow.  Repeal  them  as  to  individuals,  but  suffer  them 
to  remain  as  to  corporations,  and  you  place  a  temptation  before 
the  moneyed  men,  most  of  whom  are  associated  with  banks,  too 
strong  for  human  nature  to  endure,  which  avarice  and  cupidity 
'cannot  and  will  not  resist ;  a  temptation  more  mighty  than  that 
which  caused  the  angels  to  sin.  Pass  this  bill  in  either  form, 
and  you  invite  every  moneyed  man  and  every  bank  to  curtail 
their  usual  accommodations,  until  they  create  a  demand  which 
will  raise  the  "  rate  of  usance  here  with  us  in  Venice  "  to  such 
fate,  as  will  induce  them  to  grant  the  "  supply  ;  " — to  such  rate 
'as  will  bring  a  train  of  evils  more  dreadful  than  "  war,  pesti 
lence,  and  famine." 

In  casting  about  for  evidences  of  public  sentiment  to  justify 
the  proposed  change,  in  addition  to  the  choice  spirits  of  the 
old  world,  who  have  been  called  from  the  "  vasty  deep,"  the 
Honorable  Senator  from  the  Fourth  has  mentioned  that  an  hon 
orable  ex-senator,  now  within  this  chamber,  has  recently  been 
made  a  hopeful  convert  to  his  creed ;  but  whether  his  conver 
sion  was  as  sudden  and  miraculous  as  that  of  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
and  like  his,  was  produced  by  the  great  light  which  has  been 
shining  round  about  us  here  at  noonday,  he  has  not  conde 
scended  to  declare.  The  information  is  well,  and  when  I  reflect 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USUKY  LAWS.  67 

upon  the  little  number,  "  few  and  far  between,"  who  will  join 
in  the  funeral  procession  of  this  bill,  I  most  fully  appreciate  the 
avidity  with  which  he  seizes  upon  a  single  name. 

The  Senator  from  the  Fourth  has  informed  us  that  few 
writers  have  ever  ventured  a  defence  of  the  usury  laws ;  that 
no  one  of  any  merit  has  attempted  to  vindicate  them  for  the 
last  half  century;  while  he  points  triumphantly  to  Jeremy 
Bentham's  essay  as  affording  a  most  perfect  and  memorable 
illustration  of  their  absurdity  and  utter  worthlessness.  He, 
moreover,  congratulates  himself  that  of  the  works  of  those  who 
have  attempted  to  justify  these  restraints  upon  "  natural  rights," 
not  a  single  one  remains.  They  have,  says  he,  fallen  still-born 
from  the  press,  or  gone  down  to  the  dark  gulf  of  oblivion.  But 
let  us  inquire  for  a  moment  how  it  was  with  Jeremy  Bentham, 
whom  the  Senator  presents  as  a  great  and  shining  light  in  the 
political  firmament,  held  aloft  as  a  beacon  to  warn  us  of  the 
rocks  and  shoals  where  the  ark  of  our  political  safety  may  be 
wrecked.  To  whom  does  he  owe  his  perpetuity?  What 
friendly  hand  has  snatched  him  from  the  extended  jaws  of  all 
devouring  time  and  served  him  up  to  the  political  epicures  of 
our  country  ?  But  a  few  days  since,  and  we  "  wot  not  what 
had  become  of  him,"  his  light  was  under  a  bushel,  and  "  lighted 
but  itself."  My  colleague,  Mr.  Mack,  informs  us,  that  his  great 
anxiety  to  cast  his  eyes  over  his  instructing  and  convincing 
pages,  caused  him  to  make  search  throughout  this  State  and 
country  for  Jeremy  Bentham,  but  in  vain  ;  that  he  has  had,  for 
two  long  years,  an  order  standing  with  an  English  bookseller, 
but  has  been  unable  to  find  him  in  modern  Europe.  The  Sen 
ator  from  the  Fourth  had  a  mateless  copy,  which,  like  the  sur 
vivor  among  the  servants  of  Job,  had  been  spared  from  the 
general  ruin,  to  tell  of  the  fate  which  had  overwhelmed  all 
others  around  it.  This,  by  the  paternal  and  fostering  care  of 
the  Senate  of  the  great  State  of  New  York,  has  been  rescued 
from  the  forlorn  fate  of  its  brethren,  and  warmed  into  life  and 
motion.  But  for  this,  the  renowned  Jeremy  Bentham  himself, 
with  all  his  "  blushing  honors  thick  upon  him,"  would  have  been 
virtually  numbered  with  the  things  that  were,  and  the  State 
of  New  York  would  have  been  compelled  to  legislate  in  dark 
ness. 

The  first  great  principle  sought  to  be  established  by  the 


68 

Honorable  Senator  from  the  Fourth  is,  that  the  usury  laws  are 
infringements  upon  "  natural  rights  ;  "  that  money  is  like  mer 
chandise,  and  should  be  left  open  to  competition — to  be  bought 
and  sold  at  the  "  market  price,"  and  to  be  regulated  by  "  de 
mand  and  supply  "  alone.  This  is  the  great  and  radical  error  ; 
an  assumed  fact  without  evidence  to  support  it ;  for,  however 
nearly  money  and  merchandise  may  be  allied  in  point  of  theory, 
they  will  be  found  to  be  essentially  different  in  their  practical 
tendency ;  for  although  money  is  a  commodity  in  a  strict,  yet 
it  is  not  in  a  popular  sense  of  the  term,  and  though  money  may 
be  merchandise,  merchandise  is  not  money.  Merchandise  is  a 
vendable,  consumable  commodity,  and,  in  its  most  enlarged 
sense,  valuable  as  such.  The  value  of  money  is  intrinsic  and 
exchangeable  only.  Merchandise  is  the  immediate  reward  of 
productive  industry  at  the  will  of  the  producer — money  re 
motely  at  the  will  of  others.  Money  is  an  attribute  of  sover 
eignty  ;  its  creation,  kind  and  value,  to  some  extent,  are  con 
trolled  by  the  supreme  power  of  the  country,  and  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  few.  Merchandise  is  the  direct  offspring  of  individual 
enterprise,  and  is  in  the  hands  of  all.  Money  is  made  a  tender 
in  the  payment  of  all  debts  at  the  will  of  the  debtor.  Mer 
chandise  is  not,  but  can  be  so  applied  only  at  the  will  of  the 
creditor.  Money  is  always  passed  at  a  fixed  value — merchan 
dise  at  such  price  as  can  be  agreed  upon  by  the  parties.  Money  is 
practically  convertible  into  any  and  every  species  of  existing 
property  ;  it  is  in  a  word  the  necessaries,  comforts  and  luxuries 
of  life ;  in  a  temporal  sense,  the  "  one  thing  needful "  and  ca 
pable  of  creating  all  things  out  of  nothing — like  the  ale  of  Boni 
face,  it  is  "  meat,  drink  and  lodging." 

Property,  other  than  money,  is  valuable  in  its  exhibition,  use 
and  display;  money  in  its  secret  and  hidden  influences.  Prop 
erty  is  the  object  of  the  senses ;  its  existence  and  extent  are 
always  known  ;  money,  like  faith,  is  the  "  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  and  the.  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  Property  is 
perishable ;  the  fashion  of  the  world  renders  it  valueless ;  its 
place  is  supplied  by  the  returning  "  seed  time  and  harvest." 
Money  is  an  article  which  neither  "  moth  nor  rust  corrupt," 
although  "thieves  break  through  and  steal."  Money  is  the 
measure  of  all  value  ;  it  has  a  stated  and  permanent  value  by 
authority  of  law ;  and  being  so,  there  is  a  propriety  in  fixing 


THE  KEPEAL  OF  THE  tSURY  LAWS.          69 

the  value  of  its  use.  The  fixed  interest  of  money  is  the  rule  by 
which  the  prices  of  property  are  graduated.  The  purchaser  of 
a  farm  determines  the  price  by  ascertaining  whether  it  will  pay 
the  interest  upon  the  purchase  money  ;  the  landlord  makes  the 
same  a  standard  in  fixing  his  rents.  Unsettle  the  interest  of 
money  and  you  have  no  longer  a  standard  by  which  anything 
can  be  regulated.  Money  has  been  truly  denominated  the  root 
of  all  evil ;  it  is  the  shrine  at  which  men  are  wont  to  worship 
with  an  eastern  idolatry ;  it  has  led  man  captive  in  its  golden 
jfiains  in  all  periods  of  his  history ;  its  power  all  can  feel,  but 
none  describe.  It  has  led  men  into  temptation  and  betrayed 
innocent  blood ;  it  answers  all  things,  and  nothing  will  supply 
its  place.  Its  peculiarity  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  when  the 
Son  of  Man  was  on  earth  a  miracle  was  wrought  to  obtain  it  to 
pay  a  tax  to  Caesar,  whose  image  and  superscription  it  bore ; 
and  should  the  usury  laws  be  repealed,  miracles  would  again  be 
required  to  obtain  it. 

It  is  further  said  by  the  Honorable  Senator  from  the  Fourth, 
that  money,  being  like  merchandise,  if  left  to  "  regulate  itself," 
would  soon  become  not  only  extremely  plenty,  but  that  the 
rates  of  interest  would  be  much  less  than  seven  per  cent.  To 
this  proposition  I  emphatically  interpose  a  prompt,  broad  and 
unqualified  denial.  I  am  aware  that  with  my  inexperience  in 
matters  of  legislation,  I  shall  be  unable  to  compete  with  the 
great  legislative  learning  and  experience  of  the  Senator  from 
the  Fourth,  and  in  attempting  to  wield  arguments  founded  upon 
abstract  theories  and  metaphysical  subtleties,  I  should  feel  like 
David  in  the  armor  of  Saul,  as  though  I  had  not  proved  them. 
It  is  my  intention  to  speak  of  the  practical  affairs  of  life,  to  look 
upon  them  like  an  inhabitant  of  this  world.  It  is  my  highest 
ambition  to  trace  effects  from  their  true  causes — to  follow  them 
to  their  source — to  learn  what  would  be  the  operation  of  a 
repeal  upon  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  upon  the  interest  of 
the  farmer  and  mechanic,  from  whose  ranks  I  am  proud  to  ac 
knowledge  I  came,  by  whose  side  I  have  toiled,  and  whose  in 
terests  I  claim  to  understand ;  and  with  such  knowledge  I  pro 
claim  with  corresponding  confidence  that  a  repeal  of  these  laws 
would  place  the  usurer's  gripe  at  the  throat  of  every  poor 
man  in  the  community.  He  would  live,  and  move  and  have  his 
being,  at  the  bidding  of  his  oppressor ;  he  might  indeed  sound 


70  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  name  of  liberty,  but  it  would  be  a  lingering  over  the  remains 
after  the  spirit  had  fled. 

That  a  repeal  of  the  usury  laws  would  reduce  the  rate  of 
interest  is,  however  true  in  conjecture,  notoriously  false  in  fact. 
There  is  one  single  proposition  that  will  show  the  fallacy  of 
this  last  grand  delusion.     An  interest  of  fifty  per  cent,  per 
annum   would   undoubtedly  be   so   far   without    the   pale   of 
"  shackles,"  "  free  trade,"  and  "  market  price,"  as  not  to  affect 
injuriously  this  new-fangled  doctrine  of  "  demand  and  supply ; " 
or  in  other  words,  all  the  alleged  advantages  of  the  repeal,  al& 
the  "  competition  "  expected  to  take  place,  would  be  most  fully 
and  abundantly  realized  under  such  a  law,  and  yet  who  would 
dare  hazard  his  reputation  for  sanity  by  voting  for  it.     Who 
would,  after  giving  such  vote,  ever  show  his  face  to  his  insulted 
and  betrayed  constituents  ?     Who  would  presume  to  raise  the 
rate  of  interest  by  his  direct  vote  a  single  per  cent.  ?     No  one  ; 
— for  he  would  well  rest  assured  that  an  indignant  people  would 
rise  in  their  might  and  scourge  the  money  changers  from  the 
temple  of  legislation  ;  and  yet  it  is  gravely  proposed  to  take 
off  all  restraint ;  to  arm  the  strong  against  the  weak  ;  to  make 
the  rich  richer,  the  poor  poorer,  and  the  potent  more  powerful. 
But  we  are  asked  by  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  if  we  are 
afraid  to  trust  the  people  ;  if  we  think  we  know  what  is  for 
their  benefit  as  well  as  they  know  themselves ;  whether  we  wish 
to  constitute  ourselves  their  guardians,  and  make  bargains  for 
individuals.     This,  sir,  is  beautiful,  and  well  becomes  the  ear, 
but  recommends  itself  most  miserably  to  the  heart  and  judg 
ment.     When  summarily  stripped  of  its  specious  disguise,  it 
will  be  found  to  be  unworthy  of  serious  consideration.     I  ac 
knowledge  myself  second  to  no  one  in  my  admiration  for  the 
intelligence  of  the  people  ;  but,  sir,  for  what  are  we  legislating  ? 
To  protect  the  people  from  foreign  aggression,  or  against  the 
inhabitants  of  the  moon  ?     No,  sir,  but  from  the  rapacity  of 
those  among  themselves  ;  to  guard  the  weak  from  the  strong ; 
to  make  laws  for  the  protection  of  virtue  and  the  punishment 
of  vice  ;  to  strengthen  the  social  compact  and  add  beauty  and 
harmony  to  the  structure.     This  hall,  the  very  seats  we  occupy, 
bear  evidence  that  man  proposes  to  enact  laws  for  his  govern 
ment.     Why  are  we  here  legislating  upon  matters  of  interest 
ing  import,  if  this  fulsome  doctrine  be  true  ?     Why  not  abolish 


THE  KEPEAL  OF  THK  USURY  LAWS.  71 

all  restraint,  and  let  confusion  and  anarchy  ensue,  until  matters 
"  regulate  themselves  ?  "  Look  for  a  moment  through  our 
entire  code  of  laws,  and  you  will  find  there  a  "  rule  of  action, 
enforcing  what  is  right,  and  prohibiting  what  is  wrong,"  in 
tended  to  curb  the  depraved  and  licentious  passions  of  men, 
which  may  perhaps,  in  individual  cases,  operate  harshly,  but  the 
general  influences  of  which  are  beneficial  and  salutary. 

We  have  a  law  requiring  all  carriages  meeting  upon  the 
highway  to  turn  to  the  right.  Now,  to  adopt  the  reasoning  of 
ihe  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  how  do  the  legislature  know 
which  is  the  best  side  for  the  teamster  to  turn  out  ?  They  had 
better  take  the  whip  and  reins  at  once  into  their  own  hands,  if 
they  know  how  to  drive  so  much  better  than  he.  Though  there 
are  barriers  as  insurmountable  as  the  walls  of  China,  or  gulfs 
as  impassable  as  that  which  separated  the  rich  man  and  Laza 
rus,  the  law  is  peremptory,  and  requires  all  to  turn  to  the 
right ;  and  yet  I  have  never  learned  that  the  utility  of  this  law 
was  ever  questioned.  We  have  a  law  requiring  druggists  to 
label  all  medicines  which  are  highly  destructive  of  animal  life, 
"  Poison"  Why  this  officious  intermeddling  with  the  affairs 
of  individuals  ?  In  the  language  of  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth, 
do  the  legislature  fear  that  the  people  have  not  intelligence 
enough  to  know  what  poison  is,  without  legislative  aid  ?  The 
legislature  had  better  take  all  the  druggist  shops  under  their 
own  superintendence ;  and  yet  who  has  not  concurred  in  the 
propriety  of  such  a  law  ?  By  law  no  man  is  permitted  to  burn 
his  house,  though  he  may  destroy  it  in  any  other  way  he  pleases. 
And  here  again  the  lawgiver  presumes  to  know  what  is  just 
and  proper  to  the  exclusion  of  the  opinions  of  the  individual ; 
arid  yet  this  has,  so  far,  remained  unassailed.  A  dissolution  of 
the  marriage  contract  is  expressly  prohibited  unless  declared  by 
a  court  of  equity  for  cause;  and  tliat  too  though  a  Socrates 
and  Xantippe  are  bound  together  in  the  silken  cords,  and  al 
though  they  both  desire  to  dissolve  the  relation,  because  the 
legislature  assumes  to  knoAV  what  is  just  in  the  premises,  better 
than  the  parties ;  and  who  has  murmured  at  the  existence  of 
such  a  law  ?  In  short,  all  the  laws  of  society  are  more  or  less 
arbitrary  in  their  character  ;  they  are  but  the  declared  opinions 
of  the  people  through  their  representatives,  intended  for  the 
general  good.  All  nations,  whether  savage  or  civilized,  ac- 


72 

knowledge  their  necessity  and  yield  obedience  to  their  dictates ; 
the  good  citizen  yields  a  portion  of  his  "  natural  right "  to 
society ;  that  he  may  enjoy  in  return  its  protecting  benefits. 

Human  nature,  in  all  its  stages,  seems  to  have  needed  con 
trol.  When  man  was  yet  pure  and  holy,  reposing  in  the  luxu 
riant  bowers  of  Paradise,  basking  in  the  smiles  of  Divine  favor, 
and  regaling  himself  with  fruits  of  heavenly  culture,  he  was  for 
bidden  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  and  fore 
warned  that  in  the  day  that  he  should  eat  thereof,  he  should 
surely  die.  Nor  because  the  law  was  violated  was  it  repealed, 
as  is  suggested  by  modern  wisdom,  but  was  enforced  in  its 
awful  spirit,  and 

"  Nature  from  her  seat,  sighing  through  all  her  works, 
Gave  signs  of  wo  that  all  was  lost." 

Since  man's  fall  from  his  high  estate,  his  sad  and  eventful 
history,  whether  derived  from  the  mysteries  of  inspiration  or 
the  daily  experience  of  life,  clearly  indicates  the  necessity  of 
fixed  laws  to  restrain  the  evil  passions  of  his  nature ;  for  al 
though  the  moral  code  may  influence  a  majority,  may  point  the 
way  to  the  virtuous  and  the  good,  yet  there  are  those  in  all 
communities,  who  can  only  be  restrained  by  penal  enactments 
from  an  indulgence  in  their  depraved  appetites  and  passions. 

The  sin  which  has  most  easily  beset  man  in  all  ages,  has 
been  the  oppression  of  his  fellpws.  The  first  man  born  of 
woman  slew  the  second,  and  that  he  in  his  turn  might  not  fall 
by  the  hand  of  violence,  the  Lord  set  a  mark  upon  him  that  no 
man  should  slay  him.  Lust,  avarice,  revenge,  and  all  the  baser 
passions  of  his  nature,  have  been  held  in  check  by  the  salutary 
operations  of  law  ;  and  while  too  many  have  had  the  turpitude 
to  transgress,  there  are  few  who  have  been  able  to  escape  its 
penalties.  If  its  provisions  are  found  inadequate,  a  more  per 
fect  and  severe  enactment  is  suggested ;  and  although  there 
may  occasionally  be  found  a  Samson,  who  will  break  the  seven 
green  withes  of  legislative  restraint,  their  general  effect  is  not 
the  less  beneficial  to  society. 

Avarice,  as  a  base  and  sordid  passion,  stands  high  in  the 
dark  catalogue  of  man's  depravity.  Like  jealousy,  it  "  makes 
the  meat  it  feeds  on  ;  " — like  the  kine  of  Pharaoh's  vision,  the 
more  it  consumes,  the  more  lean  and  hungry  it  becomes.  Tin- 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USUEY  LAWS.  73 

like  all  other  propensities,  it  "  seeks  no  intervals  of  abstinence 
to  edge  the  appetite ; "  it  chills  and  withers  the  social  affections 
of  the  heart,  and  freezes  the  "  genial  current  of  the  soul." 

When  the  seducer  looks  abroad  into  the  garden  of  creation, 
and  sees  the  flowers  which  his  infidelity  has  blighted,  when  he 
reflects  upon  the  blasted  expectation  and  disappointed  hope,  the 
bitter  tears  of  unavailing  repentance,  although  he  can  "  smile, 
and  smile,  and  be  a  villain,"  he  feels  compassion,  arid  for  a  mo 
ment  mourns  over  the  ruin  he  has  wantonly  created.  When  the 
murderer  has  laid  the  object  of  his  fiendish  revenge  in  bleeding 
helplessness  at  his  feet,  he  merges  the  demon  in  the  man,  and 
cries  oat  in  the  bitterness  of  his  heart  that  "  his  punishment  is 
greater  than  he  can  bear."  Even  the  haughty  and  ambitious 
Ca3sar,  when  he  had  vanquished  and  slain  the  noble  and  chiv 
alrous  Pompey,  looked  upon  his  late  rival's  signet  and  wept. 
But  the  marble  cheek  of  avarice  was  never  moistened  with  a 
tear,  or  its  bronzed  heart  warmed  with  a  generous  and  sym 
pathetic  feeling,  for  the  miseries  of  the  unfortunate.  It  "  de 
vours  the  widow's  house  and  orphan's  bread  "  with  remorseless 
appetite,  and  looks  with  cold  indifference  upon  the  wretched 
ness  of  its  own  creation.  It  heeds  not 

" How  many  drink  the  cup 


Of  baleful  grief,  or  eat  the  bitter  bread 
Of  misery  ;  sore  pierced  by  wintry  winds, 
How  many  sink  into  the  sordid  hut 
Of  cheerless  poverty." 

The  laws  sought  to  be  repealed  were  intended  as  restraints 
upon  this  all-absorbing  passion.  They  formed  a  part  of  the 
Mosaic  code.  An  attempt  is  made  to  show  their  injustice  and 
folly  for  the  reason  that  they  only  prevented  Jew  from  taking 
usury  of  Jew,  but  left  him  free  to  extort  from  others.  A  mo 
ment's  attention  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  laws  as  they 
existed  with  the  Jews,  will  fully  demonstrate  justice  and  wis 
dom  in  their  origin : 

In  the  22d  chapter  of  Exodus,  25th  verse,  is  the  following 
rule : 

"  If  thou  lend  money  to  any  of  my  people  that  is  poor  by  thee,  thou 
slialt  not  be  to  him  as  a  usurer,  neither  shalt  thou  lay  upon  him  usury." 


74  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

In  the  25th  chapter  of  Leviticus,  36th  and  37th  verses,  the 
Jews  were  prohibited  in  their  intercourse  with  a  stranger,  if 
"  needy,"  from  taking  usury,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Take  thou  no  usury  of  him,  or  increase,  but  fear  thy  God,  that 
thy  brother  may  live  with  thee." 

"  Thou  shalt  not  give  him  thy  money  upon  usury,  nor  lend  him  thy 
victuals  for  increase." 

In  the  23d  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  19th  verse,  is  the  fol 
lowing  : 

"*Thou  shalt  not  lend  upon  usury  to  thy  brother,  usury  of  money, 
usury  of  victuals,  or  usury  of  anything  that  is  lent  upon  usury. 

The  succeeding  verses  declare  that  usury  may  be  taken  of  a 
stranger. 

Usury,  then,  meant  any  interest  for  mere  use. — The  Jews 
were  a  peculiar  people  ;  they  had  no  commerce,  and  money  was 
with  them  rather  a  treasure  than  an  article  of  trade.  They  had 
just  been  freed  from  a  state  of  the  most  abject,  degraded,  and 
tyrannous  vassalage  by  miraculous  interposition  ;  they  had  seen 
the  waters  of  the  sea  cleave  to  the  right  and  left  to  further 
their  escape,  while  their  enemies  and  persecutors  were  over 
whelmed  in  its  bosom  ;  they  were  wending  their  way  to  the 
land  of  promise,  which,  in  the  fervor  of  oriental  eloquence  and 
figure,  had  been  pictured  to  their  imaginations  as  "flowing  with 
milk  and  honey ; "  they  were  fed  by  the  spontaneous  produc 
tions  of  Heaven,  and  at  the  command  of  their  leader,  fresh 
water  leapt  from  the  barren  mountain  rock.  They  were  ad 
monished  by  the  bondage  and  persecutions  from  which  they 
had  escaped,  by  the  power  which  sustained  them  through  all 
their  eventful  vicissitudes,  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  kindness  and 
benevolence  among  themselves ;  to  look  with  compassion  upon 
the  needy,  and  to  watch  with  jealous  eye  the  motives  of 
strangers.  They  gave  a  signal  demonstration  of  the  implacable 
hatred  they  bore  their  masters,  the  Egyptians,  as  well  as  of 
their  attachment  to  a  " hard  currency"  by  borrowing,  not  to 
be  returned,  their  jewels  of  silver  and  jewels  of  gold.  They 
further  manifested  their  partiality  for  the  "precious  metals" 
by  converting  them  into  a  calf  for  their  adoration  ;  but  whether 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USUEY  LAWS.  75 

the  term  "  bull-ion  "  was  derived  from  this  circumstance,  I  leave 
to  the  modern  learned  in  such  matters  to  determine. 

Greece,  which  was  among  the  earliest  commercial  nations, 
had  no  usury  laws  ; — the  u  trade  in  money  was  left  to  regulate 
itself  by  demand  and  supply  ;  "  she  had,  to  be  sure,  the  idle  and 
useless  enactment  that  no  banker  should  demand  or  recover 
more  than  was  fixed  by  the  original  contract ;  accompanied  by 
a  kind  of  statutory  exhortation,  advising  that  the  interest  upon 
money  should  be  "  moderate"  admitting  that  some  restriction 
was  desirable  and  necessary,  to  check  the  avarice  and  cupidity 
of  man  : — but  what  was  the  result  of  "free  trade  "  in  Greece  ? 
Money  was  usually  sixty  per  cent,  a  year,  and  a  loan  for  a  voy 
age  to  the  Euxine  Sea,  which  took  but  six  months,  was  charged 
with  thirty  per  cent.  This  exorbitant  exaction  was  assailed 
by  various  individuals,  among  whom  was  Aristotle,  who,  be 
cause  money  would  not  generate  nor  vegetate,  pronounced  it 
barren,  and  condemned  the  practice  of  taking  any  interest  what 
ever  ;  thus  betraying  about  as  much  ignorance  of  the  practical 
tendency  of  his  subject  on  the  one  hand  as  has  the  renowned 
Jeremy  Bentham  on  the  other. 

In  the  early  days  of  Koine,  there  were  no  usury  laws ;  but 
the  popular  complaint  which  shook  to  its  foundation  the  eternal 
city  was  the  exorbitant  rate  of  interest  demanded  by  money 
lenders.  This  nation  had  no  commerce  which  could  justify  it, 
and  yet  the  rate  of  interest  was  frequently  nearly  or  quite  fifty 
per  cent.  That  these  rates  were  deemed  intolerable  and  oppres 
sive,  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  fact,  that  when  Rome  gath 
ered  her  elements  of  jurisprudence  from  foreign  nations  and 
enacted  them  into  a  code  of  laws,  which  were  written  upon 
brass  called  the  twelve  tables,  forming  the  statutes  of  the  land, 
the  rate  of  interest  was  fixed  at  one  per  cent,  per  annum.  Next 
came  the  Licinian  Law  which  forbade  all  interest.  But  the 
laws  of  Rome  in  this,  as  in  most  other  cases,  exerted  but  a 
feeble  influence  ;  there  was  a  continual  war  between  Patrician 
and  Plebeian.  When  the  money  lenders  bore  sway,  and  could 
procure  the  courts  of  justice  to  enforce  their  contracts,  their  op 
pressions  were  grievous,  and  their  power  was  exerted  to  such 
extent  as  to  render  it  deservedly  offensive  and  induce  the  peo 
ple  to  throw  it  off,  the  earliest  moment  they  could  bring  into 
action  sufficient  moral  courage  and  physical  force. 


76 

It  is  evident  that  a  great  share  of  the  prejudice  which  has 
obtained  against  usury  laws,  proceeded  from  the  blind  and  fan 
atical  spirit  with  which  usurers  were  formerly  treated.  In  the 
early  history  of  England,  Bracton,  Fleta  and  other  civilians,  bear 
evidence  to  the  abhorrence  in  w^hich  usury  was  held,  and  to  the 
severity  with  which  usurers  were  punished.  King  Alfred  con 
fiscated  the  estate  of  the  usurer,  and  ordained  that  he  should 
not  be  buried  in  consecrated  ground.  Edward  the  Confessor 
banished  the  money  lender  from  England.  Charlemagne,  king 
of  France,  prohibited  the  taking  of  any  interest.  In  the  reign 
of  King  Henry  VII.,  by  the  authority  of  the  Church,  usurers 
were  damned,  prohibited  the  realm  and  ranked  in  point  of  tur 
pitude  with  murderers  ;  and  in  Rome,  while  a  thief  forfeited 
only  double,  the  usurer  forfeited  four  fold  the  amount  unjustly 
taken.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  as  commerce  advanced, 
and  money  began  to  be  more  used  to  advance  its  interest,  the 
rate  of  interest  was  fixed  at  ten  pounds  upon  the  hundred  per 
annum.  But  this  not  having  the  desired  effect  the  statute  of 
fifth  and  sixth  of  Edward  VI.,  after  reciting  that  usury  was  an 
offence  against  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  and  was  "  seized  upon 
by  divers  greedy  persons"  repealed  the  statute  of  Henry,  and  en 
acted  a  highly  penal  statute,  prohibiting  any  interest  whatever. 
The  thirteenth  of  Elizabeth  repealed  the  statute  of  Edward,  and 
revived  the  statute  of  Henry  VIII.  In  the  reign  of  James  I., 
the  rate  was  reduced  to  eight  pounds  upon  the  hundred  per 
annum  ;  but  it  was  expressly  provided  that  it  should  not  allow 
the  taking  of  interest,  in  point  of  "  religion  or  conscience"  The 
twelfth  of  Charles,  reduced  the  rate  to  six  pounds  upon  the 
hundred  :  and  the  twelfth  of  Anne  to  five  pounds,  where  it  still 
remains. 

There  has  always  existed  a  strong  moral  feeling  against  ex 
tortion.  In  the  early  ages  the  feeling  was  aided  by  the  power 
of  the  Church,  or  rather  by  fanaticism  and  superstition.  The 
unwarrantable  severity  with  which  the  usurer  was  punished, 
has  been  urged  as  an  argument  against  the  laws,  when  the  man 
ner  in  which  they  were  administered  was  entirely  the  fault  of 
the  times.  The  people  were  unschooled  in  the  principles  of 
moral  philosophy,  and  the  vacillating,  sickly  administration  of 
justice  afforded  them  at  best  but  temporary  and  inefficient  re 
lief.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  warlike  and  ruffian  hordes,  whose 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USUKY  LAWS.  77 

rule  of  ruin  distracted  the  country  they  infested,  to  build  up 
with  one  hand  and  pull  down  with  the  other ; — one  day  turning 
loose  Ihe  usurer  upon  his  prey,  at  another  persecuting  him  with 
corresponding  vengeance  and  treating  him  as  a  murderer.  Had 
their  laws  been  fixed  and  unyielding,  their  punishments  propor 
tioned  to  the  offences,  we  should  have  little  to  urge  against 
them,  because  they  belonged  to  other  times.  The  Jews  in 
England  .and  France  were  money  lenders,  and  the  general 
treatment  they  received  in  the  former  country  may  be  learned 
from  the  fact  that  the  prodigal  King  John,  having  occasion  to 
"  demand"  a  thousand  marks,  did  so  of  a  Jew  at  Bristol,  who 
being  rather  tardy  in  granting  the  required  "  supply"  by  the 
order  of  the  king,  had  a  tooth  drawn  each  day  to  the  number 
of  seven,  when  the  matter  "  regulated  itself "  and  the  amount 
was  paid. 

[Here  Mr.  Young  interrupted  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  said  this 
was  all  occasioned  by  the  usury  laws.]  Mr.  Dickinson  continued, 
ISTo,  it  was  upon  the  magnificent  principle  of  "free  trade"  and 
allowing  matters  to  "  regulate  themselves.  The  Jews  were  a 
despised  and  persecuted  race  ;  they  were  called  dogs,  and  were 
not  allowed  the  protection  of  the  laws  ;  and  hence  as  to  them, 
there  was  no  law  upon  the  subject ; — the  scheme  of  free  trade 
and  "  natural  right "  had  its  fullest  scope, — might  made  right ; 
as  it  always  must  when  legal  restraints  are  abolished ;  King 
John  created  and  made  the  "  demand,"  and  the  poor  Jew  sit 
ting  like  "  patience  on  a  monument  (and  occasionally)  smiling 
at  grief,"  after  the  seventh  tooth  was  extracted,  concluded  to 
capitulate,  and  granted  the  "  supply  ;  "  and  this  is  one  beautiful 
illustration  of  permitting  matters  to  "  regulate  themselves " 
without  being  retarded  by  the  "  shackles  of  the  law" 

But  it  is  said  that  the  usury  laws  are  the  relics  of  a  barbar 
ous  age,  and  should  therefore  be  repealed.  I  had  supposed  that 
their  antiquity,  would  at  least  command  for  them  respect; — 
that  if  positively  beneficial  in  their  operation,  they  were  not  the 
less  so,  because  they  had  existed  in  earlier  ages  ;  and  that  their 
adoption  by  all  governments  was  some  evidence  of  their  obvious 
utility  and  necessity.  Do  the  rams  of  heaven  cease  to  impart 
their  influences  to  the  vegetable  world,  because  they  have  de 
scended  upon  the  arid  plains  and  sterile  desert  ? — Does  the  sun 
withhold  its  genial  warmth  from  us,  because  its  invigorating 


78 

beams  fell  upon  the  Goth  and  Vandal  ?  And  above  all  does 
the  institution  of  religion  appear  less  grand  and  beautiful  be 
cause  its  existence  can  be  traced  to  the  earliest  history  of  rrian  ? 
There  is  an  awful  sacredness  in  its  years,  a  fearful  sublimity  in 
its  doctrines,  a  holiness  and  purity  in  its  venerated  character,  at 
which  the  sacrilegious  hand  recoils  with  intuitive  reverence.  It 
will  stand  erect  amid  the  desolations  of  time,  when  all  the 
modern  devices  of  Satan,  whether  the  stupid  vagaries  of  Mor- 
monism,  or  the  shameless  indecencies  of  Fanny  Wright,  shall 
be  quietly  closed  down  in  the  stagnant  pool  of  oblivion. 

But  it  is  said  by  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  that  the  laws 
are  disregarded  in  some  portions  of  the  State,  and  should  there 
fore  be  repealed;  and  this  argument  is  gravely  urged  in  the 
Senate  of  this  State ;  in  a  country  boasting  of  institutions ;  pro 
fessing  to  be  governed  by  laws.  Setting  a  reward  upon  crime 
and  offering  a  premium  for  insubordination,  the  law-giver  is 
asked  to  go  hand  in  hand  with  its  violator,  to  trample  down  the 
rules  which  have  so  long  been  regarded  as  safeguards  against 
wrong  and  oppression ;  and  that,  too,  because  men  have  been 
found  sufficiently  reckless  and  depraved  to  violate  them,  at  the 
instance  of  those  who  fear  not  God  nor  regard  man.  It  was 
ordained  of  Heaven,  that  "  whosoever  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by 
man  shall  his  blood  be  shed."  This  has  formed  a  part  of  our 
penal  code :  and  yet  often  the  assassin's  dagger  drinks  the 
heart's  blood  of  its  victim ;  and  who,  for  this,  has  asked  for  a 
repeal  ?  We  have  laws  against  mobs  and  riotous  assemblies  ; 
and  yet  in  our  cities  the  lawless  spirit  of  insubordination,  vio 
lence  and  ruffian  force,  has  but  too  often  disgraced  our  country 
and  rendered  it  a  byword  and  reproach  ;  the  dwelling  of  the 
citizen  has  been  sacked,  its  contents  given  to  the  bonfire  in 
fierce  and  savage  triumph,  and  while  the  fiendish  spirit  has 
gloated  over  the  ruin  of  its  hands  and  darkly  muttered  its  ap 
proval,  who,  for  that  reason,  has  asked  for  a  repeal  ? 

I  am  aware  that  this  is  an  age  of  peculiar  wisdom  ;  that  all 
the  experience  which  has  gone  before  us  is  pronounced  folly ; 
that  there  is  a  miscalled  reform  abroad  which  aims  its  scorpion 
sting  at  the  most  valued  institutions  which  form  our  social  sys 
tem  ;  which  assails  with  Vandal  ferocity  monuments  reared  by 
wisdom,  hallowed  by  time,  and  rendered  venerable  with  years. 
It  is  a  wild,  heedless  and  Robespierrian  spirit,  which  seeks  to 


THE   REPEAL  OF  THE  tJSUEY   LAWS.  79 

sully  the  ermine,  and  profane  the  sanctuary ;  which  spares 
neither  "  elevation  nor  humility,  nor  the  charities  of  life,  nor 
the  fireside,  nor  the  altar."  Under  the  imposing  and  specious 
garb  of  natural  rights^  it  seeks  to  ride  in  havoc  over  our  happy 
land,  spreading  in  its  desolating  course  seeds  of  wickedness, 
disease  and  death.  Let  me  be  understood  to  raise  against  it 
my  feeble  voice  ;  to  stigmatize  it  as  vicious  and  demoralizing, 
as  being  the  offspring  of  a  diseased  imagination,  and  the  out 
pourings  of  a  turbulent  and  licentious  spirit. 

When  laws  are  violated,  it  is  the  business  of  legislators  to 
supply  defects  by  further  enactments  ;  to  fortify  instead  of  re 
peal  ;  and  to  that  end  I  have  introduced  a  bill,  making  the  same 
rule  at  law  as  at  equity;  increasing  the  facilities  for  proof; 
giving  the  lender  the  sum  equitably  due ;  but  subjecting  him  to 
loss  of  the  usury  and  costs.  Pass  this  bill,  and  the  "  market 
price  "  will  soon  be  the  legal  rate ;  the  laws  will  then  be  re 
spected  and  observed,  and  order  and  harmony  will  again  com 
mence  their  reign ;  its  effects  will  be  like  that  of  the  brazen 
serpent,  usurers  will  look  upon  it  and  be  healed. 

But  the  Senator  from  the  First  (Mr.  Livingston)  has  fa 
vored  us  with  a  bill  repealing  the  usury  la \vs  as  to  "  commercial 
paper  having  ninety  days  to  run."  Here  again  is  the  bearded 
hook,  although  it  is  splendidly  baited.  What  would  be  the 
probable  effect  of  such  a  law  upon  the  interests  of  the  country  ? 
I  readily  admit,  in  a  community  highly  commercial,  its  opera 
tion  would  be  far  less  injurious ;  but  it  is  proper  to  examine 
for  a  moment,  and  see  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  entail  a 
lasting  and  bitter  curse  upon  a  whole  community,  to  gratify  a 
few  Shylocks  in  Wall  Street.  If  they  are  grown  wiser  than  the 
law,  and  disregard  its  provisions,  it  can  matter  little  to  them 
whether  it  be  modified ;  but  what  would  be  its  effect  upon  the 
interests  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  this  State  ?  There 
is  yet  due  for  land,  upon  bond,  mortgage,  and  contract,  an  en 
ormous  sum  of  money,  in  addition  to  permanent  loans  and  debts 
contracted  in  the  every-day  business  of  life.  Ninety-nine  dol 
lars  in  the  hundred  of  this  sum,  by  the  terms  of  the  contract, 
is  now  due,  but  is  permitted  to  remain,  for  the  reason  that 
the  creditor  believes  that  at  the  legal  rate  of  interest  is  as  well 
as  he  can  invest  his  money ;  and  so  believing,  he  is  willing  it 
should  remain,  provided  the  interest  is  paid  annually.  Pass 


80 

this  bill,  and  you  ask  the  creditor  to  call  in  his  debt,  for  the 
purpose  of  reinvesting  it  in  "  commercial  paper ;  "  or  if  this  is 
inexpedient,  he  will  have  use  for  commercial  paper  himself,  and 
will  invite,  nay  compel  his  debtor  to  give  him  his  "  commercial 
paper  having  three  months  to  run ; "  will  subject  him  to  the 
"  market  price,"  which  will  be  measured  by  the  conscience  of 
the  creditor,  if  he  has  one,  and  the  necessity  of  the  debtor ; 
and  the  mortgage  will  be  retained  to  keep  good  the  security. 
It  is  idle  to  suppose  that  such  a  law  can  be  passed  without 
bringing  in  its  train  all  the  curses  which  would  follow  an  entire 
repeal, — it  is  a  distinction  without  a  difference.  I  should  re 
gard  the  passage  of  such  a  law  as  bringing  the  head  of  every 
man  of  moderate  means  in  the  country  to  the  block,  to  gratify 
the  greed  of  the  restless  speculators  and  gamblers  of  our  com 
mercial  cities. 

When  Goldsmith  mourned  over  the  desolation  of  his  de 
serted  Auburn;  beheld  her  rural  scenery  swept  away  by  the 
spoiler's  hand;  her  rustic  people  supplanted  and  driven  abroad  5 
in  the  indignant  fulness  of  his  heart  he  exclaimed : 

"  Princes  and  lords  may  flourish  or  may  fade, 
A  breath  may  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made ; 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  supplied." 

So  with  the  speculators  of  the  present  day,  "a  breath  may 
make  them  as  a  breath  has  made."  It  has  become  the  fashion 
of  the  times  in  your  cities,  for  the  man  who  retires  to  rest  with 
out  a  dollar,  to  awake  from  his  dreams  and  count  upon  his 
hundreds  of  thousands  by  a  rise  in  the  "market  price  "  of  lands 
or  stocks  ;  and  to  further  his  views,  and  enable  him  to  gamble 
on,  we  are  asked  to  pass  a  law  which  will  strike  at  the  root  of 
every  interest  of  the  people.  It  is  the  business  of  years,  in  the 
country,  to  acquire  a  competence  ;  the  process  is  slow  and  toil 
some.  The  farmer's  or  mechanic's  profit  is  the  silent  reward 
of  persevering  industry ;  he  is  quiet  and  contented  under  the 
general  system  of  laws,  and  desires  to  be  left  to  pursue  the 
"  even  tenor  of  his  way."  The  repeal  of  the  usury  laws  may 
be  sport  to  the  heedless  speculator,  but  it  will  be  death  to  the 
laboring  and  producing  classes. 

But  it  is  said  bv  the  Honorable  Senator  from  the  Fourth, 


THE    REPEAL   OF    THE    USURY    LAWS.  81 

that  the  usury  laws  prevent  competition  between  moneylenders  ; 
that  if  the  laws  are  repealed,  money  will  flow  into  the  State 
freely,  and  that  there  will  be  an  abundance  to  be  loaned  at  less 
than  seven  per  cent.  Who,  I  ask,  believes  that  it  will  be  so  ? 
Interest  is  intended  to  be  the  fair  average  value  of  the  use  of 
money  ;  that  it  may  not  reach  every  individual  case  is  not  pre 
tended  ;  there  is  an  average  moral  rate,  and  that  should  be  and 
is,  in  contemplation  of  law,  the  legal  rate.  Seven  per  cent.,  I 
assume,  is  not  only  a  fair  compensation  for  the  use  of  money, 
but  is  the  average  value  of  its  use.  Who  has  ever  known  a 
money  lender,  however  unenterprising  and  stupid,  and  how 
ever  humble  his  beginnings,  who  has  not  grown  into  affluence 
by  an  interest  of  even  seven  per  cent. ;  while  his  vigilant  and 
enterprising  neighbor,  who  has  embarked  in  any  other  business, 
has  failed  to  keep  pace  with  the  gains  of  money  accumulation. 
No  one  will  pretend  that  a  fair  competition  is  prevented  at  less 
than  seven  per  cent.  The  rate  of  interest  in  England  is  five 
per  cent.,  in  France  four,  Holland  three,  and  in  all  the  adjoin 
ing  States  six.  Now  where  is  the  capital  to  '•'•flow  in  "  from  ? 
How  does  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth  explain  why  capital 
will  be  invited  at  an  interest  of  less  than  seven  per  cent.,  when 
it  will  not  come  at  seven  ?  But  why  does  not  this  liquid  sub 
stance  begin  to  '•'•flow  f  "  Two  per  cent,  has  invited  England  ; 
three  per  cent,  has  invited  France  ;  four  per  cent,  has  invited 
Holland ;  one  per  cent,  has  invited  all  our  neighboring  States, 
and  yet  the  capital,  we  are  told,  refuses  to  "  flow  in."  Now  I 
not  only  invite,  but  triumphantly  challenge  the  learned  and 
Honorable  Senator  from  the  Fourth  to  prove  that  capital  will 
be  more  abundant  after  repeal  than  it  now  is,  and  at  an  interest ' 
of  less  than  seven  per  cent.  I  implore  him  to  tell  us  where  it 
will  come  from,  and  why  it  will  flow  in  at  less  than  seven  per 
cent.,  when  at  that  rate  it  is  obdurate ;  reminding  him,  in  the 
meantime,  that  when  he  has  done  so,  he  will  have  proved  that 
when  it  is  less  than  seven  per  cent.,  it  will  "  flow  "  away  again 
by  the  same  channel.  Sir,  the  whole  secret  of  the  matter  is, 
that  money  will  not  travel  about  in  search  of  investment  for  all 
or  any  of  the  ordinary  transactions  of  life ;  it  is  loaned  or  in 
vested  in  the  vicinity  where  it  is  owned,  even  though  at  a  less 
rate  than  could  be  obtained  abroad.  Capitalists  are  timid  and 
careful ;  as  their  money  is  their  god,  they  wish  the  evidences 
G 


82  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  it  near  at  hand  for  their  daily  worship.  In  order  to  make  it 
productive,  it  must  and  will  be  loaned  or  invested,  and  they 
will  always  loan  it  at  the  legal  rate,  unless  permitted  to  take 
more  by  the  absence  of  penal  restraints  upon  usury ;  or  if  they 
believe  they  can  realize  a  great  profit,  they  perhaps  invest  it  in 
business;  but  this  benefits  the  community  by  putting  the  money 
directly  in  circulation  the  same  as  if  it  were  loaned.  (Here  Mr. 
Young  interrupted  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  said  Holland  had  pur 
chased  our  five  per  cent,  stocks.)  Mr.  Dickinson  continued,  I 
know  that,  sir,  full  well,  but  government  stocks  are  one  thing, 
and  individual  credit  is  another.  I  also  know  that  even  Hol 
land  has  lately  refused  to  purchase  stocks  recently  created  at 
six  per  cent. 

But  it  is  said  men  will  not  borrow  money  when  they  do  not 
want  it ;  that  debtors  will  in  all  cases  protect  themselves  from 
extortion  ;  that  they  will  accurately  ascertain  whether  they  can 
pay  the  required  interest,  and  will  be  governed  in  their  conduct 
accordingly.  He  must  be  a  stranger  indeed  to  the  human  heart, 
who  can  assert  such  doctrines  for  this  object. 

"  Man  never  is,  but  always  to  ~be  blest." 

It  is  the  prevailing  error  of  his  nature  to  believe  that  "  the 
deficiencies  of  to-day  will  be  supplied  by  the  abundance  of  to 
morrow  ; "  that  the  good  fortune  of  the  future  will  indemnify 
him  against  the  improvidence  of  the  past  and  present.  In  this 
spirit  Esau  sold  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage,  and  after 
ward  found  no  space  for  repentance,  though  he  sought  it  care 
fully  with  tears.  In  this  spirit  Antonio  affixed  his  seal  to  the 
fatal  bond,  and  bartered  his  heart's  blood  at  the  "market  price" 
In  this  spirit  will  the  humble  debtor,  goaded  by  the  fangs  of 
the  merciless  creditor,  stipulate  away  his  little  all,  under  the 
specious  guise  of  "  market  value,"  in  the  hope  that  a  brighter 
sun  w^ill  shine  upon  his  future  destiny.  The  rewards  of  in 
dustry  and  virtue,  and  the  punishments  of  fraud  and  vice,  are 
by  no  means  direct  or  immediate.  Vice  rears  her  gilded  palace, 
while  virtue  lies  a  "  beggar  at  her  gate  ;  "  vice  is  "  clothed  in 
purple  and  fine  linen,  and  fares  sumptuously  every  day,"  while 
virtue 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USURY  LAWS.  83 

" pines  in  want  and  dungeon's  gloom, 

Shut  from  the  common  air  and  common  use 
Of  her  own  limbs." 

And  while  man  cannot  avert,  he  can  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  his  fellows  by  originating  laws  which  shall  operate  as  a  pro 
tection  to  the  virtuous,  and  be  a  terror  to  evil-doers, 

It  is  said  by  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  that  a  repeal  of 
the  usury  laws  is  required  by  the  people.  And  here  again  I 
come  boldly  to  the  issue.  I  proclaim  from  my  place,  that  if 
the  people  of  this  great  State  were  marched  through  this  hall 
in  one  grand  array,  and  should  speak  out  their  sentiments  upon 
this  important  question,  ninety-nine  in  every  hundred  would 
condemn  a  repeal.  Where  are  the  petitions  upon  your  tables  ; 
where  the  doings  of  the  people  in  their  primary  assemblies,  to 
call  for  or  justify  this  change, — have  the  "  wise  and  the  foolish 
all  slumbered  and  slept  together  ?  "  If  there  has  a  voice  gone 
forth,  it  is  the  voice  of  the  usurer  "  with  lean  and  hungry  look," 
praying  at  his  golden  altar  for  a  repeal.  And  if  there  is  one 
now  within  the  hearing  of  my  voice,  he  is  this  moment  cling 
ing  to  his  purse  string,  and  praying  in  his  heart  that  the  laws 
may  be  repealed  ;  for  although  now  he  may  cheat  the  law  of 
its  provisions,  and  by  its  violation  wring  the  hard  earnings  of 
the  laborer  from  him,  yet  there  is  a  tribunal  which  brings  him 
to  judgment — it  is  public  opinion.  He  cannot  free  himself 
from  the  moral  taint ;  the  enormity  of  his  offence  clings  to  him 
like  the  poisoned  shirt ;  and  although  he  is  not  denied  the  rites 
of  sepulture,  the  notorious  and  extortionate  usurer  is  shunned 
and  pointed  at  as  a  headsman,  a  moral  felon,  and  this  is  one 
reason  why  he  wishes  the  laws  repealed.  The  Senator  from 
the  Fourth  has  informed  us  that  one  house  in  New  York  has 
paid  usury  enough  to  purchase  a  farm  upon  the  fertile  and 
almost  classic  plains  of  Saratoga ;  that  another  has  paid  sixty 
thousand  dollars  of  usury  within  the  last  year;  and  that  six  or 
eight  millions  of  dollars  of  usury  have  been  paid  within  the 
year,  in  the  city  of  New  York  alone.  I  am  much  obliged  for 
the  information  ;  this  explains  all, — it  is  a  sufficient  sum  to  in 
duce  the  moneyed  sharks  to  pursue  the  ship  of  state  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  If  they  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  this  enor 
mous  amount  while  the  laws  are  in  force,  what,  I  ask,  will  they 
do  when  they  are  repealed  ?  But  it  is  said  they  are  virtually 


84- 

repealed  in  that  city  now  ;  48  per  cent,  per  annum  there,  is  the 
practical  and  benevolent  effect  of  this  new  method  of  letting 
matters  "  regulate  themselves." 

The  Senator  from  the  Fourth  seems  to  suppose,  because  a 
few  of  the  speculating  philosophers  of  Europe  have  written 
against  the  usury  laws,  and  because  a  few  retired  capitalists, 
called  "  The  Chamber  of  Commerce,"  in  our  cities,  have  spoken 
in  favor  of  a  repeal,  that  the  matter  is  taken  by  default ;  be 
cause  no  one  has  come  to  their  defence.  Sir,  it  will  be  in  time 
to  do  this  when  they  are  assailed  with  sufficient  force  to  put 
them  in  danger ;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  you  find  them 
defended  by  the  bone  and  muscle  of  the  land ;  by  the  press 
from  Maine  to  Alabama,  and  by  the  practical  statesman  and 
philosopher.  He  would  combat  phantoms  indeed,  who  should 
enter  the  lists  against  a  mere  theory,  upon  which  public  opin 
ion  has  set  the  seal  of  reprobation  in  advance.  Should  the 
people  move  in  this  matter,  I  shall  be  happy  to  obey  their  di 
rections  ;  but  it  must  come  from  the  field  of  the  farmer,  from 
the  work-shop  of  the  mechanic.  I  must  hear  the  united  voice 
of  the  people  in  their  primary  assemblies,  and  not  the  croakings 
of  usurers  and  speculators.  It  must  be  so  strong  and  unequiv 
ocal  that  it  will  shake  this  hall,  before  I  will  lend  my  support 
to  a  measure  which  I  so  confidently  believe  is  big  with  ruin, — 
that  when  I  see  its  blighting,  withering  influence,  upon  a  people 
once  prosperous  and  happy,  their  institutions  trodden  down, 
and  anarchy  and  confusion  stalking  abroad,  I  may  cry  out  with 
Caesar  at  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  when  he  saw  the  field  and 
camp  strewed  with  his  fallen  countrymen,  "  They  icould  have 
it  so." 

It  is  confidently  prophesied  by  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth, 
that  repeal  will  be  loudly  called  for  hereafter — this  may  be  so, 
but  God  forbid  that  it  should  be  soon.  I  have  not  been  admit 
ted  into  the  cabinet  of  futurity ;  I  cannot  say  that 

"  The  sunset  of  life  gives  me  mystical  lore, 
And  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before." 

I  am  no  officer  in  advance  of  the  troops.  It  is  my  highest  am 
bition  to  be  found  at  my  post  in  the  ranks,  to  advance  with  the 
people,  to  wheel  when  they  wheel,  and  when  they  retreat  to 
retreat  with  them.  In  the  lansuaoje  of  the  Senator  from  the 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USURY  LAWS.  85 

Fourth,  I  believe  the  people  know  what  they  want  in  this  mat 
ter  as  well  as  their  legislators  and  will  call  for  a  repeal  when 
they  desire  it. 

But  as  a  kind  of  Aaron's  rod,  which  is  to  swallow  up  every 
other  principle,  the  learned  Senator  points  to  Jeremy  Bentham, 
upon  whom  he  claims  no  man  can  look  and  not  believe.  He 
has  also  cited  Malthus  and  Ricardo,  Say  and  McCulloch,  Abbe 
Raynal  and  Montesquieu,  and  others,  as  authority  upon  this 
subject ;  though  he  admits  that  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  mat 
ter  is  all  summed  up  in  Jeremy  Bentham.  Sir,  I  have  read  most 
of  these  authors,  and  especially  Jeremy  Bentham  with  much 
attention ;  and  I  have  so  far  been  unable  to  discover  wherein 
"  his  great  strength  lieth."  His  effusions  have  been  little  heed 
ed  in  his  own  country,  and  for  one  I  desire  to  be  most  distinct 
ly  understood  as  scouting  the  idea  of  taking  for  our  guide  the 
moon-struck  theories  of  the  political  economists  of  Europe,  who 
have  gained  little  respect  for  their  wild  and  visionary  schemes, 
even  at  home,  and  who  know  as  little  of  our  institutions  as  of 
Symzonia.  This  same  Jeremy  Bentham  is  the  man  who,  in 
1808,  had  the  impudence  to  propose  to  Mr.  Madison  to  give  us 
a  code  of  laws;  a  political  nun,  whose  monkish  seclusion  from 
the  world  made  him  as  unfit  to  speak  of  our  institutions  as  an 
inhabitant  of  the  moon.  In  the  discussion  of  the  question  of 
usury  laws,  like  a  country  clergyman  who  has  some  favorite 
dogma  to  inculcate,  he  raises  imaginary  objections  that  he  may 
surmount  them  in  triumph.  But  the  objections  which  he  has 
raised  to  show  his  skill  in  answering,  are  not  the  true  reasons 
which  exist.  I  will,  however,  after  having  been  so  triumphant 
ly  challenged,  attempt  an  answer  to  some  few  of  his  most  for 
midable  objections  .against  the  propriety  of  usury  laws. 
He  says : — 

"  My  neighbors,  being  at  liberty,  have  happened  to  concur  among 
themselves  in  dealing  at  a  certain  rate  of  interest.  I,  who  have  money 
to  lend,  and  Titius,  who  wants  to  borrow  it  of  me,  would  be  glad,  tlie 
one  of  us  to  accept,  and  the  other  to  give,  an  interest  somewhat  higher 
than  theirs.  Why  is  the  liberty  they  exercise  to  be  made  a  pretence  for 
depriving  me  and  Titius  of  ours  ?  " 

If  the  "  neighbors"  by  conventional  compact,  represent  the 
whole,  and  fix  the  rate  of  interest  for  the  purpose  of  protect- 


86 

ing  the  rights  of  individuals,  or  of  advancing  the  cause  of 
morality,  by  preventing  extortion,  Titius  and  Jeremy  Bentham, 
as  good  citizens,  should  be  willing  to  yield  a  portion  of  their 
"  natural  rights"  for  the  general  good,  in  this,  as  in  various 
other  cases  required  by  the  rules  which  govern  society.  But 
again  he  says : 

"  Another  thing  I  would  al&o  wish  to  learn  is,  why  the  legislator 
should  be  more  anxious  to  limit  the  rate  of  interest  one  way  than  the 
other  ?  Why  lie  should  set  his  face  against  the  owners  of  that  species 
of  property  more  than  of  any  other?  Why  he  should  make  it  his  bus 
iness  to  prevent  their  getting  more  than  a  certain  price  for  the  use  of 
it,  rather  than  to  prevent  their  getting  less?  Why,  in  short,  lie  should 
not  take  means  for  making  it  penal  for  offering  less,  for  example,  than 
five  per  cent,  as  well  as  to  accept  more  ?  Let  any  one  that  can,  find  an 
answer  to  these  questions;  it  is  more  than  I  can  do." 

Learned  Theban  !  Let  us  see  if  an  answer  can  be  found  to 
the  problem  which  this  great  high  priest  of  political  economy 
has  been  unable  to  solve,  and  parades  so  triumphantly.  The 
Lex  scripta,  or  written  laws  of  a  country,  are  induced  by  ne 
cessity,  real  or  imaginary.  The  laws  to  prevent  kidnapping 
were  found  to  extend  only  to  the  protection  of  blacks,  and 
were  extended  to  the  protection  of  whites  when  the  necessity 
was  suggested  by  the  kidnapping  of  a  white  person.  The  laws 
against  disinterring  the  dead  were  doubtless  suggested  by  the 
fact  that  graves  were  plundered  by  the  living,  and  when  under 
the  new  order  of  nature,  which  we  are  forewarned  is  soon  to 
commence,  the  dead  shall  "  burst  their  cerements"  and  drag 
the  living  down  to  their  dark  abodes,  the  argus  eyes  of  legis 
lation  will  probably  interpose  its  protection.  The  laws  pro 
hibiting  an  exorbitant  interest  were  induced  by  the  fact  that 
money  lenders  had  in  all  ages,  like  the  Promethean  vulture, 
perpetually  gnawed  the  vitals  of  their  debtors ;  and  when  a 
corresponding  oppression  shall  be  found  to  reach  the  lender  at 
the  will  of  the  borrower,  it  will  be  high  time  to  protect  him. 
Again  he  says : 

"  In  the  next  place,  no  man,  in  such  a  country  as  Great  Britain  at 
least,  has  occasion,  nor  is  at  all  likely  to  take  up  money  at  an  extraor 
dinary  rate  of  interest,  who  has  security  to  give,  equal  to  that  upon 
which  money  is  commonly  to  be  had  at  the  highest  ordinary  rate. 


THE   KEPEAL    OF   THE   USURY   LAWS.  O* 

While  so  many  advertise,  as  are  to  be  seen  every  day  advertising,  money 
to  be  lent  at  five  per  cent.,  what  should  possess  a  man,  who  has  any 
thing  to  offer  that  can  be  called  a  security,  to  give,  for  example,  six  per 
cent.,  is  more  than  I  can  conceive." 

It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  however  applicable  this  may 
have  been  to  his  own  country,  it  will  hardly  be  regarded  as 
authority  here  until  money  is  "  advertised  "  to  be  lent  at  "  five 
per  cent ; "  there,  there  were  more  lenders  than  borrowers, 
which  produced  "  competition  ;"  here  are  more  borrowers  than 
lenders,  which  produces  "  combination."  But  Mr.  Bentham 
continues : 

"  Buying  goods  with  money,  or  upon  credit,  is  the  business  of  every 
day ;  borrowing  money  is  the  business,  only,  of  some  particular  exi 
gency,  which,  in  comparison,  can  occur  but  seldom.  Eegulating  the 
prices  of  goods  in  general  would  be  an  endless  task,  and  no  legislator 
has  ever  been  weak  enough  to  think  of  attempting  it.1' 

This  is  the  reason  why  they  are  not  alike  ;  he  furnishes  a  ref 
utation  to  his  own  argument ;  the  one  being  the  every-day  bus 
iness  of  life,  which  everybody  can  readily  understand  from  the 
actual  competition  which  exists ;  the  other  but  the  matter  of 
"  some  particular  exigency,"  when  the  only  "  competition  "  is 
combination.  As  to  fixing  the  price  of  property,  Mr.  B.  is 
probably  right,  but  the  legislature  of  Connecticut  in  the  early 
history  of  that  colony  passed  a  law,  declaring  that  all  mutton 
which  weighed  less  than  "  eight  pounds  the  quarter  should  be 
lamb  / "  finding,  however,  that  a  patriarch  of  the  flock  occa 
sionally  fell  within  its  provisions,  the  law  was  repealed.  But 
he  further  says : 

"But  while,  out  of  loving  kindness,  or  whatsoever  other  motive,  the 
law  precludes  a  man  from  borrowing  upon  terms  which  it  deems  too  dis 
advantageous,  it  does  not  preclude  him  from  selling  upon  any  terms, 
however  disadvantageous.  Everybody  knows  that  forced  sales  are 
attended  with  loss ;  and  to  this  loss,  what  would  be  deemed  a  most  ex 
travagant  interest  bears  in  general  no  proportion.  When  a  man's  mov 
ables  are  taken  in  execution,  they  are,  I  believe,  pretty  well  sold,  if, 
after  all  expenses  paid,  the  produce  amounts  to  two-thirds  of  what  it 
would  cost  to  replace  them.  In  this  way  the  providence  and  loving 
kindness  of  the  law  cost  him  thirty-three  per  cent." 


88  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  sale  of  goods  upon  execution  occurs  but  seldom,  com 
pared  with  the  ordinary  transactions  of  life.  If  a  man  must 
die,  the  sword  is  preferable  to  famine — the  prompt  loss  of 
thirty-three  per  cent,  at  once,  is  far  better  than  the  slow  con 
suming  process  of  four  per  cent,  a  month.  But  it  is  well  to 
trace  the  misfortunes  of  the  individual  to  their  proper  source. 
If  you  do  so,  you  will  doubtless  find  that  usury,  that  "  worm 
that  never  dies"  has  eaten  out  his  substance ;  that  he  has  no 
thing  further  AVorth  pursuit,  and  that  it  is  the  usurer  himself 
who  has  brought  his  goods  to  the  hammer ;  whose  name  heads 
the  execution  ;  and  if  he  was  permitted  to  loan  him  again  at 
such  "  market  price"  as  his  conscience  would  permit,  "  the  last 
state  of  that  man  would  be  worse  than  the  first." 

(Mr.  Dickinson  continued  to  read  copious  extracts  from 
Mr.  Bentham,  upon  which  he  commented  at  length.)  Sir, 
continued  Mr.  Dickinson,  we  cannot  set  too  high  an  estimate 
upon  science ;  but  I  have  no  more  respect  than  I  should  have 
for  that  metaphysical  subtlety  which  separates  itself  from  all 
practical  demonstration,  and  assumes  to  arrive  at  conclusions 
upon  theories  alone.  Too  much  light  obscures  and  weakens 
the  natural  vision  ;  too  much  learning,  unmixed  with  practical 
knowledge  and  common  sense,  dims  the  mental  eye,  or  in  other 
words  makes  men  mad.  Jeremy  Bentham  was  one  of  those 
who  are 

u  Thus,  by  the  glare  of  false  science  betrayed, 

That  leads  to  bewilder,  and  dazzles  to  blind." 

It  was  said  by  an  ancient  writer,  that  "  It  is  tJie  business 
of  all  legitimate  philosophy  to  account  for  facts  /  and  gene 
ral  reasonings,  though  apparently  demonstrative  at  every  step, 
must  necessarily  involve  a  fallacy  when  their  conclusions  do 
not  square  and  tally  with  experience"  The  practical  knowl 
edge  of  one  man  is  worth  infinitely  more  than  all  the  theories 
of  the  old  world  and  new.  Who  can  read  this  extract  from  a 
pamphlet  which  has  been  laid  upon  my  table,  without  bearing 
testimony  to  its  practical  truth : 

"If  we  open  our  eyes  we  cannot  avoid  seeing  the  narrow  quarters 
into  which  the  borrower  of  money  is  driven,  and  the  freedom  with 
which  the  purchaser  of  every  other  article  exercises  his  judgment.  Go 
into  any  of  our  crowded  cities,  and  we  see  granaries,  store-houses, 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  USURY  LAWS.  89 

shops,  and  other  spacious  buildings,  crowded  \vith  merchandise  and 
goods  of  every  possible  variety.  In  every  street,  lane,  or  alley,  for 
miles  in  extent,  one  uniform  abundance  is  presented  to  our  view.  This 
is  always  the  case.  But  the  money  of  the  city  is  confined  to  a  single 
street  or  a  narrow  alley.  All  other  articles  are  abundant,  and  in  the 
hands  of  the  many.  Money  is  frequently  scarce,  and  in  the  hands  of 
the  few.  In  all  the  trading  streets,  we  see  the  seller  bowing  to  the 
buyer  and  courting  his  custom  by  the  most  enticing  manners.  In  the 
money  alleys,  we  s^e  the  borrower  bowing  to  the  lender  with  the  ser 
vility  of  a  French  dancing-master.  The  purchaser  enters  a  store  with 
the  air  of  a  free  and  independent  man.  The  borrower  enters  a  bank 
with  the  subdued  and  sorrow-stricken  countenance  of  a  beggar." 

If  further  evidence  were  wanting  to  place  this  question 
beyond  a  doubt,  I  could  summon  to  my  aid  the  opinion  of  our 
highest  judicial  tribunals — the  present  Chancellor  of  this  State, 
with  various  other  eminent  men  who  have  placed  on  record 
their  approval  of  the  usury  laws ;  but  as  time  will  fail  me,  I 
will  but  cite  the  opinion  of  one  who  is  intimately  and  proudly 
associated  with  our  judicial  history — one  who  is  familiar  with 
all  our  peculiarity  as  a  people,  whose  name  is  already  encircled 
with  a  halo  of  glory,  and  whose  memory  will  be  fondly  cher 
ished  by  every  New  Yorker,  when  the  dreamy  theorists  of 
Europe  and  their  deluded  followers  shall  be  overwhelmed  and 
forgotten  in  the  vortex  of  political  revolutions.  I  allude  to 
the  opinion  of  Chancellor  Kent  in  DunHam  vs.  Gould,  16  John 
son,  376.  Let  every  one  who  listens  to  its  warnings  ask  him 
self,  "Is  it  I?" 

"  It  is  an  idle  dream  to  suppose  that  we  are  wiser  and  better  than 
the  rest  of  mankind.  Such  doctrine  may  be  taught  by  those  who  find 
it  convenient  to  flatter  popular  prejudice  ;  but  the  records  of  our  courts 
are  daily  teaching  us  a  lesson  of  more  humility.  And,  I  apprehend,  it 
would  be  perilous  in  the  extreme  to  throw  aside  all  the  existing  checks 
upon  usurious  extortion,  and  abolish  or  traduce  a  law  which  is  founded 
on  the  accumulated  experience  of  every  age.  The  statute  of  usury  is 
constantly  interposing  its  warning  voice  between  the  creditor  and  the 
debtor,  even  in  their  most  secret  and  dangerous  negotiations,  and 
teaches  a  lesson  of  moderation  to  the  one,  and  offers  its  protecting  arm 
to  the  other.  I  am  not  willing  to  withdraw  such  a  sentinel.  I  have 
been  called  to  witness,  in  the  course  of  my  official  life,  too  many  vic 
tims  to  the  weakness  and  to  the  inflamed  passions  of  men.  All  sudden 
and  extreme  reforms  are  unwise.  We  ought  not  to  stretch  or  to  ampu- 


90  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

tate,  in  order  to  make  onr  institutions  fit  exactly  to  any  theory.  It  is 
better  to  follow  the  course  and  order  of  Providence,  and  suffer  our 
general  system  of  laws,  like  our  habits,  to  accommodate  itself  slowly 
to  our  necessities,  and  to  vary  only  with  the  gradual  and  almost  imper 
ceptible  progress  of  time  and  experience." 

It  may  be  well  for  those  who  are  disposed  to  reject  the  ad 
monitions  of  the  practical  statesman  and  jurist  of  their  own 
country  for  the  dreaming  speculations  and  paper  theories  of 
the  old  world,  to  pause  and  look  around  them.  By  a  careful 
observation,  and  consulting  the  pages  of  history,  they  will  find 
that  in  all  countries  where  there  have  been  no  usury  laws,  the 
"  rates  of  usuance  "  have  been  infinitely  higher  than  where  they 
have  obtained.  In  Alabama  the  laws  were  repealed ;  the 
"market  price  "  became  100  per  cent.;  a  scene  of  ruin  and 
distress  ensued  which  caused  their  speedy  reenactment  with 
tenfold  rigor.  Look  at  Greece,  which  had  no  usury  laws  ;  and 
Home,  during  the  time  her  laws  were  not  in  force ;  interest 
was  frequently  from  50  to  60  per  cent.  Look  now  at  the  city 
of  New  York,  where  her  "Isaacs  of  York"  have  "virtually 
repealed"  the  laws;  interest  is  48  per  cent,  per  annum.  It  is 
so  plain  that  he  w~ho  runs  may  read.  The  only  measure  of 
interest,  after  the  usury  laws  are  repealed,  will  be  the  necessity 
of  the  borrower, — that,  and  that  alone,  will  be  the  rule  by 
which  to  fix  the  price,  and  wo  be  to  him  who  shall  be  compel 
led  to  pay  it,  A  few  can  at  any  moment  make  the  rate  what 
ever  they  please,  by  refusing  to  loan  or  invest  until  the  price 
reaches  the  mark  set  by  their  craving  and  insatiable  appetites. 
To  talk  of  "  competition  "  among  misers  and  usurers,  is  to  talk 
of  glutting  the  grave  with  victims ; — for  the  grave  will  have 
ceased  to  yawn  for  its  prey,  death  will  have  sickened  at  his 
trade,  and  the  daughter  of  the  horse-leech  will  have  ceased  to 
cry  "give"  before  the  usurer  will  say,  "it  is  enough."  How 
ever  high  wrought  or  refined  the  sentiment  of  the  schools,  or 
however  perfect  the  demonstration  upon  abstract  principles,  it 
will  "  bite  like  a  serpent  and  sting  like  an  adder." 

When  Rasselas,  the  prince  of  Abyssinia,  meditated  an 
escape  from  the  happy  valley,  he  invoked  the  aid  of  an  artist 
who  was  desirous  of  improving  upon  the  "  barbarisms  of  the 
dark  ages,"  or,  in  other  words,  he,  like  a  modern  philosopher, 
had  thrown  off  the  shackles  of  prejudice  ;  he  had  "  penetrated 


THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  U8UEY  LAWS.  91 

the  future,"  and  learned  that  mere  locomotion  was  beneath  the 
dignity  of  man,  that  by  making  the  proper  exertion  he  could 
fly  as  well  as  walk,  which  he  proceeded  to  prove  to  a  demon 
stration.  He  discoursed  with  all  the  learning  of  Jeremy 
Bentham  and  his  followers  ;  he  proved  that  water  was  a  "  den 
ser  and  air  a  more  subtile  fluid  ; "  that  as  men  could  swim  in 
water  by  art,  so  they  could  fly  in  the  air  by  proportioning 
their  pinions  to  the  resistance ;  in  short,  that  swimming  was 
flying  in  a  denser,  and  flying  was  swimming  in  the  more  subtile 
fluid ;  and  that  the  latter  was  as  practicable  as  the  former. 
His  theory  completed,  he  entered  upon  its  practice.  The  funds 
were  raised,  one  year  was  spent,  and  the  wings  were  ready. 
Now  came  the  time  when  he  was  to  throw  off  the  "  shackles 
of  education  and  prejudice."  Unlike  most  reformers,  he  was 
willing  his  first  experiment  should  be  tried  upon  himself.  He 
stood  upon  the  margin  of  the  lake,  doubtless  congratulating 
himself  upon  being  the  pioneer  in  the  principles  of  "  natural 
right ;"  he  cast  one  lingering  look  upon  the  planet  which  gave 
him  birth  ;  bade  farewell  to  sublunary  things  ;  spread  his  glad 
pinions  which  were  to  waft  him  to  heaven,  and  the  next  mo 
ment  found  himself  horse-ponded  in  the  lake.  "  O,  what  a  fall 
was  there,  my  countrymen  !  "  A  profitable  and  salutary  lesson 
to  those  who  are  inclined  to  exchange  the  practical  realities  of 
life  for  the  hare-brained  speculations  of  ancient  or  modern 
theorists. 

And  now,  sir,  I  have  almost  done.  I  have  given  but  a 
few  of  the  reasons  which  occur  to  me  why  the  usury  laws 
should  not  be  repealed.  I  am  aware  I  have  spoken  freely  ;  it 
is  a  subject  of  deep  interest  to  the  country.  I  have  arraigned 
the  motives  of  no  one ;  I  have  dealt  with  the  subject  alone.  If 
I  am  to  be  followed  by  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  I  invite 
him  to  disprove  the  practical  results  which  I  have  shown  will 
inevitably  follow  a  repeal.  I  invite  him  to  lay  aside  his  theories, 
and  descend  to  practice  ;  and  while  I  invite  no  criticism  upon 
my  language,  being  "  a  plain,  blunt  man,  who  only  speak  right 
on,"  I  desire  him  to  put  my  arguments  into  his  crucible,  and 
heat  up  the  fire  of  his  eloquence  and  imagination  "  seven  times 
hotter  than  it  is  wont  to  be  heated."  If  they  will  not  stand 
the  "  inquisition  of  the  forge,"  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  them  con 
sumed  ;  for  while  I  have  spoken  freely,  I  have  not  done  so  in- 


92 

vidiously.  I  have  dealt  with  theories,  whether  of  Jeremy 
Bentham  or  of  others,  without  reserve.  I  have  endeavored  to 
"  hang  out  my  banner  on  the  outer  wall,"  and  at  the  same 
time  to  do  so  in  a  just  and  proper  spirit. 

While  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth  is  sheltered  behind 
Jeremy  Bentham,  he  will  doubtless  think  my  attempt  to  assail 
his  impregnable  citadel  like  storming  Gibraltar  with  a  pocket 
pistol;  but  I  have  done  so  upon  his  invitation,  and  claim  to 
have  both  my  motives  and  courage  appreciated  for  even  at 
tempting  it.  If  I  am  annihilated  in  the  struggle,  I  can  say 
with  Hannah  More,  in  her  sacred  drama : 

"  'Twill  sweeten  death 
To  know  I  had  the  honor  to  contend 
With  the  dread  son  of  Anak." 

But  if  it  should  be  my  fortune,  in  my  humble  effort,  to  con 
tribute  in  the  remotest  degree  to  save  the  most  abject  of  the 
human  race  from  the  rapacity  of  the  usurer,  I  shall  be  grateful 
and  happy.  As  legislators  we  have  a  capacity  for  good  or 
evil ;  we  stand  upon  a  narrow  isthmus,  between  a  pacific  and 
tranquil  sea  on  the  one  hand  and  a  boisterous  and  shoreless 
ocean  on  the  other.  We  may  permit  our  ship  of  state  to  glide 
smoothly  on  in  the  one,  or  be  sent  adrift  upon  the  turbulent 
billows  of  the  other.  We  hold  in  our  hands  the  destinies  of 
millions, — "  their  life,  their  death,  their  bane  and  antidote  are 
both  before  us."  We  may  do  much  to  ameliorate  their  condi 
tion,  but  more  to  entail  upon  them  misery,  woe,  and  degra 
dation.  In  the  elegant  and  beautiful  language  of  the  Senator 
from  the  Fourth,  upon  a  previous  occasion  : — 

"  We  occupy  but  a  point  of  space  upon  the  surface  of  the  broad  and 
ceaseless  current  of  time, — generation  follows  generation,  as  wave  suc 
ceeds  wave  upon  the  ocean.  But  although  the  life  of  man  is  so  utterly 
insignificant  in  point  of  duration ;  although  his  moral  and  physical 
powers  bear  the  strong  impress  of  imbecility  ;  although  he  is  not  gifted 
with  the  capacity  of  strewing  flowers  in  the  paths  of  his  successors,  or 
of  ameliorating  for  them  the  inevitable  ills  of  life,  yet  with  all  this 
brevity  and  feebleness  and  incapacity,  he  may  sow  the  seeds  of  lasting 
bitterness,  and  leave  behind  him  the  canker  of  dissolution" 


SPEECH 

UPON   THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE. 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SEXATE  OF  NEW  YOKK,  January  llth,  1840. 

[This  speech  was  made  upon  resolutions  to  refer  to  the  proper 
Committees  the  various  subjects  presented  for  consideration  by  the 
second  annual  Message  of  Governor  Seward.  The  occasion  of  ref 
erence  is  usually  improved  to  settle  political  scores  between  the 
opposition  and  the  administration,  at  least  as  far  as  relates  to  subjects 
called  up  by  the  message  to  be  referred,  and  the  speech  before  us  is 
one  following  in  that  line  of  precedents ;  but  it  will  be  seen  that  it 
followed  upon  ample  invitation  or  provocation  on  the  part  of  the  Gov 
ernor.  It  should  however  be  noted  perhaps,  that  the  change  of  tone 
commented  on,  between  the  first  and  second  messages,  might  have  been 
fairly  attributable  to  the  pecuniary  revulsion  which  took  place  interme 
diate  the  two,  if  Governor  Seward  had  chosen  to  present  that  natural 
solution,  instead  of  striving  out  of  the  circumstances  of  the  limes  to 
make  a  point  against  his  political  opponents.] 

I  am  not  prepared,  Mr.  President,  to  enter  -into  a  full  dis 
cussion  of  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  message ;  nor  do  I 
propose  to  do  so.  Its  extreme  length  would  preclude  such  an 
examination  as  it  deserves,  within  a  reasonable  time.  His 
Excellency  has  informed  us  that  the  value  of  fame  is  to  be 
estimated  by  the  length  of  time  through  which  it  endures  and 
the  space  it  occupies ;  and  he  seems  to  suppose  that  the  value 
of  an  executive  message  should  be  estimated  upon  the  same 
principle — its  length. 

I  shall  not  now  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  until  I  can 
separate  the  few  grains  of  wheat  it  contains  from  the  moun 
tain  of  chaff,  but  will,  for  the  present,  content  myself  with 
calling  the  attention  of  the  Senate  and  the  people  to  a  few  of 
its  gross  inconsistencies  of  position,  and  palpable  misstatements 


of  facts.  I  regret  that  I  feel  bound  to  do  so,  lest  my  remarks 
may  be  deemed  personally  disrespectful  or  unkind  to  the 
Executive,  which  I  will  disavow  in  advance,  and  add,  that  the 
intercourse  between  the  Governor  and  myself  has  been  char, 
acterized  on  the  part  of  his  Excellency  by  fair  and  gen 
tlemanly  demeanor.  It  is  officially,  and  not  personally,  that 
I  desire  to  speak.  I  would  moreover  say  that  I  do  not  hold  it 
fair  to  criticise  illiberally  the  acts  of  a  high  public  functionary, 
while  acting  in  the  discharge  of  the  duty  imposed  on  him  by 
the  constitution  and  laws,  so  long  as  he  contents  himself  with 
the  discharge  of  his  duties.  He  is  the  officer  of  the  whole 
people,  and  in  executing  the  duties  of  his  office  his  acts  are 
entitled  to  the  most  charitable  and  liberal  construction.  But 
when  he  descends  from  his  high  position  to  play  the  political 
partisan ;  becomes  the  assailant  of  his  opponents,  and  under 
the  imposing  sanction  of  his  official  name,  seeks  to  inculcate 
his  favorite  dogmas,  he  is  so  far  the  legitimate  subject  of 
criticism,  and  has  no  right  to  protect  himself  under  the  folds 
of  his  official  mantle :  he  is  then  shorn  of  his  strength,  and  is 
weak  like  other  men. 

The  Constitution  of  this  State  declares  that  the  Governor 
"  shall  communicate  by  message  to  the  Legislature  at  every 
session,  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  recommend  such 
matters  as  he  shall  deem  expedient."  Under  this  clause  of  the 
Constitution,  that  distinguished  dignitary  has  communicated 
by  message  to  the  Legislature  at  this  session,  not  only  the  con 
dition  of  the  State,  but  he  pretends  to  give  the  positions  of 
political  parties,  and  the  position  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly 
of  1838  upon  engrossed  bills.  He  has  turned  legislative  his 
torian — has  entered  the  legislative  burial-field  and  attempted 
to  disinter  the  ashes  of  mouldering  records,  and  incorporate 
their  history  in  his  message,  not  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
the  condition  of  the  State  or  recommending  legislative  action, 
but  for  no  higher  or  worthier  motive  (for  it  could  have  no 
other)  than  showing  Avhich  political  party  had  amended  a  bill 
in  a  particular  manner,  and  which  had  not ;  a  matter  clearly  so 
irrelevant  and  impertinent  that  if  a  lawyer  had,  with  no  better 
excuse,  inserted  it  in  a  pleading,  it  would  have  been  stricken 
out  on  motion.  In  his  message  now  under  consideration,  his 

O  ' 

Excellency  says : 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  95 

"la  1838,  the  late  Executive  recommended  a  more  speedy  enlarge 
ment  of  the  Erie  Canal.  It  was  obvious  from  the  condition  of  the 
finances  of  the  State  at  that  time,  that  this  could  not  be  effected 
without  contracting  a  debt.  The  Assembly  responded  to  this  rec 
ommendation  by  passing  a  bill  directing  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Canal  Fund  to  borrow,  on  the  credit  of  the  State,  one  million  of  dol 
lars  for  that  object.  The  Senate  amended  the  bill  so  as  to  authorize 
the  borrowing  of  four  millions  of  dollars  instead  of  one  million.  In 
this  shape  the  bill  became  a  law.  This  law  required  the  Commissioners 
to  put  under  contract,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  such  portions  of 
the  work  as  were  mentioned  in  their  report  of  that  year,  and  such 
other  portions  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Canal  Board,  would  best  secure 
the  completion  of  the  entire  enlargement  with  double  locks  on  the 
whole  line." 


The  individual  who  undertakes  the  important  task  of  his 
torian,  should  possess  not  only  fidelity,  but  information.  And 
whoever  seeks  to  give  his  fellow  men  a  place  upon  the  historic 
page,  and  above  all  in  an  executive  message,  is  guilty  of  a  high 
moral  wrong  if  he  does  them  injustice.  Ignorance  of  facts 
officially  obtruded,  is  as  inexcusable  as  design,  and  he  who 
invokes  legislative  history  against  his  political  opponents,  is  as 
much  bound  to  learn  the  truth  as  he  is  to  speak  it  after  he  has 
learned  it.  If  it  was  material  for  the  Executive  to  trace  the 
history  of  the  bill  of  1838  for  the  more  speedy  enlargement 
of  the  Erie  Canal,  from  Assembly  to  Senate — from  Senate 
again  to  Assembly,  to  note  where  it  was  amended,  and  by 
which  body  ;  it  was  at  least  equally  material  that  such  relation 
should  be  true.  Sir,  the  people  at  large  have  no  interest  in 
knowing  from  the  Governor,  in  which  branch  a  particular  bill 
was  amended.  If  that  office  is  to  be  performed,  it  should  be 
left  to  retailers  in  party  politics.  The  allusion  to  the  subject 
by  his  Excellency  was  extremely  gratuitous  under  any  cir 
cumstances,  and  what  is  much  worse,  his  statement  is  incorrect. 
I  aver  that  the  bill  in  question  passed  in  the  Assembly,  and 
came  from  the  Assembly  to  the  Senate,  providing  for  the  bor 
rowing  of  four  millions  of  dollars  instead  of  one,  as  stated 
by  his  Excellency  ;  that  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  Assembly,  the 
documents  on  file  and  the  reports  of  the  proceedings,  will  bear 
me  out  in  the  statement,  and  show  him  to  be  mistaken,  and  I 
challenge  contradiction. 


96 

Since  his  Excellency  has  called  the  attention  of  the  Legis 
lature  and  of  the  People  to  the  session  of  1838,  and  has  attempt 
ed  to  run  what  I  deem  an  invidious  parallel  between  a  federal 
Assembly  and  a  democratic  Senate,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
the  extreme  prudence  and  economy  of  the  former,  and  the 
soundness  of  their  views,  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  mention 
another  matter  which  has  intimate  connection  with  the  passage 
of  the  bill  in  question,  which  had  birth  at  about  the  same  time, 
and  of  which  a  distinguished  individual,  now  bearing  the  high 
est  honor  of  the  Empire  State,  was  the  reputed,  and  as  report 
said,  the  acknowledged  father. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  in  April  of  the  session  of  1838, 
the  memorable  bank  suspension  was  drawing  to  a  close ;  and 
that  the  banks  were  required  to  resume  specie  payments  with 
in  a  few  days  thereafter,  or  forfeit  their  charters.  The  banks 
had  indicated  their  ability  and  readiness  to  resume,  but  a  cer 
tain  institution  in  a  neighboring  State  of  which  the  Governor  and 
his  political  friends  had  probably  heard,  had  interposed  its  au 
thority,  and  ordained  that  the  banks  should  not  resume ;  or 
that,  if  they  did  resume,  they  should  again  suspend.  It  was 
known  to  have  the  disposition,  and  believed  to  have  the  power, 
to  prevent  a  successful  resumption.  The  sound  business  men 
of  the  State,  and  particularly  of  the  city  of  New  York,  justly 
regarding  an  irredeemable  currency  as  the  greatest  possible 
commercial  evil,  applied  to  the  then  executive,  Governor  Mar- 
cy,  to  interpose  the  aid  of  the  State  in  behalf  of  the  institutions 
which  were  willing  to  return  to  a  performance  of  their  obliga 
tions,  and  repudiate  the  suspension  policy.  The  relief  suggest 
ed  by  the  most  eminent  financiers  of  the  State,  was  the  loaning 
of  State  stocks,  which  had  been  and  were  to  be  created  for  the 
purposes  of  public  improvements,  in  case  it  should  become 
necessary,  to  the  banks.  Governor  Marcy,  in  view  of  the  extra 
ordinary  crisis,  and  to  avert  an  impending  and  dreadful  calam 
ity,  recommended  that  the  State  should  "  stand  forth  in  its 
strength,  and  by  use  of  its  credit  and  the  sanction  of  its  name, 
shield  its  institutions  and  its  citizens  from  harm."  In  these 
views  a  majority  of  the  Senate  concurred.  But  how  was  it 
with  the  whig  Assembly,  whose  acts  even  of  omission  are 
thought  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  executive  message  ?  Sir,  they 
passed  a  bill  authorizing  a  virtual  continuance  of  the  suspen- 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  97 

sioii,  by  permitting  the  banks  to  issue  post  notes.  So  tenacious 
were  they  of  this  policy,  that  they  even  refused  to  recede  from 
it  upon  a  committee  of  conference.  A  policy  which  is  now 
viewed  with  universal  execration  and  scorn ;  a  policy  which 
has  brought  the  great  federal  regulator  to  her  beam's  end,  and 
exposed  in  letters  of  living  light  her  sorceries  and  corruptions ; 
a  policy  evidently  dictated  by  the  bank  itself,  and  attempted 
to  be  carried  out  by  its  supporter  and  apologists  here  ;  a  policy 
more  profligate,  more  deceptive,  and  less  justifiable,  than  any 
other  which  could  be  devised,  which  no  one  dare  now  vindicate, 
and  which  the  Governor  himself  pronounces  a  fraud  upon  the 
community. 

But  I  have  already  assumed  that  his  excellency  Governor 
Seward  was  at  that  time  an  advocate  of  the  post-note  policy, 
and  as  I  have  permitted  the  late  Executive  to  be  heard  in  his 
own  language  upon  the  subject  of  this  crisis,  I  ought,  perhaps, 
in  justice,  to  extend  the  same  liberality  to  the  present  one,  and 
to  that  end,  I  cite  the  report  of  a  select  committee  of  the  As 
sembly  of  1838,  upon  governor  Marcy's  special  message,  which 
was  understood  to  have  been  from  the  pen  of  his  excellency 
Governor  Seward,  and  was  introduced  by  a  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  the  whig  Assembly,  denominated  at  the  time,  by  high 
authority,  a  veteran  legislator"  After  enumerating  some  of 
the  advantages  which  had  already  resulted  from  whig  legisla 
tion,  the  report  proceeds: 

"  It  appeared  also  to  the  Assembly,  as  a  proper  and  necessary  meas 
ure  of  State  legislation,  in  aid  of  the  banks,  in  the  contemplated  resump 
tion,  that  they  should  have  power  TO  ISSUE  POST  NOTES.  The  manifest 
advantages  of  this  power  are  these  : 

1st.  It  will  enable  the  banks  to  issue  notes  payable  at  a  distant 
day,  and  bearing  interest,  to  those  persons  who  are  satisfied  \vith  their 
solvency,  and  desire  such  notes  as  a  temporary  investment,  and  thereby, 
with  the  consent  of  the  creditors,  and  for  a  proper  equivalent,  to  post 
pone  a  part  of  their  demands  until  a  more  favorable  season.  2d.  It 
will  enable  the  banks  to  purchase  on  credit,  specie  and  convertible  paper 
and  public  stocks,  in  many  instances  more  desirable  than  specie  itself." 

Such,  sir,  were  the  positions  respectively  of  the  Senate  and 
the  Assembly  of  1838,  and  such,  it  may  be  added,  of  the  re 
spective  distinguished  individuals — the  late  and  the  present 
executives. 

7 


DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 


The  mistaken  assertion  of  bis  Excellency,  that  the  bill  for 
the  more  speedy  enlargement  went  from  the  Assembly  to  the 
Senate  with  an  appropriation  of  only  one  million  of  dollars, 
was,  doubtless,  intendedto  arrogate  to  the  party  now  in  power, 
unusual  prudence  and  economy  in  public  expenditures.  Why 
did  not  his  Excellency,  if  he  knew  the  facts,  and  found  it  neces 
sary  to  make  it  a  subject  of  executive  notice,  frankly  say  that 
all  parties  at  that  time,  at  least,  acquiesced  in  the  enlargement, 
regarding  it  as  the  policy  of  the  State,  and  believing  if  it  must 
be  done,  that  economy  would  bo  consulted  by  an  early  comple 
tion — Mr.  Ruggles  in  his  report  having  estimated  that  six  and 
a  half  millions  of  dollars  of  interest  alone  would  be  saved  by  a 
more  speedy  enlargement  than  was  contemplated ; — that  the 
bill  appropriating  four  million  of  dollars,  and  pledging  the  faith 
of  the  State  to  furnish  funds  sufficient  to  complete  the  enlarge 
ment  within  five  years,  passed  the  Assembly,  where  his  politi 
cal  friends  numbered  one  hundred,  with  but  three  dissenting 
voices,  and  those  of  the  minority; — that  it  was  amended  in  the 
Senate  so  as  to  leave  the  time  of  its  completion  a  matter  of 
discretion  with  the  proper  officers,  which,  together  with  an 
amendment  varying  the  manner  of  issuing  the  stock,  was  all 
the  material  amendment  it  received ;  and  that  it  passed  the 
Senate  with  nearly  the  same  unanimity  as  it  did  the  Assembly, 
every  whig  member  voting  for  it  ?  It  may  readily  be  seen 
what  party  claimed  the  honor  of  the  measure  at  the  time,  by 
turning  to  the  files  of  what  the  friends  of  his  Excellency  are 
bound  to  regard  as  high  evidence.  The  Albany  Evening  Jour 
nal — a  paper  supposed  to  speak  the  views  of  his  Excellency — 
or  his  Excellency  supposed  to  speak  the  views  of  that — conduct 
ed  by  an  individual  so  worthy  of  reward  for  party  purposes, 
that  shortly,  and  perhaps  before  we  leave  this  chamber,  he  is 
to  be  recognized  by  law,  and  to  receive  the  richest  prize  in  the 
gift  of  the  spoils-hating  patriots  of  the  majority  in  this  State, 
on  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature  of  1838  discoursed  as 
follows : 

"  A  new  impulse  has  been  given  to  the  cause  of  internal 
improvements — an  impulse  quickened  and  invigorated  by  THE 
TRIUMPHANT  EEPOET  OF  ME.  RuGGLES.  The  speedy  enlarge 
ment  of  the  Erie  Canal  is  authorized,  for  which  four  millions 
of  dollars  is  appropriated,"  &c.  I  exculpate  his  Excellency 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  99 

from  any  intentional  misstatement  of  facts.  He  fell  into  the 
error,  doubtless,  by  an  overweening  desire  to  make  out  a  case 
favorable  to  himself  and  political  friends,  which  they  very 
much  needed.,  and  in  his  eagerness  to  do  so,  has  fared  as  those 
usually  do,  who  go  out  of  their  way  to  meddle  with  that 
which,  in  homely,  but  significant  parlance,  is  none  of  their 
business — committed  an  egregious  error. 

But  his  Excellency  lias  entered  at  great  length  into  the 
reasons  which  have  caused  him,  upon  the  subject  of  internal 
improvements,  to  progress,  somewhat  like  the  shadow  upon 
the  dial  of  the  king  of  Judah — ten  degrees  backward.  In  his 
annual  message  communicated  to  the  Legislature  last  year, 
when  the  late  administration  gave  place  to  the  present  one, 
his  Excellency  described  the  condition  of  the  State,  as  it  came 
to  his  hands,  as  follows : 

u  History  furnishes  no  parallel  to  the  financial  achievements  of  this 
State.  It  surrendered  its  share  in  the  national  domain,  and  relinquished 
for  the  general  welfare  all  the  resources  of  foreign  commerce,  equal 
generally  to  two  thirds  of  the  entire  expenditures  of  the  general  Gov 
ernment.  It  has  nevertheless  sustained  the  expenses  of  its  own 
administration,  founded  and  endowed  a  broad  system  of  education, 
charitable  institutions  for  every  class  of  the  unfortunate,  and  a  peniten 
tiary  establishment  which  is  adopted  as  a  model  by  civilized  nations. 
It  has  increased  four  fold  the  wealth  of  its  citizens,  and  relieved  them 
from  direct  taxation ;  and,  in  addition  to  all  this,  has  carried  forward  a 
stupendous  enterprise  of  improvement;  all  the  while  diminishing  its 
debt,  magnifying  its  credit,  and  augmenting  its  resources." 


This  is  Governor  Seward's  own  language.  Is  it  true  or 
false — correct  or  mistaken  ?  Did  he  know  at  the  time  of  what 
he  was  speaking,  or  was  he  ignorant  of  his  subject,  and  speak 
ing  by  guess  ?  It  should  be  left  to  the  Governor  and  his 
friends  to  determine. 

The  Governor  also  in  his  last  year's  message,  instead  o; 
mousing  among  the  Legislative  documents  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  the  late  State  Administration  had  either  rec 
ommended,  passed  or  even  amended  bills  for  the  purposes  or 
internal  improvement,  declared  that  the  enlarged  and  compre 
hensive  views  of  the  founder  of  that  system  had,  since  his 
day,  been  resisted  by  an  antagonist  policy,  and  that  the 


100 

"several  enterprises  since  undertaken,  had  been  hard -won 
triumphs  over  the  prevalent  convictions  of  the  legislature.'" 
That  his  views  should  be  more  fully  understood  in  the  detail, 
his  Excellency  referred  us  to  the  celebrated  report  of  Mr. 
Rnggles,  in  the  following  unequivocal  strain : 

"  I  respectfully  refer  you  to  a  report  of  a  committee  of  the  last 
House  of  Assembly,  in  which  this  subject  is  discussed  with  eminent 
ability,  and  which  results  in  shewing  that  the  canals  are  a  property 
substantially  unencumbered  ;  that  their  productiveness  would  warrant 
the  State  in  expending  in  internal  improvements,  $4,000,000  ANNUALLY 
DUEING  A  PEEIOD  OF  TEN  TEAKS  ;  and  that  the  revenues  of  the  canals 
would  reimburse  this  expenditure  previous  to  the  year  1865.  This  sum 
far  exceeds  any  estimate  of  the  expense  required  to  complete  the  entire 
system,  while  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  parts  yet  to  be  con 
structed  will  eventually  be  productive  of  revenue.  The  conclusions  of 
this  report,  although  of  vast  interest  to  the  State,  and,  I  trust,  decisive 
of  its  policy,  have  not  ~been  questioned." 

If,  then,  the  condition  of  the  State  was  one  year  since  as 
represented  by  his  Excellency,  and  the  report  of  Mr.  Ruggles 
unquestionable,  and  decisive  of  the  then  policy  of  the  State, 
whence  this  change — this  retrogade — this  sudden  spiking  of 
the  artillery  ? 

His  Excellency  informs  us  in  his  message,  that  he  last  year 
recommended  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad,  the  Ogdens- 
burgh  and  Champlain  Railroad,  and  the  speedy  enlargement 
of  the  Erie  Canal.  Sir,  he  did  more ;  the  half  is  not  told  us. 
He  recommended,  if  recommend  it  was,  "  three  great  lines  of 
communication  by  railroad  between  the  Hudson  River  and  the 
borders  of  the  State,"  one  of  which  was  to  "  keep  the  vicinity 
of  the  Erie  Canal,  and  unite  Albany  with  Buffalo."  Besides 
his  Excellency  recommended  "  other  projects  both  of  railroads 
and  canals,"  without  designating  where,  which,  or  how  many. 
Anywhere,  and  everywhere  —  any  number  and  every  number. 
But  the  apology  for  this  sudden  change  in  the  tone  of  his 
Excellency  is,  the  discovery  of  the  errors  of  his  predecessors — 
that  his  former  recommendations  proceeded  upon  the  assump 
tion  of  the  correctness  of  the  various  estimates  of  the  Canal 
Commissioners,  which  are  discovered,  as  he  says,  to  have  been 
so  very  erroneous,  and  which  valuable  discovery,  his  Excellency 
informs  us,  was  reserved  for  the  Assembly  of  1839. 


THE  GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE.  101 

This  form  of  excuse  is  no  new-fangled  theory.  His  Excel 
lency  has  a  better  precedent  for  this  than  for  most  of  his 
positions.  Our  common  father  was  beguiled  into  his  lament 
able  error  by  a  woman,  and  our  Governor,  though  uniting  the 
patriotism  of  a  Tompkins  with  the  wisdom  of  a  Clinton,  has 
been  beguiled  and  led  astray  by  the  Canal  Commissioners  ! 
All  the  high-sounding  assertions  of  the  last  year's  message — • 
the  triumphant  report  of  Mr.  Ifuggles — the  patriotic  maledic 
tions  of  the  embryo  State  printer  that  the  State  was  governed 
by  mere  politicians,  and  upon  the  subject  of  internal  improve 
ments  "remained  in  her  shell  losing  rank  and  caste" — the 
report  of  the  Whig  Assembly  of  1838,  that  New  York  had 
done  nothing — comparatively  nothing,  upon  the  subject  of 
internal  improvement — that  she  had  been  supine  and  indiffer 
ent  to  her  own  interests,  and  had  been  reposing  in  a  long, 
deep  and  destructive  slumber ;  all  are  given  to  the  winds,  and 
we  are  now  told  that  the  late  Administration  had  been 
extravagant  in  expenditures  for  improvements;  had  already 
done  too  much,  and  committed  the  State  to  the  extent  of  its 
capacity,  before  it  came  under  the  judicious  influences  of  Whig 
management  and  Whig  control. 

His  Excellency  dates  his  conversion  from  the  workings  of 
the  Assembly  of  1839.  From  his  own  relation  it  would  al 
most  seem,  that  upon  this  subject  he  was  born  blind,  and  was 
restored  to  sight  by  the  application  of  Clay  to  his  vision,  per 
formed  by  that  enlightened  and  more  enlightening  body.  He 
now  attempts  to  raise  a  smoke  about  the  Canal  Commission 
ers,  under  which  he  doubtless  expects  to  escape  from  his  posi 
tion.  They  are  to  be  the  scapegoats  to  bear  off  all  the  sins  of 
the  Whig  Administration  of  omission  or  commission — past, 
present,  and  future.  His  Excellency  stood  in  imminent  need 
of  somebody  upon  whom  he  could  charge  all  his  inconsisten 
cies  in  gross,  which  he  could  not  otherwise  dispose  of,  and  for 
that  purpose,  it  seemed,  he  selected  the  Canal  Commissioners. 
I  have  somewhere  read  that  when  the  children  of  men  became 
so  numerous  that  surnames  were  necessary,  after  every  variety 
of  name  which  could  be  devised  was  given  out,  still  a  large 
class  remained  unprovided  for.  This,  at  first,  produced  some 
embarrassment,  but  was  finally  obviated  by  calling  them  all 
Smith.  It  seemed  his  Excellency  had  proceeded  by  a  similar 


102 

method.  He  has  set  down  a  portion  of  his  erroneous  positions 
to  his  predecessor ;  a  portion  to  the  President ;  a  portion  to 
the  Senate,  and  a  portion  to  the  dissemination  of  pernicious 
principles  generally ;  but  there  was  a  large  balance  yet  left 
against  his  Excellency,  and  this  he  has  charged  to  the  Canal 
Commissioners. 

But  I  will  endeavor  to  strip  him  of  this  poor  excuse,  far 
fetched  and  empty  as  I  regard  it.  In  his  message  of  1838,  his 
Excellency  said  that  the  productiA^eness  of  the  canals  would 
warrant  the  State  in  expending  in  internal  improvements  four 
millions  of  dollars  annually,  during  a  period  of  ten  years;  and 
that  the  revenues  of  the  canals  alone  would  reimburse  this  ex 
penditure  previous  to  the  year  1865.  This  conclusion  of  his 
Excellency  is  not  based  upon  the  estimates  of  the  Canal  Com 
missioners,  but  upon  the  "triumphant  "  report  of  Mr.  Ruggles. 
Then,  four  millions  for  ten  years — forty  millions  in  the  whole — 
could  safely  be  expended,  and  the  interest  be  paid  and  the 
principal  reimbursed  previous  to  1865.  Now,  without  taking 
into  account  the  increased  tolls,  his  Excellency  informs  us  that 
a  debt  of  only  about  $10,000,000  can  be  upheld — but  a  little 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  amount  which  he  last  year  assured 
us  could  be  sustained  from  the  same  income,  But  let  us  see  what 
the  pretended  erroneous  estimates  of  the  Canal  Commissioners 
as  to  the  outlay,  have  to  do  with  the  amount  of  debt  which 
the  State  is  capable  of  sustaining  from  .  its  income.  The 
amount  of  debt  which  the  State  can  sustain  must  depend  upon 
its  income.  The  estimated  cost  of  a  work,  however  errone 
ous,  does  not  diminish  the  income  of  the  State,  although  it 
may  add  to  its  obligations ;  and  if  a  debt  of  forty  millions 
could  have  been  sustained  last  year,  it  can  be  sustained  this, 
if  the  income  is  not  less,  although  the  estimates  upon  public 
works  may  have  been  ever  so  erroneous.  The  assertion  in  the 
last  year's  message,  which  his  Excellency  is  so  ambitious  to 
transfer  to  other  shoulders,  was  not  how  much  were  the  lia 
bilities  of  the  State,  but  how  much  debt  it  could  sustain; 
and  since  there  has  been  already  an  increase  of  canal  tolls, 
and  his  Excellency  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  increase  will 
continue,  he  would  have  escaped  from  his  position  with  more 
propriety  through  some  other  avenue. 

His  Excellency  has  deemed  it  necessary  to  advise  the  Peo- 


THE    GOVERNOR  S    MESSAGE.  103 

pie,  that  only  one  act  appropriating  the  public  moneys  for  inter 
nal  improvement  was  passed  at  the  session  of  1839,  and  that  for 
only  875,000.  As  if  to  say:  "Yon  see,  good  People,  how  very 
prudently  and  economically  affairs  have  been  conducted  since 
you  have  had  a  Whig  Governor."  In  speaking  of  the  session 
of  1838,  his  Excellency  has  been  very  careful  to  speak  of  the 
separate  action  of  each  body  upon  a  single  bill,  but  evidently 
intended  to  take  credit  to  his  administration  for  the  prudent 
legislation  of  1839,  without  regard  to  the  branch  of  the  Legis 
lature  which  produced  it.  A  witness  is  bound  not  only  to 
tell  the  truth,  but  the  whole  truth,  and  he  who  withholds  a 
material  part  is  as  guilty  as  he  who  wantonly  fabricates.  If 
it  was  material  for  the  People  to  know  the  action  of  the  sepa 
rate  branches  of  the  Legislature  of  1838,  it  was  equally  so  in 
1839  ;  and  yet  his  Excellency  has,  in  writing  the  history  of 
the  last  session,  omitted  some  matters  which  might  be  of  ser 
vice  to  the  public.  His  Excellency  has  well  said,  that  but  one 
internal  improvement  act  passed  at  the  session  of  1839;  and 
that  appropriating  only  $75,000 ;  but  if  there  was  any  merit 
in  this  economy,  why  did  he  not  also  say  that  the  Whig 
Assembly  of  that  year  passed  in  addition,  the  following  bills, 
which  were  lost  in  the  Senate ; — bills  contemplating  an  imme 
diate  outlay  of  the  amounts  specified,  ancl  eventually  a  very 
large  amount. 

Bills  which  passed  the  Assembly  at  the  session  of  1839,  and 
were  lost  in  the  Senate : 

APPBOPllIATIONS. 

Erie  Catial  Enlargement  -  $1,250,000 

New  York  and  Erie  Kailroad  -        1,000,000 

Ogdensburgh  and  Champlain  Kailroad  -  -      300,000  loan 

Auburn  and  Rochester          -  ...  400,000  *' 

New  York  and  Harlem  ....      200,000  " 

New  York  and  Albany         ....  500,000  " 

Long  Island  .....      200,000    " 

Troy  and  Schenectady  ....  250,000  " 

Attica  and  Buffalo  -  -      200,000  " 

Hudson  and  Berkshire  ...  140,000  " 

Saratoga  and  Washington  -  ...      200,000  u 

The  whole  truth  upon  that  subject  would  then  have  been 
told,  and  the  respective  branches   placed   fairly   before   their 


104: 

constituents  for  approval  or  condemnation.  By  reference  to 
the  organ  of  the  State  Administration,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
session  in  May,  it  will  be  seen  who  then  took  the  credit  of 
passing  only  one  internal  improvement  bill.  That  paper  de 
clared  that  the  great  cause  of  internal  improvement  stood  still, 
and  that  a  recusant  Senate,  obedient  to  the  Argus,  which 
croaked  incessantly  about  a  forty  million  debt,  strangled  every 
improvement  bill  which  had  passed  the  Assembly,  and  that  if 
the  Empire  State  was  disposed  to  go  back  into  its  shell,  it 
must  attac?i  itself  to  the  Yan  Buren  car,  &c. 

His  Excellency  especially  assigns  as  a  reason  why  he  does 
not  recommend  the  great  southern  railroad,  even  as  favorably 
as  he  did  last  year,  the  erroneous  estimates  of  the  Canal  Com 
missioners. 

But  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  pretended  marvellous 
discovery  of  previous  errors  was  made  by  the  Assembly  of 
1839,  about  the  first  of  April  last.  This  was  not  far  from  the 
time  when  the  Secretary  of  State,  by  the  direction  of  his  Ex 
cellency,  informed  the  public  through  the  columns  of  the 
Argus,  that  the  Governor  was  at  that  time  still  in  favor  of  his 
own  message,  particularly  as  it  respected  the  enlargement  of 
the  Erie  canal,  and  that  whenever  his  opinion  should  be  in  the 
least  changed  the  People  should  be  officially  advised  of  it.  As 
this  is  the  first  official  communication  upon  that  subject  from 
his  Excellency,  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  his  change  of 
views  has  been  very  recent.  Let  it  be  further  remembered 
that  most  of  the  appropriations  made  by  the  Assembly  were 
after  they  had  obtained  all  their  information  about  the  cost  of 
the  canals — that  after  that  period,  the  learned  report  of  the 
Senator  from  the  First,*  upon  the  subject  of  improvements, 
was  submitted  to  the  Senate,  which  it  was  understood  at  the 
time  was  high  authority  with  the  Governor  and  the  party  now 
in  power,  and  that  the  vociferations  of  the  party  organ  after 
the  adjournment,  because  a  "  recusant "  Senate  had  defeated 
the  internal  improvement  bills  passed  by  the  Assembly,  show 
ed  that  the  discovery  made  by  the  Assembly  of  1839  had  very 
little  influence  with  either  the  Governor  or  his  friends  in  shap 
ing  their  policy,  but  that  this  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes 

*  MR.  VEUPLANCK. 


105 

an  afterthought.  There  are  other  reasons  which  induced  to 
this  conclusion.  As  late  as  September  last,  after  his  Excellency 
had  had  abundant  time  to  digest  all  the  developments  of  the 
Whig  Assembly  of  1839,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  citizens 
of  the  northern  counties,  assuring  them  that  all  the  exertions 
which  it  was  in  his  power  to  make  should  as  theretofore  be 
cheerfully  contributed  to  the  construction  of  the  Ogdensburgh 
and  Champlain  Railroad,  but  no  suggestion  accompanied  it  that 
the  developments  made  by  the  Assembly  of  1839  had  induced 
or  rendered  a  change  of  policy  necessary.  Further,  in  July 
last,  a  convention  of  the  southern  counties  upon  the  subject  of 
their  railroad  was  held  at  Ithaca,  in  which  his  Excellency,  as 
usual,  appeared  by  letter  in  favor  of  the  work.  In  September 
thereafter,  while  travelling  through  the  southern  counties,  in 
reply  to  a  letter  addressed  to  his  Excellency  upon  the  subject 
of  the  southern  railroad,  by  William  W.  McKay,  Ziba  A.  Le- 
land,  and  others,  his  Excellency  held  the  following  language, 
which  was  well  suited  to  that  meridian  : 

"•  There  can  be  no  impropriety  in  my  saying  what  has  been  doubtless 
well  understood  through  the  State,  that  the  bill  which  was  passed  by 
the  Assembly,  providing  for  the  construction  of  the  New  York  and 
Erie  railroad,  had  my  decided  approbation,  and  that  I  should  have  sign 
ed  it  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  had  it  passed  the  Senate,  not  only  as 
a  measure  justly  due  to  the  People  of  the  southern  counties  and  wisely 
calculated  to  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  State,  but  also  as  one  which 
would  honorably  distinguish  the  period  of  my  connection  with  the  ad 
ministration  of  public  affairs.  These  views  are  confirmed  by  a  more 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  region  more  particularly  interested  in 
the  improvement,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  the  expense  of  the  work  has 
been  greatly  and  unnecessarily  exaggerated,  while  its  usefulness  has  been 
but  imperfectly  conceived.  Entertaining  these  opinions,  I  shall  be  at  all 
times  ready  and  willing  to  cooperate  in  the  same  manner,  and  yield,  as 
I  have  heretofore  done,  my  best  exertions  for  the  accomplishment  of 
this  great  improvement." 

Here  again  is  no  pretence  that  a  change  of  policy  had  be 
come  necessary,  although  he  had  for  six  months  the  benefits  of 
all  the  developments  of  the  Assembly  which  he  has  now,  and 
the  pecuniary  embarrassments  which  now  affect  the  country 
were  then  plainly  visible.  Why,  then,  does  not  his  Excellency 
say  now  upon  the  subject  of  the  southern  road  at  least  what 


106  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

lie  said  then  ?  Then  he  promised  his  best  exertions  in  favor 
of  the  work ;  now  his  political  friends  cannot  find  enough 
upon  the  subject  in  this  long  and  verbose  message  worth 
even  referring  to  a  committee. 

It  is  a  subject  in  which  my  constituents  feel  a  deep  interest. 
It  has  long  been  agitated,  and  is  due  to  the  question,  to  the 
People,  and  to  the  Governor,  who  by  himself  and  friends  has 
made  so  many  professions  upon  the  subject,  to  treat  it  with 
frankness  and  have  it  settled.  The  People  have  been  told  by 
Whig  partisans  and  Whig  presses  that  the  ascendency  of  the 
federalists  in  the  State  would  insure  its  speedy  completion  as 
a  State  work ;  and  they  have  now  a  right  to  ask  for  a  redemp 
tion  of  the  pledge.  I  do  not  believe  the  People  of  the  south 
ern  tier,  desirous  as  they  are  that  the  road  should  be  construct 
ed,  would  wish  to  have  the  State  rush  inconsiderately  into 
debt.  I  know  they  would  not.  They  are  for  a  safe  and  cau 
tious  policy;  but  inasmuch  as  the  credit  of  the  State  is  already 
pledged  to  the  company  to  the  amount  of  three  millions — a 
small  portion  of  which  only  has  been  drawn,  they  believe  that 
the  policy  of  the  State  touching  the  improvement  can  as  well 
be  settled  now  as  ever,  by  giving  a  different  direction  to  the 
fund  already  provided,  without  increasing  the  liability  of 
the  State  one  dollar.  It  has  been  the  football  for  dema 
gogues  long  enough,  and  under  the  professions  which  have 
been  voluntarily  made  in  a  certain  quarter  it  is  due  to  the  Peo 
ple  that  the  policy  of  the  State  administration  should  be  made 
known  fully  and  frankly.  If  the  Governor  is  in  favor  of  the 
State  work  project,  let  him  say  so  ;  or  if  he  is  opposed  to  it, 
let  him  say  that.  He  need  not  inform  us  that  there  is  such  a 
work,  for  we  all  know  it ;  nor  that  the  company  are  working 
wonders  upon  it,  for  we  have  been  edified  with  that  story  on 
the  sitting  of  the  Legislature  for  the  last  four  years.  We 
know  what  the  company  have  done,  are  doing,  and  have  our 
opinion  as  to  what  they  will  hereafter  do.  But  it  has  received 
no  executive  notice  except  such  as  is  biographical,  and  convey 
ed  in  words  which  can  be  read  either  way.  Its  fate  must  depend 
on  legislative  volition,  liberality  and  wisdom,  unaided  and  un 
directed  by  him  who  has  been  cried  up  as  its  champion.  Not 
withstanding  the  special  pleading  of  the  Governor,  and  his 
half  and  half  position,  that  enterprising  People  are  as  far  from 


107 

market  as  before.  Their  majestic  hills,  pleasant  valleys,  and 
limpid  streams  remain  the  same,  and  they  will  not  be  veered 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine  put  forth  by  the  executive. 
Nor  can  his  Excellency  satisfy  the  people  of  the  southern  tier 
by  high-sounding  pretensions  upon  the  subject  of  internal  im 
provement  generally,  nor  by  protecting  the  lateral  canals  so 
valorously,  with  which  no  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  proposes  to 
interfere.  He  has  taken  great  care  to  promise,  and  they  will 
take  equal  care  that  he  performs. 

I  concur  fully  with  the  gentleman  from  the  Seventh,*  who  has 
had  charge  of  referring  his  Excellency's  message,  that  there 
was  no  action  recommended  on  the  subject  of  railroads,  which 
it  was  worth  while  to  refer,  but  there  was  considerable  said 
on  the  subject,  and  said  too  in  such  questionable  shape,  that 
I  think  it  ought  to  have  been  referred  as  a  curiosity  if  nothing 
more.  I,  at  one  time,  had  it  not  been  discourteous  to  the 
majority,  would  have  moved  to  refer  it,  but  whether  I  should 
have  moved  to  have  it  sent  to  the  committee  on  literature,  to 
have  its  meaning  defined,  or  to  the  committee  on  claims — as  it 
evidently  asserted  a  claim  to  superior  economy  and  prudence 
for  the  present  administration,  or  to  the  committee  on  priv 
ileges  and  elections — it  being  evidently  an  electioneering  doc 
ument,  I  have  not  yet  determined.  I  do  not  question  the  right 
of  his  Excellency  to  take  his  side  of  the  subject,  as  his  judg 
ment  dictates,  but  he  has  no  right  to  both.  Nor  will  the 
People  of  the  southern  counties  accept  from  his  Excellency  as 
a  fulfilment  of  his  own  promises  the  changes  he  has  rung  upon 
expressions  of  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth.f  They  will  combat 
him  through  their  representatives,  and  will  regard  executive 
interference,  I  have  no  doubt,  as  I  regard  it,  a  virtual  infringe 
ment  upon  the  constitutional  liberty  of  debate,  and  neither 
dignified  nor  justifiable  ;  which,  if  upheld  against  one,  may  be, 
by  the  same  rule,  against  another.  A  great  majority  of  my 
constituents  differ  with  the  extreme  views  of  the  Senator  from 
the  Fourth  upon  the  subject  of  internal  improvement,  and  their 
representatives,  myself  among  the  number,  have  been  often 
called  to  enter  the  conflict  against  him.  I  am  well  known  to 
entertain  views  opposite  to  those  of  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth 

*  MR.  MATXAKD.  t  MR.  YOUNG. 


108  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

upon  this  subject ;  I  have  had  occasion  to  express  them ;  I 
have  done  so  fearlessly,  and  will  do  so  again  when  the  occasion 
presents ;  but  I  protest  against  the  propriety  of  the  Executive 
in  reviewing  the  positions  and  carping  upon  the  language  of 
members  of  the  Legislature  spoken  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duty,  in  an  executive  message.  Much  as  the  inhabitants  of 
the  southern  counties  and  their  representatives  have  differed 
from  the  Senator  from  the  Fourth,  they  have  found  in  him  one 
merit,  which  in  these  times  ought  to  be  regarded  above  all 
price — he  has  been  above  hypocrisy  and  double  dealing.  He 
has  chosen  his  position  and  maintained  it ;  has  been  easily 
found,  and  has  misled  no  one.  He  has  not  raised  confidence  to 
betray  it,  nor  lavished  professions  at  one  time  to  be  belied  at 
another.  He  has  been  an  open  as  well  as  a  determined  oppo 
nent,  and  has  contented  himself  with  being  upon  one  side. 
He  has  not  had  one  set  of  principles  for  one  section,  and 
another  for  another,  nor  has  he  left  them  in  a  shape  to  be  con 
strued  agreeably  to  the  sentiment  in  the  meridian  where  they 
are  promulgated,  or  as  necessity  may  require.  He  has  raised 
himself  like  a  solitary  rock  above  the  ocean's  storm,  and 
"grand,  gloomy  and  peculiar  "  has  withstood  alike  the  sun 
shine  and  the  tempest,  and  now  stands  forth  a  memorable 
illustration  of  the  truth  that 

"Pigmies  are  pigmies  still,  though  perched  on  Alps, 
And  pyramids,  are  pyramids  in  vales" 


ADDEESS 

DELIVERED    AT    THE    FAIR    OF    THE    QUEENS    COUNTY     AGRICUL 
TURAL  SOCIETY,  October  17,  18-i3. 

THE  earth  was  by  Divine  appointment  to  furnish  man's 
subsistence.  When,  as  sacred  history  informs  us,  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  were  finished  and  all  the  host  of  them,  and  there 
was  not  a  man  to  till  the  ground,  man  was  created  and  placed 
in  the  garden ;  riot  to  vegetate  in  passive  luxuriance,  like  the 
herbs  and  plants  which  adorned  his  paradise,  but  to  dress  and 
to  keep  it:  and  though  by  reason  of  his  defection  he  was 
driven  from  its  enjoyments — his  state  of  calm  and  happy  inno 
cence  changed  to  one  of  solicitude,  toil  and  endurance — the 
ground  cursed  for  his  sake  with  thorns  also  and  thistles,  and  it 
was  ordained  that  in  the  sweat  of  his  face  he  should  eat  his 
bread — it  is  evident,  that  in  the  economy  of  his  creation,  as  well 
as  in  the  appointment  of  his  lot  after  the  fall,  he  was  destined 
for  active  employment. 

Practical  agriculture  is  coeval  with  the  history  of  man. 
One  of  the  sons  of  our  common  progenitor  was  a  tiller  of  the 
ground,  another  was  a  keeper  of  sheep.  Noah  and  his  descend 
ants  after  the  flood  planted  and  cultivated  vineyards,  as  well 
as  reared  cities  and  established  kingdoms.  Many  of  the  laws 
of  Moses  have  for  their  object  the  regulation  of  flocks  and 
herds,  and  the  cultivation  and  enjoyment  of  fields.  The  chil 
dren  of  Israel,  on  coming  to  the  possession  of  the  fair  land  of 
Canaan,  after  wandering  in  the  wilderness  a  period  of  forty 
years,  addressed  themselves  to  its  cultivation.  When  the 
prophet  Elijah  passed  by  and  cast  his  mantle  upon  Elisha,  he 
found  him  ploughing  in  the  field  with  twelve  yoke  of  oxen  be 
fore  him,  himself  with  the  twelfth  ;  and  the  servants  and  oxen 
of  the  affluent  Idumean  were  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit  when 
they  fell  a  prey  to  the  rapacity  of  the  Sabeans.  Many  of  the 
most  interesting  and  poetic  incidents  of  Scripture  are  touching 


110  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  harvesting  and  gleaning  of  fields,  and  other  rural  .occupa 
tions,  and  its  pages  are  replete  with  descriptions  of  the  manage 
ment  of  flocks  and  herds,  sheep  shearings,  threshing  floors  and 
other  employments  of  husbandry. 

The  ancient  Egyptians  tilled  the  ground  with  so  much  suc 
cess,  that  they  were  enabled  to  withstand  the  consuming  in 
fluences  of  a  famine  of  seven  years  duration,  and  to  supply 
their  neighbors  who  were  destitute  and  in  want,  with  corn 
from  the  royal  granaries.  And  although  in  their  blind  spirit 
of  idolatrous  devotion,  they  attributed  the  invention  of  an  art 
so  useful,  to  their  god  Osiris,  they  applied  their  energies  to  aid 
the  profuse  liberality  of  nature,  or,  as  they  believed,  the  munifi 
cence  of  their  deity,  and  rendered  the  fertile  banks  of  the  Nile 
still  more  productive  by  irrigation,  drains  and  embankments. 

The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Greece  were  strangers  to  this 
primeval  art,  and  subsisted  upon  the  spontaneous  productions 
of  the  earth,  until  they  were  led  by  the  Egyptians,  to  whom 
they  were  indebted  for  the  science  which  has  rendered  classic 
Greece  immortal,  to  its  successful  cultivation.  But  they  too, 
true  to  their  idolatrous  instincts,  attributed  the  productions  of 
the  soil — the  rewards  of  their  own  industry — to  the  kindly  care 
and  keeping  of  their  tutelar  goddess,  Ceres.  In  the  glowing 
and  poetic  age  of  Homer,  Laertes  laid  aside  the  kingly  robes 
of  office  for  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agriculture.  Hesiod  sung 
of  the  labors  of  the  field ;  Xenophon  and  Aristotle  and  other 
Greek  writers  of  eminence  furnish  numerous  and  interesting 
notices  of  rural  affairs ;  and  the  Carthaginians,  by  agriculture, 
prepared  Sicily  to  be  the  granary  of  Rome. 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  all-conquering  Rome  divided 
their  time  and  energies  between  war  and  husbandry.  Cin- 
cinnatus  came  from  the  plough  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office  of  dictator,  and  sought  the  earliest  opportunity  consist 
ent  with  his  country's  honor,  to  lay  aside  the  power  and  dig 
nity  of  station  and  return  to  the  employment  from  whence  he 
was  called  ;  and  Regulus,  a  Roman  senator,  in  a  spirit  worthy 
of  imitation  by  modern  legislators,  sought  retirement  from  the 
senate  for  a  season,  that  he  might  preserve  his  little  farm  from 
dilapidation  and  ruin.  Whether  the  hardy  Roman  pitched  his 
tent  or  ploughed  his  field — whether  he  wielded  the  weapons 
of  war,  or  ths  implements  of  husbandry — the  sword  or  the 


AGRICULTURAL   ADDRESS,  1843.  Ill 

ploughshare — the  spear  or  the  priming  hook,  his  action  was 
characterized  by  the  same  unyielding,  irrepressible  energy  and 
vigor.  The  laudable  pursuit  of  agriculture  was  not  neglected 
by  the  patricians  until  the  seductive  influences  of  wealth  intro 
duced  luxury  and  artificial  manners  with  their  corrupting  con 
sequences,  and  even  then,  many,  cherishing  the  early  virtues 
of  their  nation,  continued  to  give  the  occupation  their  personal 
attention  ; — while  others,  like  political  farmers  of  modern  times, 
preferred  to  farm  by  proxy,  and  performed  it  by  their  slaves. 
The  attachment  of  this  people  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture 
may  be  found  detailed  in  the  writings  of  Pliny,  Cato  and  Vir 
gil,  all  of  which  abound  with  practical  suggestions  on  the  various 
duties  of  the  husbandman.  The  ox  was  scarcely  less  esteemed 
by  them  than  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  by  whom  he  was  wor 
shipped,  and  their  books  contain  numerous  suggestions  for  the 
breeding,  breaking,  feeding  and  working  of  this,  their  favorite 
animal.  They  drove  their  plough,  a  rude  implement,  scarcely 
an  apology  for  the  utensil  of  this  day,  with  and  without  wheels, 
with  and  without  colters,  and  with  shares  of  various  kinds  ;  and 
they  tried,  but  with  what  success  is  uncertain,  the  experiment 
of  reaping  with  machines.  Hay-making  was  performed  by 
them  after  the  manner  of  the  present  day,  and  the  practice  of 
fallowing  their  land,  and  of  weeding  and  watering  their  crops, 
was  universal. 

We  have,  then,  the  high  authority  of  history,  sacred  and 
profane,  for  declaring  that  agriculture  is  a  dignified  and  time- 
honored  calling — ordained  and  favored  of  heaven,  and  sanc 
tioned  by  experience  ;  and  we  are  invited  to  its  pursuit  by  the 
rewards  of  the  past  and  the  present,  and  the  rich  promises  of 
the  future.  While  the  fierce  spirit  of  war,  with  its  embattled 
legions,  has,  in  its  proud  triumphs,  "  whelmed  nations  in  blood, 
and  wrapped  cities  in  fire,"  and  filled  the  land  with  lamentation 
and  mourning,  it  has  not  brought  peace  or  happiness  to  a  single 
hearth — dried  the  tears  of  the  widows,  or  hushed  the  cries  of 
the  orphans  it  has  made — bound  up  or  soothed  one  crushed  or 
broken  spirit — nor  heightened  the  joys  of  domestic  or  social 
life  in  a  single  bosom.  But  how  many  dark  recesses  of  the 
earth  has  agriculture  illumined  with  its  blessings  !  How  many 
firesides  has  it  lighted  up  with  radiant  gladness  !  How  many 
hearts  has  it  made  buoyant  with  domestic  hope  !  How  often, 


112 

like  the  good  Samaritan,  has  it  alleviated  want  and  misery, 
while  the  priest  and  Levite  of  power  have  passed  by  on  the 
other  side  !  How  many  family  altars,  and  gathering  places  of 
affection,  has  it  erected!  How  many  desolate  homes  has  it 
cheered  by  its  consolations  !  How  have  its  peaceful  and  gen 
tle  influences  filled  the  land  with  plenteousness  and  riches,  and 
made  it  vocal  with  praise  and  thanksgiving  ! 

It  has  pleased  the  benevolent  Author  of  our  existence  to  set- 
in  boundless  profusion  before  us  the  necessary  elements  for  a 
high  state  of  cultivation  and  enjoyment.  Blessings  cluster 
around  us  like  fruits  of  the  land  of  promise,  and  science  un 
folds  her  treasures  and  invites  us  to  partake,  literally  without 
money  and  without  price.  The  propensities  of  our  nature,  as 
well  as  the  philosophy  of  our  being,  serve  to  remind  us  that 
man  wras  formed  for  care  and  labor — for  the  acquisition  and 
enjoyment  of  property — for  society  and  government — to  wrestle 
with  the  elements  around  him  ;  and  that,  by  an  active  exercise 
of  his  powers  and  faculties  alone,  can  he  answer  the  ends  of  his 
creation,  or  exhibit  his  exalted  attributes.  His  daily  wants,  in 
all  conditions  of  life,  prompt  him  to  exertion,  and  the  spirit  of 
acquisition  so  deeply  implanted  in  the  human  breast,  that 
"ruling  passion,"  so  universally  diffused  through  the  whole 
family  of  man,  is  the  parent  of  that  laudable  enterprise  which 
has  caused  the  wilderness  to  bud  and  blossom  like  the  rose ; 
planted  domestic  enjoyments  in  the  lair  of  the  beast  of  prey, 
and  transformed  the  earth  from  an  uncultivated  wild  into  one 
vast  store-house  of  subsistence  and  enjoyment.  What  can  be 
more  acceptable  to  the  patriot  or  the  philanthropist,  than  to 
behold  the  great  mass  of  mankind  raised  above  the  degrading 
influences  of  tyranny  and  indolence,  to  the  rational  enjoyment 
of  the  bounties  of  their  Creator  ?  To  see,  in  the  productions 
of  man's  almost  magic  powers,  the  cultivated  country — the 
fragrant  meadow — the  waving  harvest — the  smiling  garden, 
and  the  tasteful  dwelling,  and  himself,  chastened  by  the  pre 
cepts  of  religion,  and  elevated  by  the  refinements  of  science, 
partaking  of  the  fruits  of  his  own  industry,  with  the  proud 
consciousness  that  he  eats  not  the  bread  of  idleness  or  fraud  ; 
that  his  gains  are  not  wet  with  the  tears  of  misfortune,  nor 
wrung  from  his  fellow  by  the  devices  of  avarice  or  extortion ; 
his  joys  heightened,  his  sorrows  alleviated,  and  his  heart  rec- 


AGRICULTURAL    ADDRESS,  1843.  113 

tilled  by  the  cheering  voice  and  heaven-born  influences  of  wom 
an.  Well  may  he  sit  down  under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree 
without  fear  of  molestation,  and  his  nightly  repose  be  more 
peaceful  than  that  of  the  stately  monarch  of  the  east  upon  his 
down  of  cygnets,  or  the  voluptuous  Sybarite  upon  his  bed  of 
roses. 

The  present  occasion  will  scarcely  be  deemed  suitable  for 
speculations,  by  him  who  addresses  you,  upon  the  detailed  pro 
cesses  of  husbandry — the  relative  strength  of  soils — utility  of 
grains  and  grasses,  and  the  proper  period  for  seed  time  and 
harvest.  These  should  be  taught  by  other  lips,  where  the 
science  is  inculcated,  rather  than  where  we  have  met  together 
to  celebrate  its  triumphs.  The  prosperity  of  those  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  depends  not  alone  upon  the  successful 
cultivation  of  the  field,  and  the  judicious  management  of  the 
farm.  These,  to  be  sure,  are  of  primary  importance,  and  indis 
pensable  to  the  success  of  the  undertaking ;  but  there  are  other 
subjects  which  deeply  concern  their  interest  and  well-being, 
without  a  knowledge  of  which  they  must  fail  to  enjoy  the  high 
station  they  were  destined  to  occupy  in  the  scale  of  social  and 
political  being. 

The  farmer  cannot  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  nor  figs  of  this 
tles  ;  nor  can  he  reap  the  fruits  of  knowledge  without  its  care 
and  cultivation.  The  vast  numerical  majority  of  those  engaged 
in  this  pursuit,  over  all  others,  shows  that  our  moral,  social, 
and  political  condition  is  in  their  keeping.  It  proves  the  high 
privileges  they  enjoy,  as  well  as  the  responsibility  which  rests 
upon  them.  Privileges  which  they  cannot  duly  estimate,  and 
responsibilities  which  they  cannot  properly  discharge  without 
the  acquisition  of  general  knowledge,  and  a  high  cultivation 
of  the  moral  powers  and  faculties.  With  these,  they  may  raise 
and  maintain  their  own  standard  of  intelligence,  and  control, 
for  good  or  for  evil,  the  destinies  of  government. 

The  mind  of  the  professional  man  is  engaged  with  his  par 
ticular  calling,  striving  to  become  eminent  and  useful,  struggling, 
perchance,  with  rivalry  on  either  hand,  and  realizing  "  how  hard 
it  is  to  climb  the  steep  where  fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar." 
His  mental  vision  is  fixed  upon  a  single  object.  His  mind 
is  accustomed  to  run  in  grooves  fashioned  by  his  pursuit — all 
else  palls  upon  the  sense,  and  he  too  often  lives  and  dies  the 
8 


114  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

mere  creature  of  his  profession.  The  merchant  is  buried  in 
commerce,  and  the  mechanic  absorbed  with  inventions  and  im 
provements.  But  to  the  farmer,  devoted  to  no  theories,  and 
wedded  to  no  systems,  with  the  ample  volume  of  nature  con 
stantly  before  him,  unfolding  her  mysteries  and  spreading  out 
her  allurements  ;  the  deep  fountains  of  knowledge  stand  open 
and  all  combines  to  inspire  him  with  a  love  for  the  sublime  and 
beautiful.  The  gloi-y  of  the  morning  sunbeam,  emblem  of  hope 
and  gladness — the  pearly  dew  which  glitters  in  his  pathway — 
the  flowers  that  smile  around  him,  and  the  rejoicings  of  ani 
mated  nature,  tend  to  fill  him  with  sentiments  of  love  and  ado 
ration,  and  to  elevate  and  refine  his  heart.  It  is  a  fallacy  no 
less  mischievous  than  idle,  to  suppose  that  there  is  no  learning 
but  the  learning  of  the  schools,  or  that^  in  the  phrase  of  the 
day,  "  getting  an  education  "  necessarily  requires  the  individual 
to  abandon,  for  the  time  being,  all  other  employments,  and  de 
vote  himself  alternately  to  study  and  indolence.  The  pursuits 
of  the  farmer,  with  proper  economy  and  a  judicious  division  of 
time,  are  consistent  with  the  prosecution  of  science  and  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  ;  and  of  that  knowledge,  too,  which 
will  enable  him  to  discharge  all  the  relations  of  life  with  as 
much  prudence,  understanding,  and  fidelity,  as  he  whose  only 
pursuit  is  study,  and  which,  mingling  its  streams  with  the 
mighty  current  of  human  affairs,  will  teach  industry,  temper 
ance,  and  frugality,  and  carry  refinement  and  intelligence  to 
the  lowest  cabin  of  the  plains,  and  the  remotest  cottage  of  the 
mountain. 

The  moral  sublimity  of  the  scene  which,  as  a  people,  we 
contemplate  to-day  in  the  light  of  history  and  human  progress, 
is  equalled  only  by  the  magnitude  of  our  country,  the  diversity 
of  her  interests,  and  the  vastness  of  her  population.  When  the 
mind's  eye  tires  with  witnessing  the  untold  productions  and 
resources  of  the  Empire  State,  with  her  fertile  soil — her  broad 
rivers  and  inland  seas— her  extensive  territory — her  magnificent 
improvements — her  boundless  commerce,  and  her  institutions 
of  religion,  charity,  and  learning,  let  it  glance  for  a  moment, 
for  a  more  extended  view,  at  the  infant  giant  of  the  west.  The 
wild  horse  of  the  prairie  now  draws  the  plough  over  soil  where 
erst  he  was  wont  to  gambol — the  bark  which  bears  the  hardy 
emigrant  to  his  distant  home,  returns  deep  freighted  with  the 


AGRICULTURAL   ADDRESS,  1843.  115 

productions  of  his  toil — the  shrill  war-whoop  has  died  away  in 
the  hum  of  busy  industry — and  shall  I  add,  painful  and  melan 
choly  as  is  the  reflection,  rum,  the  white  man's  tomahawk,  is 
fast  doing  its  work  of  death  upon  the  Pawnee  and  the  Sioux 
of  the  border.  Stricken  and  persecuted  red  man !  How  few 
are  the  hearts  that  will  bleed  at  the  recital  of  your  woes,  or 
the  tears  that  will  fall  around  your  lowly  death-bed !  Look 
for  the  last  time  upon  the  little  hillocks  where  repose  the  re 
mains  of  those  you  loved,  and  upon  the  banks  of  the  stream 
where  you  sported  in  childhood,  or  listened  to  the  shadowy 
traditions  of  the  past !  The  mighty  warriors  of  your  nation 
are  driven  from  their  rustic  firesides — they  are  hurried  to  and 
fro  like  withered  forest  leaves  before  the  blasts  of  autumn,  and 
the  few  who  yet  linger  will  soon  cease  to  tremble  !  May  the 
deep  wrongs  which  have  been  visited  upon  your  people,  and 
the  wild  revenge  with  which  they  have  been  repaid,  alike  find 
mercy  and  forgiveness  at  the  great  council-fire  of  eternity,  and 
the  red  man  be  ushered  into  his  happy  hunting-grounds,  in  a 
forest  of  fadeless  and  never-dying  beauty. 

It  is  the  high  prerogative  of  the  farmer  to  say  who  shall 
administer  the  various  departments  of  our  government,  and  to 
indicate  its  policy ;  to  determine  whether  the  noble  ship  of 
state,  in  which  we  are  all  embarked  in  common,  shall  ride 
proudly  onward  to  her  port  of  destination — -to  her  anchorage  in 
the  harbor  of  happiness  and  peace;  or  whether  she  shall  be 
torn  by  the  angry  and  conflicting  elements  of  strife,  tossed 
upon  the  waves  of  folly,  or  wrecked  upon  the  shoals  of  ambi 
tion.  The  farmer  is  the  first  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  a  wise 
and  just,  and  to  taste  the  bitter  consequences  which  inevitably 
flow  from  an  erroneous,  administration  of  public  affairs.  If 
government  is  judiciously  and  economically  administered ;  if 
industry  is  not  burthened  by  debt  and  taxation ;  if  all  are  pro 
tected  and  none  especially  favored;  its  blessings,  "like  the 
dews  of  heaven,  will  descend  upon  all,  unseen  and  unfelt,  save 
in  the  richness  and  fulness  they  contribute  to  produce."  But 
if  government,  like  the  monarchies  of  the  old  world,  is  placed 
beyond,  or  elevated  above  the  influence  or  condition  of  the 
mass  ;  if  it  seeks  to  entrench  itself  about  with  office  and  pa 
tronage,  and  relies  for  its  strength  upon  its  parasites  and 
placemen,  and  not  upon  the  affections  of  the  people ;  it  can- 


116 

not  win  by  its  justice,  though  for  a  time,  itrnay  terrify  by  its 
power. 

Our  benign  form  of  government — founded  as  it  is  in  the  mild 
authority  of  opinion,  and  upheld,  like  the  broad  fabric  of  social 
order,  only  by  virtue  and  intelligence — is  emphatically  a  gov 
ernment  of  the  People — a  government  of  benevolence,  human 
ity  and  peace.  The  pulsations  of  its  mighty  heart  beat  respon 
sive  to  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  popular  action  and  feeling ;  and 
so  lively  is  the  sympathy,  and  so  indissoluble  the  union,  that 
the  errors  of  the  government  must  necessarily  be  the  errors  of 
the  people.  It  therefore  becomes  the  farmer,  next  to  the  culti 
vation  of  his  fields,  and  the  discharge  of  his  domestic  and  social 
relations,  to  possess  himself  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
economy  of  human  government  and  of  political  science.  By 
this,  it  is  not  intended  to  invite  to  the  study  of  party  scrambles 
nor  the  science  of  political  rewards  and  punishments — to  the 
emulation  of  clamorous  partisans  for  the  honors  of  office  or 
the  emoluments  of  place  and  station — to  participation  in  the 
patriotic  shouts  of  the  latest  victors,  or  the  desponding  tone  of 
those  who  have  just  ceased  to  draw  their  sustenance  from  the 
public  treasury ;  but  to  the  practical  understanding  of  that  true 
political  science,  in  which  the  broad  and  deep  foundations  of 
our  government  are  established  ;  which  inculcates  the  pure  and 
elevated  sentiments  of  justice,  virtue,  equality  and  the  rights 
of  man.  Which  teaches  that  the  success  of  a  people  walks 
hand  in  hand  with  their  industry  and  frugality  ;  that  all  wealth 
is  the  production  of  human  labor ;  that  it  is  the  legitimate 
province  of  government  to  protect  its  citizens  in  the  enjoyment 
of  their  industry,  but  not  to  attempt  the  vain  and  idle  experi 
ment  of  accumulating  for  them  ;  that  all  power  or  advantage 
conferred  by  legislation  upon  one,  is  taken  from  another,  or 
from  the  mass,  and  is  productive  of  inequality  and  injustice ; 
and  that  any  system  of  government  which,  in  a  time  of  peace, 
appropriates  the  industry  of  its  people  to  any  purpose  except 
to  insure  its  own  enlightened,  humane  and  economical  adminis 
tration,  is  unwise  and  pernicious,  and  is  conducted  upon  mis 
taken  and  erroneous  principles. 

It  cannot,  nor  ought  it  to  be  concealed,  that  a  false  and 
vitiated  taste  has  for  the  last  few  years  extensively  prevailed, 
though  we  have  now  the  gratifying  evidences  of  a  more  healthy 


AGRICULTURAL   ADDKESS,  1843.  117 

feeling.  That  commercial  cholera  which  swept  over  the  land, 
infecting  all  classes  with  its  poisonous  influences,  and  causing 
the  productive  industry  of  the  country  to  be  abandoned  or 
neglected  for  the  inordinate  but  ideal  gains  of  unhealthy  traf 
fic,  while  our  bread  and  clothing  were  imported  from  abroad — 
cannot  be  too  highly  censured,  nor  too  well  remembered.  At 
the  time  when  our  affairs,  public  and  private,  were  at  the  nadir 
of  depression,  and  cargoes  of  wheat  were  brought  to  our  fertile 
land  from  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  an  eminent  banker  of  the 
house  of  Rothschild  was  solicited  to  make  an  investment  in  our 
public  stocks,  which  he  declined,  by  declaring  with  bitter  em 
phasis,  that  he  thought  but  little  of  an  agricultural  country 
which  imported  its  bread.  This  period  of  delusion,  to  be  sure, 
has  passed.  The  fearful  density  of  the  storm  wliich  lowered 
over  us  has  abated,  and  we  descry  the  radiant  bow  of  beauty 
and  of  promise.  The  belief  that  man  cannot  violate  the  in 
junctions  of  the  Almighty  with  impunity,  again  finds  support 
and  countenance,  and  the  subtle  device  of  indolence  and  fraud, 
that  production  from  the  soil  could  be  disregarded  and  neg 
lected  by  a  people — that  one  could  borrow  the  promises  of 
another,  pass  them  to  a  third  and  thus  enrich  the  whole,  has 
had  its  rise,  progress,  decline  and  fall.  And  yet  during  all  this 
period,  agriculture,  in  point  of  theory r,  was  elevated  to  the  very 
pinnacle  of  fame.  The  unbending  integrity,  sterling  worth 
and  superior  intelligence  of  the  "  laboring  classes,"  formed  a 
standard  text  for  commentaries  for  festive  orators.  The  same 
sentiments  were  echoed  from  the  bar,  the  desk  and  the  legisla 
tive  forum — and  the  press  lent  its  giant  power  to  swell  the 
volume  of  incense  and  adulation.  Politicians  descanted  upon 
the  inbred  virtues  of  the  "  bone  and  muscle  "  of  the  land,  until 
we  might  well  have  supposed  that  to  the  farmer,  like  the  an 
cient  Pharisees,  were  accorded  the  uppermost  rooms  at  feasts, 
and  greetings  in  the  markets.  These  flights  of  affection  and 
regard,  however,  came  periodically,  like  migratory  birds,  with 
the  kindly  influences  of  the  season,  and  disappeared  again  at 
the  approach  of  the  chilling  frosts  which  succeeded  them,  and 
fields  were  cultivated  only  in  imagination  and  harvested  in 
eulogy. 

Many  erroneous  conceits  and  idle  inventions  of  these  times 
have  already  found  their  corrective  in  an  enlightened  public 


118  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

sentiment ;  but  many  of  the  errors  of  the  past  remain  the  errors 
of  the  present.  While  agriculture  has  been  rescued  from  this 
dishonorable  depression,  and  is  receiving  practical  attention 
from  so  many  of  our  most  worthy  citizens,  whose  praiseworthy 
efforts  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated,  there  are  yet  too 
many,  especially  of  our  youth,  who  seem  to  regard  labor  as  a 
menial  office,  and  worship  at  the  shrine  of  agriculture  after  the 
manner  of  the  publican — in  the  distance.  They  have  turned 
their  backs  upon  this,  the  noblest  of  human  employments,  to 
herd  together  in  cities  and  villages — begin,  in  show  and  ex 
pense,  without  means,  where  they  should  leave  off — swell 
the  hungry  column  of  non-producers,  already  large  enough  to 
eat  out  the  productive  industry  of  the  country,  and  without 
any  useful  calling,  rush  heedlessly  into  debt,  marvel  at  the 
scarcity  of  money,  and  await  the  workings  of  that  miraculous 
legislation  which  is  to  usher  in  the  advent  of  "  better  times." 

S 

It  is  not  the  intention  to  institute  invidious  comparisons  be 
tween  the  various  pursuits  and  occupations  of  life,  but  to  as 
sert  the  belief  that  the  undue  proportion  engaged  in  profes 
sional  and  commercial  pursuits,  and  particularly  those  having 
no  pursuit  whatever,  tends  to  the  prejudice  of  both  business 
and  morals.  By  it,  the  professions  are  crowded  and  depressed, 
and  rendered  a  burthen  rather  than  a  blessing — over  trading 
is  stimulated  and  bankruptcy  induced ;  and  last,  though  not 
least,  so  many  competitors  in  idleness  are  introduced,  that  this 
patriotic  calling  must  inevitably  fall  into  more  than  its  wonted 
disrepute.  It  is  time  to  correct,  with  unequivocal  emphasis, 
the  false  and  mistaken  sentiment  which  permits  men  to  starve 
in  a  profession,  or  subsist  upon  the  wreck  of  fraudulent  bank 
ruptcy  in  experimental  merchandise,  rather  than  to  earn  an 
honest  livelihood  by  the  labor  of  their  hands,  and  discharge 
with  fidelity  their  duties  in  the  varied  relations  of  life.  These 
errors  are  the  errors  of  the  society  which  fails  to  condemn  and 
discountenance  their  existence,  rather  than  the  errors  of  indi 
viduals,  who  have  neglected  to  learn  that 

"  Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise." 

And  is  it  not  lamentably  true,  that  the  extreme  doctrines 
of  political  rewards  and  punishments,  which  have  practically 


AGRICULTURAL   ADDRESS,  184:3.  119 

obtained,  by  general  consent,  for  the  last  few  years,  and  have 
been  upheld  and  justified  by  all  parties  who  have  had  the  dis 
pensing  of  patronage,  have  done* much,  very  much,  to  with 
draw  men  from  the  sober  pursuits  of  industry,  and  induce  them 
to  embark  their  little  all  upon  a  sea  of  political  troubles — to 
forego  the  cultivation  of  the  little  farm  where  peace  and  plenty 
are  the  sure  rewards  of  industrious  and  frugal  habits,  to  gain 
a  precarious  subsistence  by  hanging  upon  the  skirts  of  a 
party ;  politicians  by  trade,  and  office-seekers  from  principle  ! 
That,  in  the  administration  of  government,  the  views  of  those 
charged  with  the  various  leading  departments  should  corre 
spond  with  the  views  of  him  who  presides  over  the  whole,  that 
harmony  and  efficiency  may  unite  their  influences,  is  not  de 
nied.  But  that  individuals  who  light  the  lamps  of  a  city, 
sweep  its  streets,  or  cleanse  its  gutters,  should  be  given  to  un 
derstand  that  the  tenure  of  their  place  depends,  not  upon  their 
industry  or  fidelity,  but  upon  the  success  of  a  political  party, 
is  fraught  with  ruinous  and  demoralizing  tendencies,  and 
bodes  no  good  to  the  integrity  of  the  elective  franchise. 

But  a  sentiment  so  erroneous,  and  yet  so  universal,  will 
finally  be  corrected  by  the  unrestricted  operations  of  public 
opinion,  a  tribunal  to  which  all  are  amenable,  and  from  which 
there  is  no  appeal.  And  when  the  votaries  of  error  and  de 
lusion  have  exhausted  themselves  in  mistaken  efforts,  agricul 
ture  will  receive  and  reward  them  still.  Mother  earth,  like 
the  father  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  clothes  and  feeds  her  children 
who  return  to  her,  acknowledging  their  wanderings,  though 
they  have  wasted  their  substance  in  riotous  living.  Many  have 
already  returned,  and  yet  there  is  room.  Agriculture  is  the  only 
pursuit  which  cannot  be  overdone.  Commerce  may  be  de 
pressed,  and  languish  by  its  own  efforts — the  professions  be 
come  crowded,  and  skill  and  learning  go  unemployed  and  un 
rewarded — the  mechanic  may  glut  the  market  with  his  wares, 
until  he  cannot  even  barter  them  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  but 
the  earth  was  never  over  cultivated,  nor  does  it,  like  the  chil 
dren  of  men,  refuse  employment  and  reward ; — the  reward, 
too,  is  liberal  in  proportion  as  the  application  or  importunity 
is  earnest. 

The  agriculturist  can  do  more  to  diffuse  general 
intelligence  among  his  fellow  men,  than  those  of  any  other 


120  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

pursuit  in  life ;  and  having  the  ability,  he  should  exert  it  to 
guard  against  and  arrest  the  numerous  impositions  of  the  age. 
There  have  always  been,  and  we  have  reason  to  believe  always 
will  be,  those  who  subsist  upon  the  darkness  of  the  human  in 
tellect,  and  traffic  in  the  credulity  of  mankind.  No  sooner  is 
one  delusion  exhausted,  or  imposture  exposed,  than  another,  if 
possible  more  impudent  and  shameless  still,  is  substituted  in 
its  stead,  and  ignorance  and  superstition  vie  with  each  other 
in  swelling  the  train  of  its  votaries.  In  the  old  world,  the 
genuine  clippings  from  the  toe  nails  of  St.  Peter,  which  have 
been  sold  at  enormous  prices  to  the  devout  at  various  times, 
would  probably  load  a  camel ;  and  the  wood  which  is  pre 
served  and  cherished  as  sacred  relics,  and  exhibited  for  gain, 
as  fragments  of  the  true  cross,  in  every  country  of  Europe, 
would  build  a  ship  of  the  line.  In  the  new,  it  finds  amuse 
ment  in  exhuming  the  fossil  remains  of  a  golden  revelation, 
whose  cabalistic  words  are  more  occult  and  mysterious  than 
the  Sibylline  leaves  of  mythology ;  and  anon  it  finds  indem 
nity  for  the  omissions  of  the  past  in  a  supplementary  revela 
tion,  which,  in  view  of  the  subject,  is  more  appropriately  upon 
brass.  It  penetrates  the  future  at  its  own  convenience,  and 
calculates  the  final  conflagration  as  an  astronomer  calculates 
an  eclipse  ;  and  animal  magnetism,  fixing  her  mental  eye  upon 
physical  objects,  sets  credulity  agape,  and  snores  the  last  sad 
requiem.  In  medicine  it  seeks  relief  in  vermifuges,  pain  ex 
tractors  and  elixirs  of  life,  which,  if  applied  in  proper  quanti 
ties  and  at  appropriate  periods,  would  not  only  enable  man  to 
clothe  himself  with  perpetual  youth,  and  laugh  at  the  infirmi 
ties  of  age,  but  to  conquer  his  last  great  enemy,  and  cheat  the 
grave  of  its  victim.  It  robs  political  economy  of  its  simplicity 
and  truth,  and  invests  it  with  the  recondite  mysteries  which 
enveloped  heathen  philosophy,  and  benevolently  discovers 
panaceas  and  restoratives  which  are  to  correct  all  the  imper 
fections  of  our  nature,  and  avert  the  thousand  complicated  ills 
to  which  poor  frail  humanity  is  heir. 

All  impostures  have  one  feature  in  common — that  of  first 
providing  for  themselves,  in  pretending  to  care  for  others ;  in 
heralding  their  own  purity  and  benevolence,  and  in  recom 
mending  to  the  world,  in  the  true  language  of  the  craft,  to 
submit  to  the  prescription,  and  "beware  of  counterfeits."  Ig- 


AGRICULTURAL  ADDRESS,  1843.  121 

norance  is  the  meat  upon  which  imposture  feeds,  and  it  is  de 
prived  of  aliment  in  proportion  as  knowledge  is  increased. 
And  the  same  standard  of  intelligence  which  renders  labor  at« 
tractive — which  teaches  that  it  is  honorable,  and  inculcates 
lessons  of  virtue  and  economy  in  domestic  and  social  life,  will 
dispel  the  remnants  of  superstition  and  bigotry  which  the  dark 
ages  have  left  behind  them,  unmask  and  expose  the  charlatan 
and  the  impostor,  and  inspire  sentiments  of  virtuous  patriot 
ism,  the  most  elevated  and  enduring.  But  this  standard,  whe 
ther  designed  to  govern  public  or  private  morals — the  social 
or  political  relations — the  economy  of  the  fireside  or  that  of 
the  legislative  hall,  must  be  raised  and  maintained  by  the 
authority  of  opinion  alone,  and  not  by  sumptuary  laws  or  re 
strictive  enactments.  It  must  be  enforced  by  the  moral,  and 
not  the  penal  code — by  the  schoolmaster,  and  not  by  the  gov 
ernment  official.  It  must  be  engraved  upon  the  tablet  of  the 
heart,  and  not  written  upon  the  pages  of  the  statute. 

The  British  statesman,  hugging  his  peevish  conceits,  and 
cherishing  that  most  impious  of  dogmas,  the  "divine  right  of 
kings,"  is  unable  to  conceive  how  personal  safety  or  the  well- 
being  of  society  can  be  preserved  by  opinion;  or  how  a  gov 
ernment  can  contain  the  elements  of  strength  and  duration 
which  rests  alone  upon  popular  intelligence,  and  thrills  with 
every  fibre  of  its  frame  ;  and  hence  his  belief  in  the  necessity 
of  placing  the  government  beyond  the  reach  of  the  "lawless 
multitude."  But  a  purer  and  sublimer  creed  has  established 
the  welcome  truth,  that  there  is  both  strength  and  duration  in 
a  government  of  opinion,  and  that  it  is  wise  to  reject  the  prin 
ciples  of  a  physical  for  those  of  an  intellectual  age.  Liberty 
is  the  price  and  the  reward  of  eternal  vigilance,  and  its  lamp 
burns  with  a  brighter  and  purer  glow  when  surrounded  by  in 
telligence  and  self-control,  than  when  nursed  by  a  restrictive 
policy  of  artificial  morals,  which  lights  its  farthing  candle  to 
aid  the  meridian  splendor.  Our  government  is  our  people — 
our  people  our  government.  Our  institutions,  domestic,  social 
and  political,  are  founded  in  freedom,  and  he  who  aids  in  form 
ing  the  first  code  of  restrictions,  however  specious  the  pre 
tence,  or  by  whatever  name  it  may  be  dignified,  will  have  aid 
ed  in  forging  one  link  in  the  great  chain  of  despotism,  which, 
if  riveted  upon  us,  will  load  down  the  energies  of  the  people  like 


122 

the  limbs  of  a  Trenck  in  the  dungeons  of  Galtz  and  Magde 
burg.  Xerxes  cast  fetters  into  the  sea  to  restrain  the  dashing 
of  its  waves,  and  Canute  stretched  out  his  puny  sceptre  to  pre 
scribe  the  limits  of  their  flow ;  but  the  mighty  waters  rolled 
on  in  mockery  of  their  power:  and  he  who  essays  to  restrict 
the  moral  elements  within  the  boundaries  established  by  his 
own  conceits,  will  see  his  weakness  derided  and  his  impotence 
laughed  to  scorn.  They  may  at  times  be  lashed  by  the  fury 
of  the  tempest,  the  waves  run  mountains  high,  and  threaten 
danger  and  destruction ;  but  anon,  they  will  be  purified  by 
their  own  agitations,  and  return  again  to  a  repose  serene  and 
beautiful. 

If  our  republic  endures,  as  it  must  and  will,  its  elements  of 
strength  must  be  freedom  and  intelligence.  So  long  as  men 
in  public  or  private  life  are  virtuous  for  virtue's  sake — for  the 
rewards  it  bestows — there  will  be  an  earnest  of  safety  and 
abiding  hope; — but  when  they  shall  become  virtuous  from 
necessity,  honest  upon  compulsion,  and  frugal  pursuant  to 
statute,  we  may  listen  for  the  knell  of  departing  liberty  and 
glory.  We  are  now  straggling  with  the  mighty  experiment, 
whether  perfect  freedom  will  ensure  duration,  and  endeavor- 
ins:  to  establish  as  truth,  that  the  whole  are  as  virtuous  as  a 
»  ' 

part.  The  agricultural  population  form  the  sheet  anchor  of 
the  republic — the  Christian's  consolation — the  patriot's  hope. 
It  is  for  them  to  foster  and  preserve  that  pure  and  elevated 
standard  of  morals  and  intelligence  with  the  mass,  which  will 
enable  us  to  outride  the  storm  that  has  overwhelmed  and 
blotted  from  existence  the  governments  of  the  old  world.  The 
grandeur  and  beauty  of  Egypt,  mistress  of  the  arts,  has  van 
ished  from  the  earth  like  the  foot  prints  of  the  traveller  in  the 
desert.  She  is  illustrious  only  in  her  lofty  pyramids ;  and,  apt 
emblem  of  herself,  her  gloomy  repositories  for  the  dead. 
Humbled  and  despairing,  she  lies  manacled  at  the  foot  of  the 
barbarian,  and  hugs  her  chains  in  silence.  Greece,  once  the 
light  of  the  world  in  science  and  learning,  marred  and  de 
spoiled,  is  struggling  to  prolong  a  degraded  existence,  with 
the  foot  of  the  conqueror  upon  her  neck.  And  Rome,  whose 
victorious  banner  waved  triumphantly  over  a  vanquished  world, 
has  degenerated  to  a  land  of  fiddlers  and  dancers.  They  fell, 
too,  in  the  moment  of  their  haughtiness  and  pride.  The  faded 


AGKICULTUKAL  ADDKESS,  1843.  123 

monuments  of  their  existence  and  greatness  stand  as  beacons 
to  mankind  to  warn  them  of  the  dangers  of  war,  luxury  and 
ambition.  In  pleasing  contrast  the  moral  grandeur  of  our 
republic  rises  up,  blooming  with  perennial  beauty  and  smiling 
above  the  ruin,  like  flowers  of  spring  succeeding  the  desolations 
of  winter.  The  land  of  the  free — the  home  of  the  brave — the 
asylum  of  the  oppressed.  Its  foundation  freedom — its  struc 
ture  virtue  and  intelligence,  and  its  strength,  equality.  Pro 
claiming  to  the  world  the  gratifying  truth,  that  man  is  capa 
ble  of  self-government ;  and  that  the  path  of  virtue  for  gov 
ernments,  as  well  as  individuals,  is  the  path  of  happiness  and 
peace. 


ADDEESS 

OF     THE     ALBANY     KEPEAL     ASSOCIATION    TO     THE     PEOPLE     OF 

IRELAND,  January  3,  ISM. 

[The  meeting  of  the  Association  for  which  this  brief  address  was 
prepared,  and  at  which  it  was  adopted,  was  held  in  the  Capitol  of  the 
State,  (which  was  splendidly  illuminated  for  the  occasion,)  and  presided 
over  by  ex-Governor  Seward,  who  made  an  elaborate  and  able  speech 
on  taking  the  chair,  and  letters  expressing  sympathy  with  the  objects  of 
the  Association  were  read  from  ex-President  Van  Buren,  Governor 
Bcuck,  Michael  Hoffman  and  other  prominent  public  men  of  the  day.] 

TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  IRELAND. 

THE  members  of  the  Albany  Repeal  Association,  and  other 
friends  of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  at  the  Capitol  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  uniting  their  voices  in  concert  with  other 
friends  of  equality  and  the  rights  of  man  throughout  North 
America,  on  this  day,  consecrated  to  the  cause  of  Irish  eman 
cipation,  tender  to  you,  and  to  the  friends  of  freedom  through 
out  the  civilized  world,  their  sympathetic  congratulations: 
and,  by  virtue  of  the  great  charter  of  human  rights  vouchsafed 
by  the  Almighty  to  the  whole  family  of  man,  and  in  the  name 
of  Eternal  Justice,  demand  for  you  and  for  your  children  the 
blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

We  have  witnessed  with  deep  emotion  the  degrading  vas 
salage  which  has  paralyzed  your  energies — which  has  wrung 
from  your  labor  its  wonted  reward — dimmed  the  bright  pas 
sages  in  the  life  of  your  youth — extinguished  the  light  and 
beauty  of  childhood — and  added  grief  and  heaviness  to  years. 

We  have  beheld,  with  sentiments  of  the  liveliest  admiration, 
the  strong  evidences  you  have  manifested  of  a  capacity  for 
self-government,  in  expelling  from  your  borders  the  vampire 
Intemperance,  which  was  gnawing  like  an  adder's  tooth  at 


ADDRESS   TO   THE   IRISH   REPEALEK8.  125 

your  heart-strings  and  drinking  your  choicest  life-blood;  and 
also  in  summoning  your  lordly  oppressors  for  trial  at  the  bar 
of  public  opinion,  and  persisting  in  a  redress  of  unbearable 
grievances  by  peaceable  and  constitutional  means. 

By  the  mild  yet  potent  influences  of  OPINION,  you  have 
loosed  the  chains  and  broken  the  fetters  of  one  cruel  despot 
ism  ;  and,  by  the  workings  of  the  same  gentle  and  resistless 
power,  you  shall  be  delivered  from  the  thraldom  of  another. 

These  moral  weapons,  more  formidable  than  hostile  fleets  or 
armies  with  their  engines  of  destruction,  have  already  pierced 
the  iron  mail  of  the  gigantic  power  that  lords  it  over  you  ;  and, 
when  the  united  voice  of  the  whole  civilized  world  shall 
ascend  on  high,  demanding  your  emancipation,  this  modern 
Felix  will  tremble — the  doors  of  the  political  bastile,  where 
"  the  iron  has  so  long  entered  into  the  soul "  of  a  generous 
and  confiding  people,  will  be  unbarred,  and  its  tenants  be  per 
mitted  to  taste  the  blessings  of  liberty,  light  and  life. 

We  do  not  propose  to  incite  you  to  acts  of  violence  and  in 
surrection  against  the  government  under  which  you  live ; 
but  so  long  as  you  war  with  moral  weapons — so  long  as  you 
peaceably  invoke  the  spirit  of  your  national  constitution — we 
wrill  second  and  sustain  your  efforts  ;  for  there  is  no  impost 
chargeable  upon  Sympathy  for  our  fellow-mortals,  nor  is  Opin 
ion  contraband  by  the  law  of  nations. 

This  peaceful,  just  and  constitutional  method  of  obtaining 
freedom,  contains  all  the  elements  of  success,  and  will  leave 
behind  it  no  traces  of  violence  and  bloodshed.  The  same  bloat 
ed  power  which  with  characteristic  arrogance  boasts  her  abil 
ity  to  withstand  the  arms,  will  cower  and  quail  before  the 
opinion  of  the  world ;  and,  although  her  fleets  may  hover  around 
your  coast,  and  your  land  be  overrun  with  her  hireling  and 
insolent  soldiery,  she  will  not  resort  to  the  butchery  she  has 
threatened,  unless  she  can  first  exasperate  the  objects  of  her 
oppression  to  the  commission  of  some  overt  act  of  violence; 
for,  though  drunk  with  blood  as  she  is,  and  insensible  to  wrong, 
she  knows  too  well  that  the  first  clash  of  British  arms  will  fall 
on  other  ears  than  those  of  the  hapless  sons  of  Erin. 

Let  us  then,  in  uniting  our  voices  with  those  of  our  breth 
ren  throughout  our  widely-extended  land,  demanding  that  you 
who,  like  other  men,  are  endowed  by  Heaven  with  inalienable 


126 

rights,  may  enjoy  with  us  the  blessings  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  entreat  you,  by  every  consideration  which  can  influ 
ence  human  action — by  and  in  the  name  of  that  liberty  which 
we  invoke  for  you  in  our  common  prayer — to  pursue  faithfully 
to  the  end  the  precepts  inculcated  by  your  fearless  and  patri 
otic  Liberator — by  peaceably  demanding  justice  at  the  hands 
of  man,  while  raising  "invocations  to  the  living  God  ;"  and 
Ireland — devoted,  persecuted,  down-trodden  Ireland — IRELAND 

SHALL  YET  BE  FREE. 


SPEECH 

UPON  THE   JOINT   RESOLUTION   PROVIDING   FOR  THE   ANNEXATION 

OF   TEXAS. 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  or  THE  UNITED  STATES,  February  22d,  1845. 

I  rise,  Mr.  President,  to  the  discussion  of  the  question 
before  the  Senate,  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  embarrass 
ment.  Sympathizing  at  all  times  deeply  Avith  the  feeling  that 
surrounds  me,  and  being  aware  of  the  anxiety  that  prevails 
with  the  friends  of  the  measure  to  close  the  debate,  in  which 
I  also  liberally  share, — this  consideration  has  not  failed  to  add 
its  influence  to  those  which  usually  attend  a  first  effort  upon 
the  floor  of  the  Senate.  The  Senators  from  New  York  have, 
however,  been  called  upon  in  debate  to  respond  to  interrog 
atories  ;  and  intending  to  act  up  to  the  responsibilities  of  my 
position,  I  deem  it  both  proper  and  necessary  to  declare  frankly 
my  sentiments  and  the  considerations  that  influence  my 
action  and  this  1  shall  do  in  as  brief  a  manner  as  possible. 
I  regard  the  proposed  measure  as  fraught  with  consequences  of 
the  highest  import  to  the  country ; — one  that  has  fixed  the  at 
tention  of  the  people  and  been  much  discussed  in  their  pri 
mary  and  representative  assemblies.  In  its  discussion  here  I 
shall  pursue  the  plan  I  originally  marked  out ;  for  although 
much  I  intended  to  say  has  been  well  said  by  others,  my  order 
of  arrangement  will  be  somewhat  different  from  any  which 
has  been  presented,  and  I  hope  to  urge  some  arguments  which 
have  not  been  before  the  Senate. 

The  question  being  upon  the  indefinite  postponement  of 
the  resolutions,  thus  disposing  of  the  whole  matter,  I  shall 
address  myself  entirely  to  the  main  proposition,  and  reserve 
all  discussion  as  to  details  until  the  pending  motion  has  been 
determined  and  distinct  propositions  shall  be  presented. 


128  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  debate  has  already  taken  an  extended  range.  Almost 
every  page  of  national  and  international  law  extant  Las  been 
introduced,  and  the  Capitol  has  resounded  with  passages  from 
Vattel  and  Grotius,  Puffendorf  and  Buiiemaque,  Blackstone 
and  Marten,  and  Kent  and  Story  to  fortify  or  confute  positions 
which  have  been  taken.  The  current  of  history  has  been 
traced  backward  until  lost  amid  the  mists  and  shadows  of 
tradition.  Fable  with  her  fanciful  illustrations  has  been  made 
to  perform  her  part;  and  the  Pantheon  of  mythology  with  its 
grotesque  imagery  has  been  unfolded.  How  meagre  then 
must  be  the  reward  of  him  who  gleans  where  such  able  hands 
have  garnered  the  abundant  harvest. 

The  view  which  I  propose  to  take  is  mainly  of  a  more  pop 
ular  character ;  before  proceeding  with  which,  however,  I  will 
briefly  respond  to  the  interrogatory,  somewhat  significantly 
proposed  by  the  Senator  from  Louisiana,*  and  repeated  with 
emphasis  by  the  Senator  from  Connecticut,!  touching  the 
position  of  New  York  upon  this  question — Avhether  it  was 
there  an  issue  at  the  late  election,  and  what  were  the  opinions 
of  her  present  chief  magistrate,  late  a  distinguished  member 
of  this  body  ?  My  acknowledgments  are  due  to  the  honorable 
Senators  for  the  opportunity  they  have  afforded  me  of  declar 
ing  the  true  position  of  the  State  which  I  have  the  honor  in 
part  to  represent.  I  have  not  chanced  to  meet  the  distin 
guished  individual  whose  opinions  are  sought,  since  the  ques 
tion  arose  at  the  last  session,  and  have  no  means  of  knowing 
his  sentiments  except  so  far  as  reported  through  the  press 
from  his  public  addresses.  From  such  publications  I  learn 
that,  though  opposed  to  the  details  of  the  treaty  submitted  at 
the  last  session,  yet  that  he  is  in  favor  of  annexation,  upon 
such  terms  and  conditions  as  would  satisfy  his  judgment.  I 
am  not  advised  what  particular  plan  is  preferred;  nor  is  it 
probable  that  the  people  of  the  State,  in  selecting  a  local  chief 
magistrate  in  whom  they  had  confidence,  had  regard  to  his 
opinions,  if  known,  upon  the  details  of  a  measure  with  which 
he  could  have  no  official  connection  or  relation.  While  I  do 
not  pretend  that  the  mere  details  of  any  plan  were  determined 
by  the  result  of  the  election  in  that  State,  I  am  confident  my 

*  MR.  BARROW.  t  MR.  HUXTIXGTON. 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS. 


129 


respected  colleague  will  bear  me  witness  that  the  general 
question  of  annexation  constituted  one  of  the  main  issues 
which  were  there  tried  and  decided  by  the  people.  In  the 
great  political  contest  which  was  there  waged,  our  respected 
opponents,  true  to  their  instincts,  early  placed  this  question  in 
the  foreground,  and  took  up  the  issue  upon  which  they  were 
most  signally  defeated.  At.  their  great  party  gatherings,  the 
banner  which  displayed  the  lone  star  was  robed  in  mourning ; 
the  hapless  girl,  who  was  fated  to  represent  the  neighboring 
republic,  was  clad  in  sable  habiliments ;  their  processions 
marched  with  funeral  tread,  and  their  orators  discoursed  in 
tremulous  voices  and  lugubrious  tones  of  the  blighting  in 
fluences  which  would  one  day  be  shed  from  that  baleful  star. 

But  with  us — on  every  banner  the  lone  star  shone  re 
splendent.  The  fairest  village  maiden,  robed  in  virgin  white, 
and  adorned  with  chaplets  of  flowers,  was  hailed  as  the 
emblem  of  this  youthful  sister.  Annexation  was  upon  the  lip 
of  every  orator ;  was  invoked  in  speech  and  celebrated  in  song. 
It  stood  out  in  bold  relief  from  the  columns  of  the  press — it 
rose  high  upon  the  enthusiastic  shouts  of  the  young,  and  was 
approvingly  debated  by  venerable  and  hoary-headed  men. 
Who,  then,  shall  say  that  in  this  great  trial  before  the  highest 
tribunal  known  to  our  political  system  this  question  was  not 
in  issue — was  not  decided?  But  it  cannot  be  necessary  to 
recount  the  history  of  this  wholesome  conflict  of  opinion, 
which  is  written,  as  it  were,  with  a  pencil  of  light,  upon  the 
page  of  our  country's  proudest  popular  triumphs  ? 

I  will  now,  for  a  few  moments,  notice  the  territory  pro 
posed  to  be  annexed — its  relative  location,  its  physical  and 
political  condition — for  the  purpose  of  seeing  whether  there  is 
any  just  cause  for  the  alarm  and  consternation  which  some 
seem  to  suppose  should  attend  the  measure.  Texas  is  bounded 
eastwardly  by  two  States  of  this  Union — Louisiana  and 
Arkansas ;  southwardly  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  westwardly 
by  the  Rio  del  Norte,  extensive  deserts,  and  almost  impassable 
mountains — a  boundary  as  significant  as  if  traced,  like  the 
decalogue,  by  the  finger  of  the  Almighty ;  and  northwardly 
by  our  Western  territory,  and  contains,  according  to  Ken 
nedy,  its  historian,  324,000  square  miles.  Its  soil  and  climate 
are  described  by  the  same  author,  as  follows : 


130  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

•"  The  soil  of  Texas  presents  three  distinct  natural  aspects,  by  which 
it  is  divisible  into  a  corresponding  number  of  regions,  or  districts  ;  the 
plain  or  level,  the  undulating  or  rolling,  and  the  mountainous  or  hilly. 
******** 

"  The  prevailing  character  of  the  sail  of  the  level  region  of  Texas 
is  a  rich  alluvion — singularly  free  from  those  accumulations  of  stagnant 
water  which,  combined  with  a  burning  sun  and  exuberant  vegetation, 
render  a  large  proportion  of  the  southern  parts  of  the  United  States 
little  better  than  a  sickly  desert.  The  porous  character  of  the  soil,  the 
gradual  elevation  of  the  level  lands  towards  the  interior,  and  the  gen 
eral  rise  of  the  banks  from  the  beds  of  the  streams,  preclude  the  for 
mation  of  swamps  to  any  injurious  extent.  The  rolling  or  undulating 
region  forms  the  largest  of  the  natural  divisions  of  Texas.  North  and 
northwest  of  the  level  section  lying  between  the  Sabine  and  San 
Jacinto  rivers,  the  country  undulates  towards  the  Eed  river.  The 
thickly  timbered  lands  extend  quite  to  the  Eed  river,  and  as  far  to  the 
west  as  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  heads  of  the  Sabine.  A  wide 
belt  of  rolling  and  thinly  wooded  prairie  extends  westward  of  this  line 
along  the  margin  of  the  Red  river.  The  country  rises  in  gentle  and 
beautiful  undulations  above  the  alluvial  region  of  the  Brazos,  Colorado, 
and  Guadalnpe,  extending  in  a  northwesterly  direction  up  those  rivers, 
from  150  to  200  miles,  as  far  as  the  hilly  district.  Here  is  a  delightful 
variety  of  fertile  prairie  and  valuable  woodland,  enriched  with  springs 
and  rivulets  of  pure  and  sparkling  water,  which,  like  the  larger  streams, 
are  invariably  bordered  by  wooded  '  bottoms.'  The  undulations  often 
swell  at  lengthened  intervals  into  eminences  of  soft  acclivity,  from  the 
summits  of  which  the  eye  may  repose  on  some  of  the  fairest  scenes  in 
nature.  The  rolling  lands  between  the  Guadalupe  and  Nueces  sweep 
towards  the  northwest,  with  an  elevation  gradually  increasing,  until 
they  terminate  in  the  highland  range,  at  a  distance  of  about  200  miles 
from  the  level  region  of  the  coast.  Timber  and  water  are  not  so 
abundant  in  this  section  as  in  the  country  lying  further  east,  but  it 
affords  excellent  pasturage,  and  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  raising  of 
all  kinds  of  stock. 

******** 

"  The  mountains  are  of  third  and  fourth  magnitude  in  point  of 
elevation ;  those  of  San  Saba  are  deemed  the  highest.  They  are 
clothed  with  forests  of  pine,  oak,  cedar,  and  other  trees,  with  a  great 
variety  of  shrubbery.  Extensive  valleys  of  alluvial  soil  wind  through 
out  the  range ;  most  of  them  susceptible  of  irrigation  and  profitable 
culture.  The  sides  of  the  mountains  themselves,  with  not  a  few  of 
their  summits,  are  adapted  to  agriculture.  Copious  and  limpid  springs 
abound  in  the  highlands,  fertilizing  the  soil  and  forming  innumerable 
rivulets,  which,  gliding  with  a  rapid  current,  unite  their  waters,  until 


THE   ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS.  131 

they  swell  into  large  and  bounteous  rivers,  that  scatter  plenty  over  the 
central  and  western  districts  of  the  Brazos  and  Bexar.  Of  the  table 
lands  beyond  the  mountains;  which  .are  said  to  be  healthy  and  fertile, 
little  is  known,  and  still  less  of  tbe  northern  region,  extending  to  the 
42d  deg.  of  north  latitude. 

******** 
"  The  climate  of  Texas,  the  most  southerly  part  of  which  lies 
within  two  degrees  and  a  half  of  the  tropic,  is  as  varied  as  the  produc 
tive  qualities  of  the  soil,  and  is,  perhaps,  on  the  whole,  superior  to  that 
of  any  other  portion  of  North  America.  In  Texas  proper  it  is  neither 
so  cold  in  winter,  nor  so  hot  in  summer,  as  in  the  northeastern  section 
of  the  United  States." 


Mr.  Jefferson,  in  writing  to  Mr.  Monroe  concerning  this 
country,  in  1820,  says: 

"  To  us  the  province  of  Texas  will  be  the  richest  State  of  our 
Union,  without  any  exception.  The  southern  part  will  make  more 
sugar  than  we  can  consume,  and  the  Ked  river  on  its  north  is  the 
most  luxuriant  country  on  earth.1' 

And  Mr.  Clay,  in  a  speech  made  in  the  same  year,  upon 
this  subject,  bears  testimony  as  follows : 

"  All  accounts  concurred  in  representing  Texas  to  be  extremely 
valuable.  Its  superficial  extent  was  three  or  four  times  greater  than 
that  of  Florida.  The  climate  was  delicious ;  the  soil  fertile  ;  the  mar 
gins  of  the  rivers  abounding  in  live-oak  ;  and  the  country  admitting  of 
easy  settlement.  It  possessed,  moreover,  if  he  were  not  misinformed, 
one  of  the  finest  ports  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  productions  of 
which  it  was  capable  were  suitable  to  our  wants.  He  would  not  give 
Texas  for  Florida  in  &  naked  exchange." 

The  free  white  population  number  140,000,  mostly  from  the 
United  States,  besides  24,000  slaves.  She  has  a  President, 
Congress,  courts  of  justice,  institutions  of  religion  and  learn 
ing,  and  thirty-five  organized  counties.  She  has,  too,  a  charter 
of  freedom,  sealed  with  the  heart's  blood  of  her  own  gallant 
sons,  and  witnessed  and  approved  by  all  the  leading  powers  of 
Christendom.  Let  us  glance  at  her  political  history. 

This  country,  now  the  subject  of  so  much  agitation,  dis 
cussion  and  contention,  was  discovered  by  the  French  in 


132 

1685.  It  was  subsequently  ceded  to  Spain,  and  receded  to 
France  in  1800.  It  was  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States 
in  1803  ;  and  one  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty,  solemnly  made 
and  ratified,  was  as  follows  : 

"The  inhabitants  of  tbe  ceded  territory  SHALL  BE  IXCOEPOIIATED 
INTO  THE  TJNION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  and  admitted  as  soon  as 
possible,  according  to  tbe  principle  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  to  the 
enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  advantages  and  immunities  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States  ;  and,  in  tbe  meantime,  shall  be  protected  in  the  free 
enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  property,  and  the  religion  which  they 
profess." 

The  western  boundary  of  this  ceded  territory  was  de 
clared  at  the  time  to  be  the  Rio  del  Norte :  as  evidence  of 
which  we  have  the  concurring  testimony  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr. 
Pinckney,  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Monroe,  Mr.  Adams,  General  Jack 
son,  and  Mr.  Clay.  Mr.  John  Q.  Adams,  Secretary  of  State, 
under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe,  in  the  summer  of 
1818,  learning  that  settlements  were  forming  on  a  portion  of 
this  territory,  and  as  he  believed,  by  some  authority  of  France, 
or  to  promote  the  views  or  interests  of  that  government,  sent 
a  special  agent  there,  with  directions  to  proceed  to  the  Rio 
Bravo,  (now  called  the  Rio  del  Norte,)  and  to  give 
warning  to  the  settlers  that  the  territory  was  within  the 
"  United  States,  ivho  would  suffer  no  permanent  settlement  to 
be  made  there  under  any  other  authority  than  their  own" 
And  he  was  further  directed  to  manifest  "  the  surprise  icith 
which  the  President  has  seen  possession  thus  taJcen,  without 
authority  from  the  United  States,  of  a  place  within  their  ter 
ritorial  limits,  and  upon  which  no  lawful  settlement  can  he 
made  without  their  sanction" 

I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  especially  to  this 
article  in  the  treaty  of  1803,  as  also  to  the  convincing  evidence 
of  the  fact  that  Texas  was,  after  the  treaty,  regarded  as  belong 
ing  to  the  United  States.  I  am  thus  particular,  for  the  reason 
that  the  justice  and  morality  of  favoring  annexation  in  a  na 
tional  view  have  been  seriously  questioned.  I  will  endeavor 
to  show  to  those  who  will  patiently  follow  me  through  the 
history  of  this  territory,  at  whose  door  lie  bad  faith  and  brok 
en  covenants.  This  territory  was  partially  settled  in  1803, 


THE    ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS.  133 

when  it  was  ceded  to  us  by  France ;  and  by  reference  to  the 
article  of  the  treaty  just  cited,  it  will  be  seen  that  its  inhabit 
ants  were  entitled  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  soon  as 
they  should  have  a  representative  population ;  and  in  the  mean 
time  they  were  to  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  liber 
ty,  property,  and  the  religion  they  professed.  The  residents 
of  the  territory  looking  at  this  guaranty,  and  believing  they 
were  at  no  distant  day  to  enjoy  its  benefits  as  a  reward  for  the 
hardships,  dangers,  and  privations  of  border  life,  continued  to 
occupy  and  improve  the  country ;  and  the  poor  and  adventur 
ous  from  the  United  States,  from  the  green  hills  of  New  Eng 
land,  the  Empire,  the  Keystone,  the  young  and  fertile  West, 
and  chivalrous  South,  flocked  thither  under  the  same  hope  and 
expectation  until  1819. 

(Here  I  will  pause  to  make  a  point  in  the  morality  as 
well  as  the  law  of  the  case,  chiefly  for  the  ear  of  those  who 
seem  to  suppose  that  the  inhabitants  of  Texas  in  desiring  ad 
mission  into  the  Union,  and  those  who  are  willing  to  admit 
them,  are  about  to  commit  an  act  of  great  national  wrong.) 

But  while  they  were  thus  awaiting  the  happy  period  when 
they  should  be  fully  restored  to  the  institutions  of  the  land  of 
their  fathers,  and  enjoy  again  the  priceless  boon  of  American 
citizenship,  a  treaty  was  negotiated  by  Mr.  Adams,  and  subse 
quently  perfected,  and  the  territory  of  Texas,  with  its  inhabit 
ants,  without  their  knowledge  or  consent,  was  ceded  to  Spain. 
And  this  is  the  manner  in  which  our  brethren  in  Texas  have 
been  "protected"  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  liberty ',  property 
and  religion  !  and  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  Union  ! — 
transferred,  with  their  homes,  their  families,  and  all  they  held 
dear,  to  a  capricious,  weak,  and  bigoted  despotism — alien  in 
fact  and  in  name,  in  sentiment,  in  language,  in  education,  in 
habit,  pursuit,  and  religion.  This  is  the  history  of  this  terri 
tory  and  of  this  people,  in  plain  English,  which  has  been  inge 
niously  glozed  over  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  to  conceal  the 
blunders  and  the  gross  injustice  by  which  a  sentence  of  nation 
al  outlawry  was  attempted  to  be  enforced.  And  I  desire  no 
better  argument  in  favor  of  the  justice,  expediency,  and  im 
portance  of  re-annexation,  than  the  fact  that  every  administra 
tion,  since  its  cession  to  Spain,  has  endeavored  to  regain  it  at 
almost  any  price. 


134:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

But  was  this  unhallowed  transfer  ever  binding  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  Texas  ?  I  deny  that  it  was.  It  was  fraudulent 
and  void  upon  those  principles  of  natural  and  eternal  justice 
which  are  paramount  to  all  human  authority,  and  which  con 
stitute  according  to  Vattel  the  foundation  of  national  law.  By 
a  statute  of  most  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  no  one  can  alien 
real  estate  of  which  another  holds  possession,  claiming  title. 
All  transfers  or  agreements  to  transfer  are  null  and  void,  and 
the  parties  to  such  instruments  are  guilty  of  a  high  misdemean 
or.  Although  such  rule  has  no  legal  application  here,  I  submit 
that  the  transfer  of  this  people  to  a  foreign  government,  under 
the  circumstances,  was  a  violation  of  the  same  spirit  of  justice 
in  which  it  wras  founded,  and  an  infliction  which  none  but  a 
tame,  spiritless,  and  degraded  race  would  endure.  Nor  did 
the  inhabitants  of  Texas  ever  for  a  moment  submit  to  this 
humiliating  transfer.  Upon  the  publication  of  the  Spanish 
treaty  they  assembled  in  solemn  convention,  and  in  language 
bold,  indignant,  and  befitting  the  sons  of  revolutionary  sires, 
recited  the  history  of  their  wrongs,  and  declared  that — 

'•'  The  recent  treaty  between  Spain  and  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica  lias  dissipated  an  illusion  too  long  fondly  cherished,  and  has  roused 
the  citizens  of  Texas  from  the  torpor  into  which  a  fancied  security  had 
lulled  them.  They  have  seen  themselves,  by  a  convention  to  which 
they  were  no  party,  literally  abandoned  to  the  dominion  of  the  crown 
of  Spain,  and  left  a  prey  not  only  to  impositions  already  intolerable, 
but  to  all  those  exactions  which  Spanish  rapacity  is  fertile  in  devising. 

"  The  citizens  of  Texas  would  have  proved  themselves  unworthy  of 
the  age  in  which  they  live — unworthy  of  their  ancestry  of  the  kindred 
republics  of  the  American  continent — could  they  have  hesitated  in  this 
emergency  as  to  what  course  to  pursue.  Spurning  the  fetters  of  colo 
nial  vassalage — disdaining  to  submit  to  the  most  atrocious  despotism  that 
ever  disgraced  the  annals  of  Europe — they  have  resolved,  under  the 
blessing  of  God,  to  be  free." 

This  independence  she  substantially  maintained,  for  al 
though  Spain  occasionally  made  predatory  incursions  upon  her 
territory  with  a  hostile  army,  she  never  bowed  her  neck  to  the 
degrading  vassalage ;  and  v/hen  Mexico  established  her  inde 
pendence,  and  suspended — for  she  never  closed — her  intestine 
broils,  Texas  joined  the  Mexican  confederacy  as  a  free,  hide- 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.  135 

pendent,  and  sovereign  State.  In  1833  she  framed  and  adopt 
ed  a  State  constitution,  as  she  had  the  right  to  do  by  the  arti 
cles  of  confederation,  and  sent  her  agent  to  the  central  gov* 
eminent  with  a  respectful  memorial,  asking  admission  under 
the  constitution  she  had  framed.  Her  memorial  was  rejected, 
and  her  agent  thrown  into  prison. 

In  1835,  the  miniature  Nero  of  the  age,  Santa  Anna,  estab 
lished  a  central  military  dictatorship  upon  the  ruins  of  the 
Mexican  Confederacy.  Texas  refused  to  acknowledge  his  au 
thority,  and  he  abolished  her  local  legislature.  She  called  a 
convention,  framed  a  provisional  government,  and  pledged 
herself  to  stand  by  the  original  constitution,  and  he  sent  an 
army  to  subdue  her.  His  army  was  defeated,  captured,  and 
released  upon  parole  of  honor,  and  under  an  agreement  on  his 
part  not  to  oppose  further  the  constitution  of  1824,  under 
which  Texas  entered  the  Mexican  Confederacy. 

The  military  despotism  continuing  to  bear  sway,  in  March, 
1836,  the  people  of  Texas,  being  goaded  beyond  endurance  by 
repeated  and  aggravated  wrongs,  elected  delegates  to  a  con 
vention,  who,  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  American  Revolution, 
recited  in  glowing  language  the  reasons  which  compelled  them 
to  a  separation,  and  closed  with  the  following  emphatic  decla 
ration  of  rights : 

"  We,  therefore,  the  delegates,  with  plenary  powers,  of  the  people 
of  Texas,  in  solemn  convention  assembled,  appealing  to  a  candid  world 
for  the  necessities  of  our  condition,  do  hereby  resolve  and  declare  that 
our  political  connection  with  the  Mexican  nation  has  forever  ended ; 
and  that  the  people  of  Texas  do  now  constitute  a  FREE,  SOVER 
EIGN",  and  INDEPENDENT  REPUBLIC,  and  are  fully  invested  with 
all  the  rights  and  attributes  which  properly  belong  to  independent  na 
tions  ;  and  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,  we  fearlessly 
and  confidently  submit  the  issue  to  the  Supreme  Arbiter  of  the  desti 
nies  of  nations." 

Then  came  the  military  despot,  Santa  Anna,  at  the  head  of 
an  army  of  eight  thousand,  threatening  indiscriminate  death 
to  all  who  should  oppose  his  progress  or  authority.  A  war  of 
extermination  was  prosecuted  on  his  part  against  the  devoted 
Texans  with  more  than  savage  ferocity.  Look  at  the  history 
of  the  Texan  revolution,  literally  written  in  blood.  See  your 


136 

own  brave  sons  chained,  imprisoned,  starved,  and  wantonly 
murdered,  because  they  fought,  like  their  fathers,  to  defend 
their  homes  and  their  firesides,  their  wives  and  their  children, 
against  the  licentiousness,  murder,  and  rapine  of  a  bloodthirsty 
and  merciless  tyrant,  to  whose  caprices  they  had  been  aban 
doned  by  a  Christian  people  who  gave  them  origin  and  had 
promised  in  the  face  of  a  civilized  world  to  nourish  and  pro 
tect  them. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  wTho  have  been  so  lavish  in  their 
censure  of  this  brave  people,  and  have  apparently  justified 
the  prosecution  of  the  war  of  the  Mexicans  against  them,  I 
desire  attention  for  a  moment  to  a  brief  narrative  of  the  exe 
cution  of  prisoners  at  Goliad,  after  they  had  surrendered  under 
written  stipulations  that  they  should  be  treated  as  prisoners  of 
war,  according  to  the  usage  of  civilized  nations.  It  is  an  ex 
tract  of  a  letter  from  a  Mexican  officer,  and  may  be  found  in 
Pease's  History  of  Texas  : 

"  This  day,  Palm  Sunday,  March  27,  has  been  to  me  a  day  of  most 
heartfelt  sorrow.  At  six  in  the  morning,  the  execution  of  four  hun 
dred  and  twelve  American  prisoners  was  commenced,  and  continued 
till  eight,  when  the  last  of  the  number  was  shot.  At  eleven,  commenc 
ed  the  operation  of  burning  their  bodies.  But  what  an  awful  scene  did 
the  field  present  when  the  prisoners  were  executed,  and  fell  dead  in 
heaps  !  And  what  spectator  could  view  it  without  horror  ?  They  were 
all  young,  the  oldest  not  more  than  thirty,  and  of  fine  florid  complex 
ions.  When  the  unfortunate  youths  were  brought  to  the  place  of 
death,  their  lamentations,  and  the  appeals  which  thej  uttered  to  heav 
en  in  their  own  language,  with  extended  arms,  kneeling  or  prostrate  on 
the  earth,  were  such  as  might  have  caused  the  very  stones  to  cry  out  in 
compassion." 


But  the  same  blood  which  had  been  poured  out  at  Lexing 
ton  and  Bunker's  Hill,  at  Saratoga  and  at  Yorktown,  still 
coursed  in  other  veins  ;  the  same  high  hopes  and  manly  daring ; 
the  same  scorn  of  a  tyrant's  frown  and  a  tyrant's  chains  ani 
mated  the  bosoms  of  the  brave  sons  of  Texas.  They  met 
their  oppressor  at  the  great  tribunal  and  dernier  resort  of  na 
tions — the  field  of  strife — and  once  more  waged  their  battle 
upon  the  plains  of  San  Jacinto.  Despotism  was  overthrown 
— liberty  triumphed.  Santa  Anna  was  then  the  acknowledged 


THE   ANNEXATION    OF   TEXAS.  137 

dictator  and  chieftain  of  Mexico,  and  as  such,  together  with 
his  generals,  made,  signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  a  treaty  ac 
knowledging  the  independence  of  Texas,  and  containing 
among  other  articles  the  following  : 

"  Fourth.  That  the  President  (Santa  Anna)  in  his  official  capacity  as 
chief  of  the  Mexican  nation,  and  the  Generals  Don  Vincente  Filasola, 
Don  Jose  Urea,  Don  Joaquin  Ramirez  y  Sesma,  and  Don  Antonio  Gao- 
na,  chiefs  of  armies,  do  solemnly  acknowledge,  sanction,  and  ratify  the 
full,  entire,  and  perfect  independence  of  the  Republic  of  Texas,  with 
such  boundaries  as  are  hereafter  set  forth  and  agreed  upon  for  the 
same." 

The  independence  of  Texas  has  been  acknowledged  by  all 
the  leading  powers  of  the  earth,  and  has  been  maintained  by 
her,  inviolate,  for  about  nine  years  ;  and  yet  we  are  told  that 
she  is  a  revolting  province  subject  to  Mexico ;  and  that  her 
independence  must  stand  in  abeyance  until  Mexico  shall  find 
leisure  and  means  to  reconquer  her.  And  especially  are  we 
admonished  by  the  Senator  from  Kentucky*  to  abstain  from 
any  negotiation  with  Texas  until  Mexico  shall  have  closed  her 
intestine  broils  and  be  no  longer  at  war  with  herself.  We  are 
urged  to  square  our  opinions  and  our  actions  to  suit  the  capri 
ces  of  this  uncertain  and  fitful  government — this  turbulent  and 
fugitive  pseudo  republic,  whose  star  of  liberty  twinkles  faintly 
for  a  moment  upon  the  horizon's  verge,  and  is  then  obscured 
in  blood  and  darkness.  Its  leading  spirits  and  dictators, 
through  its  brief  history,  have  been  vibrating  between  the  dia 
dem  and  the  dungeon,  giving  lessons  in  cruelty  and  blood,  and 
falling  victims  to  their  own  sanguinary  code.  The  Athenians, 
in  the  capricious  treatment  of  their  rulers,  are  said  to  have  ad 
ministered  the  hemlock  one  day  as  the  penalty  for  some  real 
or  supposed  offence,  and  the  next  to  have  erected  a  statue  to 
commemorate  the  virtues  of  the  deceased.  But  Mexico,  re 
versing  the  order  of  proceedings,  first  commemorates  the  vir 
tues,  and  then  administers  her  penalties. 

When  shall  this  spirit  of  vengeance  be  appeased  or  sated  ! 
If  Texan  independence  cannot  be  perfected  without  the  further 
acknowledgment  of  Mexico,  how  shall  that  be  obtained  ? 

*  MR.  MOREHEAD. 


138  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Shall  she  yet  demand  that  hecatombs  of  human  victims  be 
offered  up,  as  in  the  days  when  the  proud  Aztec  revelled  in  the 
halls  of  the  Montezumas,  and  the  people  of  her  mountains 
were  thrown  for  support,  like  Ishmacl,  upon  the  crossbow  and 
the  chase  ?  or,  can  her  negative  caprice  suspend  a  nation's 
birthright,  and  enslave  forever,  by  the  impotence  of  her  will, 
a  people  who  have  successfully  defied  her  arms  ?  I  inquire 
whether  Texas  is  the  less  an  independent  government  because 
Mexico  sullenly  refuses  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  her  chieftain 
acknowledging  her  independence  ;  and  if  so,  whether  the  Uni 
ted  States  would  now  be  colonial  dependencies,  if  Great  Brit 
ain  had  chosen  to  withhold  her  assent  to  a  treaty  of  peace  and 
separation,  but  had  acquiesced  in  both?  Von  Marten  says: 

"  A  foreign  nation,  not  under  any  obligation  to  interfere,  does  not 
appear  to  violate  its  perfect  obligations,  nor  to  deviate  from  tlie  princi 
ples  of  neutrality,  if,  in  adhering  to  the  possession,  (without  examining 
into  its  legality,)  it  treat  as  a  sovereign  him  who  is  actually  on  the 
throne,  and  as  an  independent  nation,  people  who  have  declared  and 
still  maintain  themselves  independent." 


And  Mr.  Webster,  as  Secretary  of  State,  in  his  correspond 
ence  with  the  Mexican  Government  in  1842,  says  : 

"  Mexico  may  have  chosen  to  consider,  and  may  still  choose  to  con 
sider  Texas  as  having  been  at  all  times  since  1835,  and  as  still  continu 
ing,  a  rebellious  province ;  but  the  world  has  been  obliged  to  take  a 
very  different  view  of  the  matter. 

"  And  it  must  be  added,  that  the  constitution,  public  treaties,  and 
the  laws,  oblige  the  President  to  regard  Texas  as  an  independent  State, 
and  its  territory  as  no  part  of  the  territory  of  Mexico." 


But  it  is  asked  why  Texas  should  desire  to  be  annexed. 
This  could  be  readily  answered.  I  have  already  shown  that, 
from  1803  to  1819,  her  citizens  settled  there  upon  the  faith  of 
the  treaty  stipulating  to  admit  them  into  the  Union.  Besides, 
it  was  their  father-land — the  land  of  their  early  and  happy  years 
— the  home  where  they  sported  in  childhood,  and  sped  joyously 
down  the  stream  of  time  with  the  gay  companions  of  life's  un 
clouded  morning.  Here,  in  the  village  churchyards,  rest  the 


THE    ANNEXATION   OF    TEXAS.  139 

sacred  ashes  of  their  beloved  dead— here  are  yet  the  brethren 
and  sisters  with  whom 

"  They  grew  in  beauty  side  by  side." 


What  State  of  the  Union  would  consent  to  be  dismembered 
— what  territory  to  be  shut  out  from  its  anticipated  privileges  ? 
What  people,  born,  raised,  and  educated  under  the  fostering 
spirit  of  our  institutions — under  the  broad  a?gis  of  our  laws  and 
entitled  to  their  protection — would  willingly  forego  its  benefits  ? 
What  citizen  would  consent  to  be  expatriated— what  child  to 
be  disowned  or  abandoned  ? 

The  Senator  from  Kentucky,*  with  imposing  eloquence  and 
figure,  grouped  the  twenty-six  happy  sister  States,  and  lamented 
that  their  enjoyment  should  be  disturbed  by  the  admission  of 
this  intrusive  stranger.  Let  us  pursue  this  aptly-suggested  il 
lustration  a  little  farther.  The  twenty-six  sisters  have  assem 
bled  upon  a  gala-day  at  the  dear  old  mansion,  to  brighten  the 
chain  of  friendship  and  affection — to  aid  and  console  each  other 
by  their  counsels,  and  strengthen  the  ties  of  sympathy  which 
unite  them.  We  can  see,  in  the  mind's  eye,  in  that  happy  group 
the  rosy  daughters  of  New  England— the  stately  Empire — the 
proud  Keystone— the  glowing  West,  and  the  sunny  South.  But 
whose  is  that  supplicating  form  standing  in  the  distance — who 
is  that  dark-haired  and  childlike  sister  asking  permission  to  sit 
around  the  hearth-stone  of  her  earlier  years  and  taste  again  of 
the  joys  of  home  from  which  her  affections  have  never  wan 
dered  ?  She  is  of  the  same  parents  born,  and  craves  the  protec 
tion  and  guidance  of  her  sisters  of  maturer  age— the  benefits  of 
the  family  union.  But  her  humble  request  is  not  granted.  She 
is  told,  by  the  joyous  sisterhood,  that  their  cup  of  felicity  is  over 
flowing,  and  they  fear  her  presence  may  infuse  the  poison  of 
jealousy  and  domestic  discontent.  She  is  admonished  to  with 
draw,  lest  she  may  mar  the  moral  beauty  of  the  scene  we  have 
just  contemplated  ;  to  go  forth  and  buffet  alone  the  tempests  of 
the  world ;  to  withstand,  as  best  she  may,  its  seductions  and 
allurements,  its  temptations  and  its  snares.  She  now  appeals  to 
the  common  parent ;  and  shall  her  voice  be  unheeded  ?  Even 

*  MR.  MOREHEAD. 


140  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  prodigal  son,  when  he  returned  repentant,  was  hailed  with 
open  arms.  How  much  more,  then,  shall  the  child  be  received 
who  has  discharged  with  fidelity  all  its  duties  and  relations  ? 

But  I  will  no  longer  pursue  the  figure  which  has  been  pre 
sented,  and  will  proceed  to  notice  briefly  the  constitutional 
right  of  Congress  to  admit  Texas  into  the  Union.  This  ques 
tion  has  been  so  fully  and  ably  discussed  that  I  will  give  it 
only  a  passing  notice.  The  clause  of  the  Constitution  confer, 
ring  this  power  is  in  the  following  words  : 

"  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this  Union ; 
but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
any  other  State,  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or 
more  States  or  parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  legislatures 
of  the  States  concerned,  as  well  as  of  the  Congress." 


This  language  is  plain,  clear,  and  unequivocal ;  and  if  it 
means  what  it  purports,  there  remains  no  doubt  of  the  power. 
But  every  effort  which  legal  ingenuity  could  devise  has  been 
put  in  requisition  to  invent  some  reading  or  establish  some  prin 
ciple  of  construction  by  which  the  power  should  rather  be  de 
nied  than  given. 

Mr.  Justice  Story,  in  his  valuable  Commentaries  on  the  Con 
stitution,  says : 

"  In  the  first  place,  then,  every  word  employed  in  the  constitution 
is  to  be  expounded  in  its  plain,  obvious,  and  common  sense,  unless  the 
context  furnishes  some  ground  to  control,  qualify  or  enlarge  it.  Con 
stitutions  are  not  designed  for  metaphysical  or  logical  subtleties,  for 
niceties  of  expression,  for  critical  propriety,  for  elaborate  shades  of  mean 
ing,  or  for  the  exercise  of  philosophical  acuteness,  or  judicial  research. 
They  are  instruments,  of  a  practical  nature,  founded  on.  the  common 
business  of  human  life,  adapted  to  common  wants,  designed  for  com 
mon  use,  and  fitted  for  common  understandings.  The  people  make 
them ;  the  people  adopt  them  ;  the  people  must  be  supposed  to  read 
them  with  the  help  of  common  sense  ;  and  cannot  be  presumed  to  ad 
mit  in  them  any  recondite  meaning,  or  any  extraordinary  gloss." 


The  constitution,  then,  declares  that  new  States  may  be  ad 
mitted  by  Congress  ;  and  the  Constitution  is  to  be  read,  under 
stood  and  construed  upon  principles  of  plain  common  sense ; 


THE   ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS.  141 

and  upon  such  reading,  understanding  and  construction,  who 
shall  maintain  that  no  such  power  is  conferred  ? 

But  it  is  said,  with  much  apparent  confidence,  and  often  re 
peated,  that  this  power  was  given  to  admit  new  States  from 
territory  belonging  to  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  ad 
mission.  If  any  argument  narrow  and  circumscribed  were  ne 
cessary  to  confute  this  view,  it  might  be  found  in  the  significant 
and  unanswerable  fact  that,  while  this  clause  of  the  Constitution 
was  under  discussion  by  its  framers  in  Convention,  the  article, 
as  originally  submitted,  was  as  follows :  "  New  States,  law 
fully  constituted  or  established,  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  may  be  admitted"  &c. ;  which  icas  rejected,  and  the 
article  adopted  as  above. 

Resort  has  been  had  to  the  history  of  the  times  to  find  some 
authority  for  expunging  this  plain  power  from  the  Constitution, 
or  for  introducing  into  the  instrument  some  qualifying  lan 
guage.  The  debates  of  the  members  of  the  Convention,  their 
correspondence,  public  and  private,  at  the  time,  as  well  as  the 
opinions  of  individual  members  afterwards,  are  now  eagerly 
sought  for  to  reverse  and  overrule  one  of  the  plainest  provisions 
of  the  Constitution.  I  admit  that  there  are  cases  where  this 
mode  of  construction  is  admissible  ;  but  this  is  not  one,  for  the 
language  does  not  fairly  admit  of  doubt ;  and  for  this  position, 
I  have  also  the  authority  of  Justice  Story,  who  says  : 

"  Contemporary  construction  is  properly  resorted  to  to  illustrate 
and  confirm  the  text,  to  explain  a  doubtful  plirase,  or  to  expound  an  ob 
scure  clause;  and  in  proportion  to  the  uniformity  and  universality  of 
that  construction,  and  the  known  ability  and  talents  of  those  by  whom 
it  was  given,  is  the  credit  to  which  it  is  entitled.  It  can  never  abro 
gate  the  text ;  it  can  never  fritter  away  its  obvious  sense  ;  it  can  never 
narrow  down  its  true  limitations;  it  can  never  enlarge  its  natural 
boundaries." 


But  if  contemporaneous  history  be  admissible,  its  whole  evi 
dence  goes  to  support  the  express  power  of  the  Constitution. 
The  original  articles  of  Confederation  provided  for  the  admis 
sion  of  Canada  into  the  Union.  Mr.  Madison  in  the  Federalist, 
speaking  of  the  omission  to  provide  by  the  articles  of  Confeder 
ation  for  the  admission  to  the  Union  of  new  States  other  than 


142 

the  colonies,  and  of  the  advantage  derived  thereby  from  the 
Constitution,  says : 

"  We  have  seen  the  inconvenience  of  this  omission,  and  the  assump 
tion  of  power  into  which  Congress  has  been  led  by  it.  "With  great  pro 
priety,  therefore,  has  the  new  system  supplied  the  defect.1  ' 


The  objections  now  raised  in  the  Senate  were  unsuccessfully 
urged  upon  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  might,  if 
traced  to  their  true  source,  be  found  to  be  as  old  as  that  sacred 
instrument.  They  created  neither  intimidation  nor  alarm  then, 
and  why  should  they  now  ?  They  were  then  quieted  by  the 
calm  and  elevated  reasoning  of  the  patriots  of  that  interesting 
period,  and  might  now  be  met  with  a  few  words  from  the  same 
pure  and  inexhaustible  fountain.  In  the  14th  number  of  the 
Federalist,  Mr.  Madison,  in  the  discussion  of  these  very  ques 
tions,  and  in  vindicating  the  then  new  Constitution,  and  explain 
ing  the  benefits  which  its  adoption  would  confer,  says  : 

"  All  that  remains,  within  this  branch  of  our  inquiries  is,  to  take 
notice  of  an  objection  that  may  be  drawn  from  the  great  extent  of 
country  which  the  Union  embraces.  A  few  observations  on  this  sub 
ject  will  be  the  more  proper,  as  it  is  perceived  that  the  adversaries  of 
the  new  Constitution  are  availing  themselves  of  a  prevailing  prejudice 
with  regard  to  the  practicable  sphere  of  republican  administration,  in 
order  to  supply,  by  imaginary  difficulties,  the  want  of  those  solid  ob 
jections  which  they  endeavor  in  vain  to  find. 

"  The  error  which  limits  republican  government  to  a  narrow  dis 
trict  has  been  unfolded  and  refuted  in  preceding  papers.  I  remark 
here  only  that  it  seems  to  owe  its  rise  and  prevalence  chiefly  to  the 
confounding  of  a  republic  with  a  democracy. 

"  As  the  natural  limit  of  a  democracy  is  the  distance  from  the  cen 
tral  point  which  will  just  permit  the  most  remote  citizens  to  assemble 
as  often  as  their  public  functions  demand,  and  will  include  no  greater 
number  than  will  join  in  those  functions,  so  the  natural  limit  of  a  re 
public  is  the  distance  from  the  centre  which  will  barely  allow  the  rep 
resentatives  of  the  people  to  meet  as  often  as  may  be  necessary  for  the 
administration  of  public  affairs. 

********* 

"  The  immediate  object  of  the  Federal  Constitution  is  to  secure  the 
union  of  the  thirteen  primitive  States,  which  we  know  to  be  practi 
cable,  and  to  add  to  them  such  other  States  as  may  arise  in  their  own 


THE   ANNEXATION    OF   TEXAS.  143 

bosoms,  or  in  their  neigJiborhood,  which  we  cannot  doubt  to  be  equally 
practicable." 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  evidently  believed  that  such  power 
was  intended  to  be  given  to  Congress  by  a  majority  of  the  Con 
vention  which  framed  the  Constitution,  for  in  his  letters  to  Mr. 
Livingston,  expressing  an  adverse  private  opinion,  he  admits 
that  that  article  could  not  have  been  adopted  with  the  restrictive 
clause. 

Before  hastening  to  my  next  position,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  to 
the  opinion  of  an  eminent  citizen  of  my  own  State,  recent,  to  be 
sure,  but  one  which  has  not  been  expressed  without  much  con 
sideration.  I  allude  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  Mr.  Ham- 
mett,  written  during  the  last  session  of  Congress,  upon  the  power 
of  Congress  to  admit  new  States  from  foreign  territory.  Mr. 
Van  Buren  examines  at  some  length  the  constitutional  question, 
and  says : 

"  The  matter,  therefore,  stands  as  it  would  do  if  the  Constitution 
said.  '  new  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this  Union,' 
without  addition  or  restriction.  That  these  words,  taken  by  them 
selves,  are  broad  enough  to  authorize  the  admission  of  the  territory  of 
Texas,  cannot,  I  think,  be  well  doubted  ;  nor  do  I  perceive  upon  what 
principle  we  can  set  up  limitations  to  a  power  so  unqualifiedly  recog 
nized  by  the  Constitution  in  the  plain,  simple  words  I  have  quoted, 
and  with  which  no  other  provision  of  that  instrument  conflicts  in  the 
slightest  degree. 

********* 

"  I  have  not,  therefore,  been  able  to  bring  my  mind  to  any  other 
satisfactory  conclusion  than  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Convention 
to  give  the  power  of  admitting  new  States  to  Congress,  with  no  other 
limitations  than  those^  which  are  specified  in  that  instrument. 

"  The  language  employed,  the  specification  of  certain  restrictions, 
the  adoption  and  subsequent  exclusion  of  that  which  is  now  referred 
to,  together  with  the  subsequent  and  continued  action  of  the  new  gov 
ernment,  all  seem  to  combine  to  render  this  interpretation  of  the  Con 
stitution  the  true  one." 

But  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  *  has,  with  remarkable 
ingenuity,  taken  his  stand  upon  what  he  is  pleased  to  term  the 
outside  of  the  Constitution,  and  looked  in  upon  the  deliberations 

*  MR.  CHOATE. 


144 

of  the  Convention,  and  from  such  view  has  argued  that,  from 
the  very  nature  of  things,  no  such  power  would  have  been  con 
ferred  by  such  a  body.  Waiving  the  numerous  answers  which 
occur  to  this  portion  of  the  argument  of  that  learned  Senator 
and  distinguished  lawyer,  I  could  imagine  the  Senator  acting 
professionally  and  defending  his  client  against  the  obligations 
of  a  bond.  The  instrument  containing  penalty  and  condition, 
signature,  seal,  and  subscribing  witness,  all  valid  and  genuine; 
but  the  counsel  would,  as  in  this  case,  take  his  stand,  as  it  were, 
outside  the  bond,  and  look  in,  in  imagination,  upon  the  transac 
tion  at  the  time  of  its  execution,  and  conclude  against  all  evi 
dence,  from  the  nature  of  things,  that  such  bond  could  not  have 
been  made  by  his  client !  His  client  had  no  occasion  to  give  a 
bond  with  so  large  a  penalty,  with  such  condition,  bearing  such 
rate  of  interest,  so  speedily  to  fall  due  ;  and  therefore  the  coun 
sel  would  insist  it  should  be  adjudged  that  the  bond  was  not 
executed.  Would  such  an  argument  be  made,  relied  upon,  or 
entertained  ? 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Connecticut*  examined,  at  some 
length,  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  new"  in  the  article  under 
discussion,  and  seemed  to  insist  that  a  "  new  State  "  could  not 
be  an  old  one  ;  and  inasmuch  as  Texas,  being  an  organized  gov 
ernment,  and  a  State  of  a  few  years'  standing,  was  not  a  "  new 
State"  — she  could  not,  therefore,  be  admitted.  When  I  heard 
the  learned  Senator  raise  this  objection  as  a  reason  for  denying 
the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  in  this  respect,  I  felt  reas 
sured  that  a  great  dearth  of  material  for  argument  prevailed 
with  him.  The  word  new  is  a  relative  term.  The  farmer 
leaves  his  farm  scarcely  cleared  of  the  forest  trees,  and  enters 
upon  one  which  has  been  long  in  a  state  of  cultivation,  and  desig 
nates  the  latter  as  his  new  farm.  The  merchant  changes  his 
store  or  his  dwelling,  the  mechanic  his  shop,  and  the  lawyer  his 
office — and  each  in  his  turn  speaks  of  his  new  tenement  or  loca 
tion.  This  is  the  popular  and  every-day  meaning  which  is  given 
to  this  word,  in  all  the  relations  of  life  ;  and  we  have  already 
seen,  upon  acknowledged  authority,  that  such  meaning  is  to  be 
given  to  the  words  of  a  constitution.  And  every  additional 
member  admitted  to  the  Union  is  a  new  State  in  its  relations, 

*  MR.  HuNTINGTOJf. 


THE   ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS.  145 

whether  it  has  before  held  political  existence  or  not :  new  to 
the  Union — new  in  its  relative  existence. 

The  same  Senator  insisted  that  if  Texas  should  be  admitted, 
she  could  not  have  a  representation  in  the  Senate  until  the 
expiration  of  nine  years;  the  fundamental  law  having  provided 
that  no  person  shall  be  elected  a  Senator  who  has  not  been  for 
that ,  period  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  This  objection,  if 
valid,  would  form  no  argument  against  the  proposed  admission, 
and  would  only  affect  her  representation.  It  will  be  seen, 
however,  that  such  a  construction  would  at  once  expel  the 
Senators  from  Arkansas  from  their  seats,  and  from  any  other 
State  formed  from  our  own  territories,  which  has  not  been  for 
that  term  one  of  the  United  States.  The  argument  is  entirely 
artificial  and  technical — has  probably  never  been  thought  of 
before,  much  less  gravely  urged  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate. 
The  same  construction  would  have  deprived  every  State  in  the 
Union  of  a  representation  in  the  Senate  for  nine  years  from  its 
admission.  The  clause  in  question,  as  well  as  that  which 
relates  to  citizenship,  applies  only  to  the  citizens  and  subjects 
of  other  Governments  as  such,  who  shall  renounce  their  former 
allegiance,  and  declare  their  intentions  to  become  citizens  of 
the  United  States.  But  I  can  barely  allude,  in  proceeding,  to 
the  almost  Protean  forms  opposition  to  this  power  to  admit 
new  States  has  assumed  in  debate. 

The  honorable  and  learned  Committee  upon  Foreign  Rela 
tions  admit  that  the  power  exists,  and  may  be  exerted  by  the 
treaty-making  authority;  but  deny  that  it  can  be  by  Congress, 
until  the  territory  should  first  be  acquired  by  treaty.  Others 
seem  to  admit  that  territory  may  be  acquired  by  treaty,  but 
that  it  cannot  bring  with  it  population.  Others  still  have 
maintained  that  large  sections,  or  territories,  cannot  be 
obtained  even  by  treaty ;  but  that  small  sections  may  be,  for 
the  purpose  of  rounding  out  corners  or  making  lines  of 
demarcation  more  to  suit  the  interest  or  convenience  of  the 
respective  governments ;  though  they  have  not  attempted  to 
describe  how  many  acres  these  fractional  sections  may  contain ; 
nor  whether  the  Constitution  intended  to  admit  them  in  square, 
round,  triangular,  or  oblong  form ;  and  others  deny  that  any 
territory  can  be  acquired  under  any  power  whatever  given  by 
the  Constitiition.  Time  will  not  enable  me  to  notice  these 
10 


146  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

objections  in  detail ;  and  I  shall  therefore  refer  all  who  deny 
the  power  to  admit  either  territory  or  population,  to  the 
learned  committee,  for  their  answer  as  to  the  existence  of  the 
power ;  and  for  that  purpose,  beg  leave  to  turn  for  a  moment 
to  the  report  of  the  learned  chairman.* 

In  speaking  of  the  power  given  by  the  Constitution  to 
admit  new  States,  the  report  says  : 

"The  committee,  or  a  majority,  (and  when  the  designation  is 
employed,  it  is  desired  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  importing  only  a 
majority,)  entertained  the  undoubting  opinion  that,  not  on  what  have 
received  the  denomination  of  latitudinous  or  liberal  principles  of  con 
struction  of  the  Constitution  only,  but  in  conformity  with  the  strictest, 
the  power  in  question  is  clearly  to  be  derived." 

And  in  discussing  the  power  to  admit  both  territory  and 
population,  it  adds : 

"May,  then,  a  foreign  population  be  introduced  in  mass  into  the 
political  community  of  the  Union  ?  Is  there  a  power  to  do  this  ? 
Population,  in  the  transfers  of  political  subjection,  follows,  according 
to  the  usages  of  nations,  the  condition  of  the  territory  to  which  it  is 
attached.  The  modes  of  transfer  may  vary.  Conquest  may  dispose  : 
Cession.  Whatever  the  mode,  however,  the  law  applies,  the  population 
goes  along  and  is  embraced  in  the  condition.  If  territory  may  be  re 
ceived,  then  so  may  population,  its  concomitant  and  adjunct.  The 
committee  find  no  room,  therefore,  for  distinction  as  regards  population 
or  territory,  in  reference  to  the  question  of  the  power  of  the  Govern 
ment  to  introduce  them  into  the  Union." 


The  report,  then,  having  fully  conceded  the  existence  of 
the  power  to  admit  both  territory  and  population,  it  is  only 
necessary  for  me  to  discuss  with  the  committee  which  partic 
ular  department  of  the  government  is  authorized  to  exert  it — 
they  insisting  that  it  rests  exclusively  in  the  treaty-making 
power,  while  I  contend,  with  others,  that  it  is  clearly  vested 
in  Congress,  though  I  admit  it  may  be  exerted  by  either.  In 
maintaining  for  Congress  this  power,  I  would  refer  again  to 
the  plain  letter  of  the  Constitution,  and  from  thence  to  a  very 
able  speech  delivered  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  by  the 


*  Mn.  ARCHER. 


THE  ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS.  147 

honorable  chairman  upon  the  treaty  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas — a  speech  in  which  that  learned  Senator  fully,  ably,  and 
truly  maintained  that  this  power  was  given  to  Congress  by 
the  Constitution,  and  passed  a  just  and  forcible  commentary 
upon  constitutional  construction  : 

"  He  admitted,  then,  a  power  in  our  government  to  acquire  foreign 
territory — whether  original  or  induced,  it  did  not  matter  to  inquire. 
The  power,  as  it  had  been  most  beneficially  exerted,  admitted  of  resort 
again,  if  exigency  should  demand,  as  in  the  case  of  Louisiana,  or 
advantage  persuade,  as  in  that  of  the  two  Floridas.  He  went  still  far 
ther.  He  recognized  the  authority  to  admit  foreign  States  into  the 
Confederacy.  He  knew  the  grounds  on  which  this  proposition  had 
been  denied,  denounced,  and  made  the  subject  of  apprehension.  This 
did  not  hinder  his  recognition  of  it.  The  phrase  in  the  Constitution 
was  of  the  largest  character :  '  Congress  shall  have  power  to  admit  new 
States  into  the  Union.'  "Where  shall  sanction  be  found  for  limitation 
on  the  operation  of  language  of  this  generality  and  comprehensive 
ness  ?  Not  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  We  were  in  juxtaposition 
with  provinces  of  which  our  fathers  of  the  Revolution  had  certainly 
contemplated  the  introduction  into  their  Confederacy  as  not  improb 
able,  inasmuch  as  they  had  extended  invitation  to  it.  A  deputation  had 
been  sent  to  Canada,  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  to  press  this 
invitation.  Suppose  concert  in  a  common  policy  of  States,  on  our  con 
tinent,  as  the  counterpoise  and  safeguard  against  a  foreign  continental 
policy — of  the  principles  of  our  forms  of  political  institution,  im 
perilled  in  conflict,  or  by  the  policy  of  adverse  forms — should  demand 
the  incorporation  of  contiguous  American  States,  for  more  imposing 
aspect,  more  effective  action,  more  indisputable  security:  were  we  to 
be  regarded  as  precluded,  could  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  those 
far-seeing  friends  of  country  and  freedom,  have  designed  to  preclude  us 
from  this  great  resource  of  power  and  instrument  of  safety  ?  Did  it 
involve  no  undue  and  unworthy  imputation  on  their  renowned  political 
sagacity  and  unparalleled  circumspection  to  make  such  a  disposal? 


"  He  had  no  hesitation  upon  this  point  on  the  mere  language  of  tlio 
Constitution.  He  repudiated  this  practice,  perpetual  in  its  employment 
here,  of  going  behind  the  language  of  the  Constitution,  when  that  was 
plain,  to  contemporaneous  history  and  labored  expositions  derived  from 
the  opinions  of  individuals.  Where  ambiguity  was  not  admitted  and 
patent,  the  language  ought  to  stand  as  the  sole  exponent.  But  how 
raise  an  ambiguity  on  language  so  explicit?  'Congress  shall  have 
power  to  admit  new  States  into  the  Union.' '? 


148  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

In  justice  to  the  distinguished  author  of  both  the  report  and 
of  the  speech,  (MR.  ARCHER,)  I  should  say  that  the  honorable 
Senator  has  frankly  declared  upon  the  floor  that  he  had  enter 
tained  the  opinion  given  in  the  above  extract  of  his  speech  until 
recently;  but  upon  more  perfect  examination  during  the 
present  session,  has  been  convinced  he  was  in  error,  and  ar 
rived  at  the  conclusion  specified  in  the  report.  I  cite  the 
opinions  of  the  speech  against  the  report  not  for  any  personal 
reason,  but  as  a  fair  and  legitimate  argument ;  and  I  would 
inquire,  in  all  kindness,  which  is  entitled  to  the  highest  con 
sideration,  the  doctrines  of  the  speech,  which  are  the  results 
produced  by  the  experience  of  a  life  devoted  to  the  public 
service ;  or  those  of  the  report,  which  were  the  offspring  of  a 
few  weeks'  reflection  ? 

"Under  which  king,  Bezonian?  " 

Which  was  to  serve  as  a  lamp  to  light  the  steps  of  the  inquir 
ing  statesman  in  after  times  along  the  straight  and  narrow 
pathway  of  the  Constitution,  which  leads  to  happiness  and 
safety  ?  And  which  will  the  honorable  Senator  ^himself  rec 
ognize  as  the  legitimate,  and  which  the  spurious  issue  ? 

The  argument  that  Congress  might  abuse  the  power,  is  an 
argument  against  confiding  it  to  that  department  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  not  to  the  existence  of  the  power.  If  the  three 
branches  may  violate  their  trusts  openly,  may  not  two  of  the 
same  abuse  theirs  secretly  ?  If  pernicious  consequences  flow 
from  annexing  territory  by  act  of  Congress,  will  it  mitigate 
the  evils  to  admit,  upon  like  conditions,  by  treaty  stipulations  ? 

If  one  State  is  improvidently  admitted  by  Congress,  may 
not  another  be,  by  treaty  ?  If  it  is  urged  that  Congress  may 
jeopard  the  best  interests  of  the  Union  by  the  indiscreet 
exercise  of  this  power,  it  may  be  answered,  that,  by  a  like 
exercise  of  the  power  to  declare  Avar  against  the  world,  which 
is  undisputed,  our  national  existence  may  be  blotted  out. 
Nor  can  any  argument  be  raised  against  the  exercise  of  this 
power  by  Congress  which  is  not  applicable  to  every  other  one 
conferred  by  the  Constitution.  The  power  to  admit  new 
States  by  act  of  Congress  is  expressed — the  power  to  admit 
by  treaty  rests  in  implication.  Congress  proceeds  in  its  action 
openly,  in  the  face  of  day,  and  has  the  benefits  of  popular 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.  149 

sanction  or  dissent  in  its  progress ;  treaties  are  negotiated  in 
secret,  through  the  occult  process  of  diplomacy.  Admission 
by  Congress  requires  the  assent  of  the  President,  Senate,  and 
House  of  Representatives  ;  admission  by  treaty  dispenses  with 
the  voice  of  the  popular  branch  altogether. 

Before  finally  dismissing  this  branch  of  the  subject,  I 
would  refer  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela 
tions  again,  for  a  moment,  for  the  purpose  of  acknowledging 
the  high  satisfaction  it  affords  me  to  be  able  to  concur  en 
tirely,  as  I  do,  in  the  opinions  expressed  in  that  part  of  the 
report  to  which  I  am  about  to  call  attention.  It  is  this :  The 
committee,  in  discussing  the  treaty-making  power,  and  com 
menting  with  approbation  upon  the  strict  construction  rec 
ommended  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  define  the  character  and  office  of 
this  power  as  follows : 

<;  The  treaty -making  power,  under  this  construction,  can  never  he  any 
other  than  subsidiary — is  never  a  power  independent  in  its  vocation,  hoic- 
ever  it  is  so  in  its  name  and  in  its  structure.  It  is  the  handmaid — waits 
on  the  occasions  of  the  other  powers:  and  though  in  no  posture  to  receive 
orders  from  them,  it  never  yet  moves  to  its  exertion  save  in  subordination 
to  their  desires" 

This  is  all  I  have  contended  for,  although  I  have  not  been 
able  to  furnish  as  apt  an  illustration  as  has  the  honorable 
committee.  I  have  no  doubt  in  this  case  that  the  treaty- 
making  power — the  handmaid — would  patiently  wait  on  the 
occasion  of  Congress,  her  mistress  ;  and  should  her  services  be 
required,  "  move  to  Jier  exertion"  in  subordination  to  the 
desires  of  her  superior.  But  Congress,  the  mistress,  has 
elected  to  discharge  this  high  duty  herself;  and  therefore  has, 
at  present,  no  occasion  to  call  upon  her  handmaid  to  exercise 
her  vocation. 

The  domestic  institution  of  slavery,  which  exists  in  Texas, 
has  been  strongly  urged  both  here  and  elsewhere,  as  an  in 
superable  objection  to  admitting  that  country  to  the  Union. 
Upon  that  institution,  in  the  abstract,  I  will  not  now  com 
ment.  I  could  not  say  little  without  saying  much ;  and  as 
the  subject  is  in  no  legitimate  respect  under  discussion,  I  have 
listened  with  extreme  regret  to  remarks  which  have  been 
made  upon  both  sides  of  the  Senate.  I  need  not  say,  I  trust. 


150 

were  it  cither  proper  or  necessary,  what  are  my  opinions  in 
regard  to  it,  formed,  as  they  have  been,  as  well  from  habit  and 
education,  as  from  much  examination  and  reflection.  If  the 
annexation  of  Texas  would  create  or  give  an  institution  of 
that  character  to  either  country  which  it  did  not  possess 
before,  or  render  its  burdens  greater,  or  increase  the  number 
of  those  deprived  of  freedom  ;  or  if  its  duration  would  be  pro 
longed  by  the  proposed  connection  ;  then  might  such  objec 
tions  be  urged  with  great  propriety  and  force.  But  it  is 
scarcely  pretended  that  either  of  these  consequences  would 
flow  from  the  proposed  union,  and  all  who  would  look  the 
question  fully  in  the  face  would  see  that  they  could  not. 

The  admission  of  Texas  to  the  Union  would,  doubtless, 
increase  the  number  of  slaves  there  /  but  it  would  take  them 
from  the  northerly  slave  States,  until  slavery  would  virtually 
abolish  itself  in  those  States,  as  it  has  already  done  in  Del 
aware  ;  and  the  slave  would  find  a  climate  more  congenial  to 
his  nature  in  a  more  southern  latitude.  And  should  he  ever 
regain  his  freedom,  he  would  see,  upon  his  southern  border,  a 
mixed  race  of  men,  who  would  hail  him  as  a  brother,  and 
extend  to  him  the  hand  of  political  and  social  equality,  which 
can  never  be  done  here.  The  question  of  slavery  has  been 
placed  beyond  the  reach  of  Federal  legislation  by  the  compro 
mises  of  the  Constitution ;  and  the  attempt,  on  the  part  of 
Congress,  to  mitigate  its  evils  to  any  considerable  extent,  will 
be  as  vain  as  to  prescribe  periods  for  the  flight  of  migratory 
birds,  or  to  establish  by  law  boundaries  to  protect  the  tropical 
insects  from  the  frosts  of  winter. 

Although  under  the  influence  and  within  the  control  of  State 
legislation,  its  abolition  or  duration  depends  more  upon  other 
causes  than  even  upon  this ;  as  has  been  said  by  the  Senator 
from  Pennsylvania,*  who  made  allusion  to  a  speech  of  that  ex 
traordinary  man,  Randolph,  of  Roanoke ;  from  which  I  will 
give  a  brief  extract.  Mr.  Randolph  said  : 

"  The  disease  will  run  its  course — it  lias  run  its  course  in  the  northern 
States  ;  it  is  beginning  to  run  its  course  in  Maryland.  The  natural  death 
of  slavery  is  the  unprofitableness  of  its  most  expensive  labor.  It  is  also 
"beginning  in  the  meadow  and  grain  country  of  Virginia.  Among  those 

*  MR.  BUCHANAN. 


THE   ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS.  151 

people,  then,  who  have  no  staple  that  canpayfor  slave  labor,  especially 
among  those  who  have  none  or  very  few  slaves,  these  are  the  strenuous  ad 
vocates  of  all  these  principles — in  Virginia  most  of  them  of  the  best  inten 
tions — all  of  them  mistaken.  The  moment  the  labor  of  the  slave  ceases  to 
~be profitable  to  the  master,  or  very  soon  after  it  has  reached  tliat  stage,  if 
the  slave  will  not  run  away  from  the  master,  the  master  WILLT-WW  away 
from  the  slave;  and  this  is  the  history  of  the  passage  from  slavery  to  free 
dom  of  the  villainage  of  England." 

Allow  me  to  inquire,  for  a  moment,  while  we  are  so  loud  and 
emphatic  in  the  denunciation  of  this  institution,  and  are  urging 
it  as  a  reason  of  all  others  why  Texas  should  not  be  admitted 
to  the  Union,  what  answer  we  should  return  to  this  sister  Re 
public,  if,  after  passing  these  resolutions  and  transmitting  them 
to  her  government  for  approval  or  rejection,  we  should  be  ad 
vised  by  her  constituted  authorities  that  all  the  stipulations, 
terms,  conditions,  and  guaranties  were  agreeable,  but  one  in 
surmountable  objection  existed  to  her  acceptance.  That  she 
learns  we  hold  in  perpetual  bondage  a  dark  race  of  men,  and 
subsist  upon  their  toil,  and  that  this  injustice  is  tolerated  by 
our  Constitution  and  our  laws.  Should  we  not  indignantly 
throw  back  the  taunt  that  the  same  charge  lay  at  her  own  door ; 
and,  while  we  are  deploring  that  a  mote  should  obscure  her 
vision,  may  she  not  point  us  to  the  beam  that  obstructs  our 
own? 

Great  Britain  has  added  her  sympathizing  voice,  and,  in  a 
spirit  of  philanthropy  peculiar  to  herself,  condemns  an  institu 
tion  which  she  planted  upon  our  shores  in  the  days  of  our  co 
lonial  dependence,  so  deeply  and  securely  that  even  the  blood 
of  the  Revolution  could  not  exterminate  it.  Having  abolished 
her  domestic  slavery  when,  and  not  before,  it  became  unprofit 
able,  upon  her  all-absorbing,  all-controlling  principle  of  ponnds, 
shillings  and  pence,  her  sensibility  is  now  extending  itself  to 
the  oppressed  of  other  lands  than  her  own.  But  has  she  not 
learned  that  African  slavery  is  but  a  single  verse  in  the  wide 
and  ample  page  of  human  wrongs  ?  Has  she  looked  at  her 
own  suffering,  starving  and  dying  poor  ?  Has  she  seen  the 
thousand  gentle  beings  who  are  annually  crushed  beneath  a 
system  which  robs  labor  of  its  reward  and  industry  of  its 
bread  ?  Has  she  visited  the  abodes  of  her  own  metropolitan 
wretchedness,  and  rescued  the  young  who  are  breathing  a 


152 

malaria  which  intoxicates  and  destroys  the  soul?  Has  she 
contemplated  the  vast  oceans  of  blood  which  her  thirst  ibr  do 
minion  over  man  has  caused  to  flow ;  or  dried  up  the  tears,  or 
soothed  the  anguish  she  has  created  ?  Or,  has  her  genius  of 
philanthropy  bid  adieu  to  her  own  proud  shores,  and  found  its 
peculiar  mission  in  weeping  over  the  dusky  child  of  labor, 
bearing  his  task  upon  the  fertile  and  genial  plains  of  Texas  ? 

I  look  forward,  in  imagination,  to  that  happy  moment 
when,  in  God's  good  time  and  pleasure,  every  human  wrong 
shall  be  redressed — when  this  cup  of  tears  and  anguish  shall 
pass — when  the  fetters  shall  fall  from  the  limbs  of  every  crea 
ture  hearing  the  impress  of  his  Maker,  and  all  shall  sit  together 
under  the  wide-spread  branches  of  the  tree  of  liberty,  protected 
by  its  shelter,  and  subsisting  upon  its  fruits. 

Great  Britain,  too,  has  modestly  advised  that  it  would  be 
both  unjust  and  unwise  to  extend  our  territory.  When,  let 
me  ask,  did  she  ever  omit  to  take  possession  of  any  section, 
island,  continent,  or  country,  which  she  had  power  to  obtain, 
and  which  was  worth  having  or  preserving  ?  It  has  been  tri 
umphantly  and  truly  said,  that  her  drum-beat  encircles  the 
world,  and  that  the  sunshine  never  ceases  to  light  up  some  por 
tion  of  her  dominions  ;  and  if  she  continues  to  extend  her  ter 
ritories  on  this  continent,  it  may  soon  be  said  that  not  only  her 
drum-beat,  but  her  bristling  bayonets  encircled  the  United 
States,  upon  American  soil.  Adopting  the  same  argument, 
the  same  notes  of  alarm  have  been  sounded  by  those  upon  the 
other  side  who  have  joined  in  this  debate.  A  territory  which 
was  formerly  our  own;  which  every  administration  since  1819 
has  endeavored  to  recover  for  the  advantages  it  would  confer ; 
which  is  peopled  by  our  children,  and  our  brethren — is  now  re 
garded  as  the  Grecian  horse,  bearing  not  only  bands  of  armed 
men,  bent  on  the  stern  and  bloody  errand  of  war  and  devasta 
tion,  but  every  ill  to  which  frail  humanity  is  heir. 

While  the  Christian  is  looking  with  an  eye  of  faith  beyond 
the  clouds  and  darkness  of  the  moment,  and  awaiting  the  usher 
ing  in  of  that  period  when  the  strifes  and  agitations  of  the  world 
shall  be  hushed  in  brotherly  peace — to  the  time  when  the 
weapons  of  war  shall  be  moulded  to  implements  of  husbandry, 
and  nations  learn  war  no  more, — this  bright  period  of  moral 
existence,  foretold  by  inspiration,  is  obscured  by  prophecies  of 


THE   ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS.  153 

more  modern  times,  and  postponed  to  give  place  to  this  espe 
cial  war,  overlooked  by  the  prophets,  which  is  to  follow  in  rapid 
succession  the  annexation  of  Texas.  The  wide-extended  and 
fruitful  fields  of  our  favored  land,  yet  green  with  spring,  are  to 
be  strewn  with  the  dead  bodies  of  our  sons;  temples  are  to  be 
destroyed,  altars  profaned,  institutions  abolished,  and  the  min 
isters  of  the  law  are  to  give  place  to  the  torch,  the  bludgeon 
and  the  stiletto.  The  farmer  is  to  leave  his  pursuits  of  peace, 
and  engage  in  a  war  of  extermination  against  his  neighbor, 
because  of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  Man  shall  rise  up  against 
man,  neighbor  against  neighbor,  brother  against  brother,  State 
against  State,  craving  each  other's  blood,  because  of  the  annex 
ation  of  Texas. 

The  Senator  from  Massachusetts,*  whose  eloquent  voice  I 
regret  is  so  soon  to  be  withdrawn  from  this  Chamber,  has  de 
picted  in  glowing  language  the  u  harrowing  spectacle  of  fouten 
field;"  and  the  Senator  from  Kentucky!  unites  in  strains  sur 
passing  the  most  poetic  imagery.  He  sees  our  brilliant  con 
stellation  blotted  from  the  political  firmament — the  charter  of 
our  freedom  torn  piecemeal  and  scattered  to  the  winds  of 
Heaven,  and  the  wild  spirit  of  anarchy  rioting  over  alt  thab 
was  once  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  in  the  western  hemis 
phere.  He  invokes  the  genius  of  American  liberty  while  yet 
its  spirit  lingers ;  but  its  form  is  torn  and  disjointed : 

"  Life  flutters  convulsed  in  its  quivering  limbs, 
And  its  blood-streaming  nostril  in  agony  swims." 

Still  another  and  a  wider  range  is  given  to  these  imaginary 
evils  by  the  Senator  from  Kentucky.  If  the  power  to  annex 
contiguous  territory  is  established,  he  sees  the  thirst  for  domin 
ion  and  aggrandizement  bear  sway,  until  the  Celestial  Empire 
shall  form  a  part  of  this  Union,  and  representatives  from  Pata 
gonia — monsters,  savages  and  cannibals — shall  hold  their  hor 
rid  carnival  within  the  walls  of  the  Capitol.  But  did  the 
Senator  ever  caution  the  Kentucky  planter  against  enlarging 
his  plantation  to  suit  his  interest  or  convenience,  by  advising 
him  that  an  attempt  to  extend  it  to  Patagonia  or  the  Celestial" 
Empire  would  be  ruinous  in  its  consequences  ?  Or  has  he  ta- 

*  MR.  CHOATE.  t  MR.  MOREHEAD. 


ken  care  to  admonish  his  young  friends,  when  about  to  form, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  relations  in  life,  to  avoid  the  fair 
and  virtuous  of  the  sex,  lest,  perchance,  in  the  exercise  of  his 
discretion,  he  should  propose  terms  of  annexation,  not  to  a 
"  Patagonian,"  nor  tiny-footed  Celestial,  but  to  a  hideous  Ama 
zon  or  crone ;  or  to  her  whose  steps  lead  down  to  the  chambers 
of  death  ? 

The  Senator  from  Kentucky  has  well  said  there  was  a  strong 
party  in  the  early  formation  of  oar  government  which  opposed 
the  admission  of  States  to  the  Union,  beyond  the  original  thir 
teen.  At  that  time,  scarcely  comprehending  the  nature  of  the 
government  they  were  forming,  those  who  proposed  the  restric 
tion  had  some  apology,  for  they  evidently  supposed  that  if  a 
State  should  be  erected  so  far  at  the  West  that  it  was  beyond 
the  fostering  care  and  superintendence  of  what  they  believed 
to  be  the  "  Government,"  it  would  be  lost  forever ; — like  the 
too  fond  mother,  who,  accustomed  to  watch  over  the  infancy 
of  her  offspring,  is  unwilling  to  trust  them  in  after  years  beyond 
the  circle  of  her  own  magic  influence.  Experience  has  shown 
how  mistaken  the  belief  and  how  unjust  the  suspicion  that 
Western  States  would  be  less  patriotic  or  less  ably  represented 
than  those  washed  by  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic.  The  early 
objections  to  their  admission  are  now  matter  of  history,  and 
are  full  of  instruction.  I  will  read  some  of  the  debates  upon 
the  formation  of  the  Constitution,  proceeding  from  the  same 
party  that  proposed  to  limit  the  number  of  States,  for  the  ben 
efit  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  and  other  western  Senators 
who  are  unnecessarily  alarmed  at  the  admission  of  new  States. 

In  the  Convention  which  formed  the  Constitution,  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  a  distinguished  member,  said : 

"•  The  remarks  of  Mr.  Mason  relative  to  the  western  country  had  not 
changed  his  opinion  on  that  head.  Among  other  objections  it  must  1)6 
apparent  they  would  not  fie  able  to  furnish  men  equally  enlightened  to 
share  in  the  administration  of  our  common  interests.  The  lusy  haunts  of 
men,  not  the  remote  wilderness,  was  the  proper  school  of  political  talents. 
If  the  western  people  get  the  power  in  their  hands,  they  will  ruin  the 
Atlantic  interests.  TJie  ~back  members  are  always  most  averse  to  the 
lest  measures" 

Mr.  Gerry  too  said : 

"  He  wished  that  the  attention  of  the  House  might  be  turned  to  the 


THE   ANNEXATION  OF   TEXAS.  155 

dangers  apprehended  from  western  States.  He  was  for  admitting  them 
on  liberal  terms,  but  not  for  putting  ourselves  in  their  hands.  They 
will,  like  all  men,  if  they  acquire  power,  abuse  it.  They  will  oppress 
our  commerce  and  drain  our  wealth  into  the  western  country" 

He  further  said— 

"There  was  a  rage  for  emigration •  from  the  eastern  States  to  the 
western  country,  and  he  did  not  wish  those  left  behind  to  be  at  the 
MEECY  of  the  EMIGRANTS.  Besides  foreigners  are  resorting  to  that  coun 
try,  and  it  is  uncertain  what  turn  things  may  take  there." 

But  the  admission  of  Louisiana  furnishes  some  reminiscences 
which  ought  not  be  lost,  and  with  leave  I  will  give  a  few  speci 
mens  from  the  history  of  the  times.  A  member  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Legislature  declared : 

"  In  a  word,  I  consider  Louisiana  the  grave  of  the  Union." 

On  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  the  territory  of  Orleans 
(Louisiana)  into  the  Union  in  1811,  Josiah  Quincy,  jr.,  said, 
and  after  being  called  to  order,  committed  his  remarks  to 
writing  : 

"  If  this  bill  passes,  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  it  is  virtually  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union  ;  that  it  will  free  the  States  from  their  moral 
obligation,  and,  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  all,  so  it  will  be  the  duty  of 
some,  definitely  to  prepare  for  a  separation,  amicably  if  they  can,  violent 
ly  if  they  must."  * 

These  texts  are  too  significant  to  require  commentary, 
and  are  worthy  to  be  placed  side  by  side  with  some  of  the  ob 
jections  of  the  present  day. 

It  was  not,  perhaps,  surprising  at  that  early  period  that 
those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  government  as  a 
central  power,  literally  ruling  the  people,  should  fail  to  com 
prehend  fully  the  operations  of  a  government  of  opinion,  by 

*  Toasts  give,  generally,  the  political  sentiments  of  the  time.  A  toast  given 
July  4, 1805,  reads  as  follows  : 

"  The  purchase  of  Louisiana— Salt  mountains,  mammoths,  gulls,  and  bullfrogs; 
a  valuable  museum  for  fifteen  millions." 

Another  toast  was : 

"  Louisiana — Of  all  materials,  neither  fit  for  land  nor  water;  may  she  be  the 
receptacle  of  the  turbulent  and  disaffected." 


156 

which  the  whole  gave  laws  to  themselves,  and  which  was  as 
potent  for  the  protection  of  the  humble  cotter  beyond  the 
mountain  as  for  him  who  basked  in  the  governmental  sunshine 
of  the  capital,  and  subsisted  upon  the  drippings  of  the  Treasu 
ry.  Many  who  united  in  laying  the  broad  and  deep  founda 
tions  of  our  fabric  had  not  contemplated,  in  an  enlarged  sense, 
the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government.  They  had  seen  the 
great  masses  as  subjects,  not  as  sovereigns — overawed  by,  but 
not  wielding,  power.  They  had  been  educated  in  the  idea  that 
the  government,  by  alleged  divine  right,  was  the  principal, 
and  the  people  the  agents  to  execute  its  will ;  and  they  looked 
not  without  apprehension  upon  a  system  which  proposed  to 
leave  the  power  with  the  many,  lest  in  its  exercise  they  should 
endanger  their  own  well-being  and  safety.  In  the  same  mis 
taken  spirit,  they  desired  to  limit  the  boundary  of  their  untried 
system,  that  too  many  erroneous  opinions  combined  might  not 
control  the  enlightened  few.  But  there  were  those,  also,  whose 
patriotic  vision  penetrated  the  mist  of  error  and  delusion,  under 
which  tyranny  and  oppression  had  been  for  ages  concealed,  and 
Avho  proclaimed  to  the  world  the  sublime  and  interesting  truth 
that  all  men  were  created  equal.  The  great  cardinal  principle 
they  sought  to  inculcate  was  equality ;  and  the  system  of  ra 
tional  liberty  which  they  established  was  designed  to  distribute 
equally  the  benefits  and  the  burdens  of  conventional  existence. 
They  saw  that  mind  did  not  weaken  mind ;  that  the  many  were 
as  wise  and  as  virtuous  as  the  few,  and  that  extensive  territory, 
numerous  population,  and  diversified  interests,  would  add 
strength  to  the  structure,  and  ensure  its  permanent  duration. 

The  Persian  kings,  in  their  secret  literature,  were  taught 
to  observe  the  laws  which  governed  the  celestial  bodies,  that 
they  might  copy  their  example,  and  extend  the  benefits  of 
their  rule  alike  to  all  their  subjects — a  lesson  which  might  be 
studied  with  profit,  and  its  precepts  practised  with  advantage 
in  modern  times.  Even  the  convulsions  of  the  elements  in  the 
natural  world  furnish  models  for  instruction  in  the  moral.  The 
agitations  of  the  earthquake,  when  local  and  confined,  uproot 
towns  and  cities — when  widely  extended,  they  produce  scarce 
ly  a  momentary  tremor.  So  the  storms  of  human  passion  in 
circumscribed  localities  gather  blackness  and  fury,  and  in 
crease  in  awful  density  for  a  moment,  but  are  lulled  to  rest  by 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.  157 

the  pacific  elements  they  meet  whenever  they  pass  beyond 
their  narrow  boundaries. 

The  inhabitants  of  Texas  are  now,  like  ourselves,  governed 
by  opinion ;  would  they  cease  to  yield  obedience  to  its  stern 
behests,  if  they  should  be  admitted  to  the  Union  ?  If  not, 
what  objection,  which  has  not  been  thrice  met  and  refuted, 
still  remains  ?  We  might  say  of  that  country  and  people  as 
said  Lord  Bacon  to  James,  on  the  happy  union  of  England 
and  Scotland,  "  There  be  no  mountains  or  ranges  of  hills ; 
there  be  no  seas  or  great  rivers;  there  is  no  diversity  of  tongue 
or  language  that  hath  invited  this  separation  or  divorce."  I 
do  not  advocate  the  annexation  of  Texas  merely  because  it  is 
desirable  as  a  military  position,  nor  for  its  vast  commercial 
advantages ;  but  upon  broad  principles  of  national  faith  and 
justice.  Its  people  are  entitled  to  admission  ;  they  are  moved 
by  the  same  high  impulses  as  ourselves,  and  protected  and 
controlled  by  the  same  beneficent  Providence.  I  do  not  fear 
that  their  restoration,  upon  adjoining  territory  recently  our 
own,  will  bring  a  canker  to  the  root  of  our  institutions  ;  that 
another  star  in  the  constellation  will  dim  its  lustre ;  or  that 
another  pillar  in  the  fabric  of  freedom  will  weaken  its  founda 
tion. 

But  after  all  other  arguments  and  objections  fail,  we  are  as 
usual  pointed  to  the  history  of  Rome,  and  told  of  its  rise  and 
progress,  and  admonished  of  its  decline  and  fall ;  Rome,  from 
which  can  be  drawn  material  to  point  the  constitutional  argu 
ment  of  the  statesman,  or  adorn  the  oration  of  the  schoolboy ; 
Rome,  which,  notwithstanding  its  many  bright,  individual  ex 
amples,  marched  through  violence  and  wrong  to  greatness, 
and  fell  a  prey  to  its  own  triumphs — a  government  which  was 
founded  in  murder,  progressed  in  robbery,  declined  in  blood, 
and  fell  in  corruption — exhibiting  upon  its  history's  black  and 
bloody  page  the  footsteps  of  a  people,  cruel,  perfidious,  and 
revengeful,  and  as  fierce  and  insatiable  as  the  beast  which 
nursed  its  founder;  until,  adopting  the  ease  and  indolence  and 
sensual  delights  of  the  Eastern  princes  they  had  conquered, 
they  fell  a  prey  to  the  Goth  and  the  Vandal,  who  hung  over 
them  like  a  vast  avalanche  upon  their  snow-clad  mountains. 
And  yet  this  government  of  the  sword  is  compared  to  ours  of 
opinion — the  physical  to  the  intellectual  age;  and  a  people 


158 

trained  to  the  pursuits  of  war  likened  to  one  cultivating  the 
arts  of  peace. 

In  conclusion  I  desire  the  Senate  to  turn  for  a  moment  to 
the  peaceful  retreat  of  the  Hermitage — to  the  venerable  patri 
ot,  who  the  Senator  from  ISTew  Hampshire,*  at  the  close  of  his 
eloquent  remarks,  expressed  a  desire  might  see  this,  the  last 
wish  of  his  life  and  his  hope,  accomplished.  This  expression 
of  personal  regard  has  been  made  the  occasion  by  the  Senator 
from  Louisiana,!  after  the  bitter  animosity  of  party  spirit  has 
turned  away  from  following  that  illustrious  man,  and  its  angry 
elements  are  hushed  in  repose,  to  disturb  the  last  remnant  of  a 
life  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country,  by  comparing  him 
to  the  noxious  upas,  blighting  and  withering  everything  with 
in  the  circle  of  his  evil  influence.  Sir,  the  tendrils  which 
bound  him  to  earth  have  long  been  severed,  and  have  ceased 
to  bleed.  There  is  nought  that  interests  him  but  his  country's 
welfare  and  his  country's  honor.  As  the  eastern  sky  at  even 
ing  throws  back  a  holier  sunlight  than  is  shed  while  the  orb 
rides  in  meridian  splendor — so  the  evening  of  his  days  reflects 
the  wisdom  of  a  life  chastened  and  improved  by  the  rectifying 
influences  of  time.  The  partner  of  his  earlier  years  has  long 
ceased  to  be  the  companion  of  his  age  and  the  beguiler  of  his 
solitary  hours ;  and  when  he  looks  upon  the  grave  of  buried 
affection,  it  is  with  the  mournful  reflection  that  she  will  not 
return  to  him,  but  with  the  Christian's  consolation  that  he  shall 
join  her  spirit  above.  The  heart  which  has  so  long  beat  in 
unison  with  his  country's  weal,  will  soon  be  cold  and  passion 
less — the  last  words  of  counsel  will  soon  tremble  on  his  aged 
lip — and  the  eyes,  which  have  "beamed  in  friendship  or  flamed 
in  war,"  be  closed,  and  the  light  of  life  cease  to  relume  them. 
Soon  the  exclamation  which  has  riven  so  many  hearts,  "  Earth 
to  earth,  dust  to  dust !  "  will  consign  to  his  final  resting- 
place  all  that  was  once  the  hero,  patriot,  and  statesman.  And 
whence  the  voice  in  this  great  nation,  that  breaks  upon  this 
scene,  and  virtually  disturbs  the  last  mournful  rites  ?  It  is 
from  the  representative  of  a  great  and  patriotic  State,  whose 
commercial  city,  with  its  "  booty  and  beauty,"  was  saved  from 
the  violence  of  a  brutal  and  licentious  soldiery,  by  the  war- 

*  ME.  WOODBURY.  t  Mn.  BAREOW. 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS.  159 

worn  veteran  who  is  now  so  gratuitously  arraigned  at  this  bar. 
The  discoverer  of  a  new  world  was  rewarded  by  his  sovereign 
with  chains  and  a  dungeon,  and  the  last  of  the  Tribunes  was 
stricken  by  the  hand  he  had  nursed  into  life,  upon  the  same 
stand  where  he  had  preached  liberty  and  equality  to  Rome. 
But  why  should  the  representative  of  a  generous  people,  who 
were  saved  by  the  valor  of  a  single  arm,  draw  a  shaft  from  the 
quiver  of  ingratitude  upon  him  who  rendered  to  them  and  to 
his  country  a  service  unsurpassed  in  military  annals  ? 


SPEECH 

ON   THE   OREGON   QUESTION. 
DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  February  24,  1846. 

[The  question  of  title,  historically  and  legally  discussed.  The  sub 
ject  was  before  the  Senate  upon  the  Joint  Eesolutions  and  amend 
ments  thereto,  to  terminate  the  joint  occupancy,  by  giving  to  Great 
Britain  the  one  year's  notice  provided  for  by  the  Convention  between 
the  two  governments.] 

MR.  PRESIDENT — The  question  which  I  am  now  about  to  dis 
cuss,  in  some  of  its  most  interesting  and  important  relations,  is 
one  which  deeply  concerns  the  well-being  of  our  political  and 
social  system.  Though  apparently  confined  to  the  possession 
of  an  extensive  region  of  country  on  our  western  border,  it  in 
vades  the  high  principles  of  national  right  and  honor,  and  there 
fore  spreads  far  beyond,  and  rises  far  above  all  physical  consid 
erations.  To  understand  it  adequately  in  all  its  bearings,  and 
enable  ourselves  to  judge  of  it  dispassionately  according  to  its 
great  merits,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  go  back  to  the  time 
of  its  discovery,  and  learn  something  of  the  action,  motives 
and  intentions  of  those  connected  with  its  earliest  history. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Portuguese 
were  engaged  in  examining  the  coast  of  Africa  in  a  southerly 
and  easterly  direction,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  passage  to  the 
Indian  Ocean,  in  which  they  were  stimulated  by  the  bull  of 
Pope  Nicholas  V.,  assigning  to  them  the  rights  of  conquest, 
sovereignty,  and  trade,  exclusively,  in  Pagan  lands  which  they 
might  discover  in  that  direction ;  and  after  the  return  of  Co 
lumbus  from  his  first  voyage,  the  united  sovereigns  of  Spain  ob 
tained  a  like  authority,  from  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  for  all  lands 
and  seas  which  they  might  discover  in  the  west,  not  before  dis 
covered  or  occupied  by  a  Christian  prince  or  people.  Under 


1846.]  THE  OKEGON  QUESTION.  161 

« 

this  extraordinary,  but  at  that  time  recognized  authority,  the 
Sovereigns  of  Spain  and  the  king  of  Portugal — two  of  the 
greatest  maritime  Powers  of  Europe — framed  what  they  were 
pleased  to  call  the  "  partition  of  the  ocean,"  by  drawing  a  line 
three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  De  Verd 
islands ;  and  assigned  all  that  portion  of  the  globe  east  of  it  to 
Portugal,  and  that  west  of  it  to  Spain,  as  their  respective  fields 
of  exploration.  The  success  of  Columbus  lent  to  Spain  an  ex 
traordinary  stimulus,  which  sought  its  development  in  geo 
graphical  discovery,  territorial  acquisition,  and  the  promotion 
of  physical  science,  and  even  in  indulging  a  morbid  superstition  in 
the  prosecution  of  its  idle  vagaries.  In  1512,  Ponce  de  Leon,  a 
Spaniard  of  birth  and  fortune,  in  three  vessels,  fitted  out  at  his 
own  expense,  while  cruising  among  the  newly-discovered  isl 
ands,  seeking  for  that  spring  so  long  desired  by  the  Orientals, 
which  was  to  endue  with  perpetual  youth  all  who  bathed  in  its 
waters,  discovered  Florida.  Balboa,  governor  of  Santa  Maria, 
a  Spanish  colony  near  Darien,  whilst  searching  for  an  ocean  in 
the  west,  whose  shores  he  believed  to  be  paved  with  gold,  after 
much  suffering,  privation  and  endurance,  discovered  the  Pacific, 
and,  entering  into  its  waters,  proclaimed,  with  outstretched  sword, 
that  he  took  possession  in  the  name  of  his  king  and  master. 

In  1520,  Magellan,  a  Portuguese  in  the  service  of  Spain,  dis 
covered  the  straits  bearing  his  name,  through  which  he  sailed 
into  the  ocean  discovered  by  Balboa,  and  which  he  named  the 
Pacific,  in  commemoration  of  its  placid  surface  and  genial  at 
mosphere.  About  this  time,  Mexico,  which  was  discovered  in 
1518,  was  conquered;  and  Spain  became  the  wealthiest  nation 
of  Europe,  and  prosecuted  for  a  time  her  discoveries,  explora 
tions,  and  conquests,  particularly  upon  the  western  coast  of 
North  America.  From  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  this  ocean 
up  to  1810,  I  have  collected  from  all  the  sources  within  my 
reach  a  connected  history  of  the  title  to  the  Oregon  territory. 
It  would,  however,  occupy  more  time  than  I  have  allotted  to 
myself  on  this  occasion  to  go  through  that  history  in  detail ; 
and  I  have  great  pleasure  in  passing  over  it,  since  the  able  and 
excellent  commentary  on  that  branch  of  the  subject  by  my  col 
league.*  I  will,  therefore,  content  myself  with  little  more  than 

*  MR.  Dix. 
11 


162  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

a  mere  allusion  to  a  few  historical  facts,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
tracing  the  history,  but  of  presenting  the  points  from  which  my 
deductions  will  be  drawn.  To  all  who  are  kind  enough  to  listen 
to  my  remarks,  or  who  may  honor  me  by  reading  any  report  of 
them,  I  would  say  that  I  shall  relieve  them  of  all  inferences 
as  to  conclusions ;  and,  therefore,  when  speaking  of  Oregon,  I 
desire  to  be  understood  as  speaking  of  that  region  of  country 
bordering  on  the  Pacific,  bounded  on  the  south  by  latitude  42°, 
and  on  the  north  by  54°  40',  I  intend  to  show  clearly  what  are 
the  rights  of  the  respective  parties  ;  and  not  believing  that  any 
Christian  nation,  much  less  England,  would  go  to  war  for  even 
a  profitable  icr'ong,  and  not  proposing  to  give  up  a  right  if  she 
would,  I  shall  discuss  the  question  with  the  same  freedom  as 
though  it  were  the  custom  of  nations  to  resort  to  a  court  of  jus 
tice  for  their  ultima  ratio,  instead  of  the  field  of  battle. 

Territory  may  be  acquired  by  a  nation  in  various  ways,  and, 
among  others,  by  treaty,  by  conquest,  by  discovery,  or  by  con 
tiguity.  Treaty  and  conquest  explain  themselves.  Discovery, 
in  its  general  sense,  is  described  as  follows,  in  a  treatise  on  in 
ternational  law,  by  Marten,  Professor  of  Law  in  the  University 
of  Gottingen : 

"  From  the  moment  a  nation  has  taken  possession  of  a  territory  in 
right  of  first  occupier,  and  with  the  design  to  establish  themselves 
there  for  the  future,  they  become  the  absolute  and  sole  proprietors  of 
it,  and  all  that  it  contains ;  and  have  a  right  to  exclude  all  other 
nations  from  it,  to  use  it,  and  dispose  of  it  as  they  think  proper ;  pro 
vided,  however,  that  they  do  not,  in  anywise,  encroach  on  the  rights  of 
other  nations.  The  case  is  but  little  different,  strictly  speaking,  when, 
in  right  of  legitimate  conquest,  a  nation  seizes  on  a  territory  which  is 
ceded  to  it  at  the  peace." 

It  is  a  general  principle  that  the  discovery  of  the  leading 
geographical  features  of  a  territory  is  a  discovery  of  the  whole. 
The  discovery  of  a  river,  either  of  its  mouth  or  headwaters,  is  a 
discovery,  not  of  the  river  merely,  but  of  the  territory  drained  by 
it ;  and  if  the  territory  have  natural  or  political  boundaries,  the 
discovery  embraces  the  entire  region  limited  by  them.  In  this 
case  the  political  boundaries  of  the  territory  being  defined,  no 
question  can  arise  on  that  point ;  and  we  have  therefore  only 
to  address  ourselves  to  the  question  of  the  title  to  the  particu- 


184:6.]  THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  163 

lar  section  of  country.  Contiguity  may  come  in  aid  of  dis 
covery  ;  and  when  the  discovered  territory  is  contiguous  to  the 
possessions  of  those  making  it,  the  title  is  thereby  strengthened, 
and  discovery  of  an  inferior  character  will  be  sufficient.  Even 
contiguity  will  carry  a  title  without  discovery,  if  the  possession 
of  the  territory  be  necessary  to  the  interest  and  convenience  of 
the  adjacent  power,  and  no  other  power  will  be  permitted  to 
take  possession.  Under  these  general  rules,  the  law  of  nations 
— a  code  which  experience  has  suggested,  and  religion,  morality, 
and  civilization  have  approved,  assigns  the  territory  to  the  gov 
ernment  which  shall  discover  it,  as  the  reward  of  its  enterprise. 
Nor  does  a  subsequent,  more  perfect,  and  minute  discovery  su 
persede  the  first.  The  first  discovery,  although  it  may  not  be 
minute  and  complete — although  it  may  not  ascertain  all  the 
geographical  features  of  the  country — yet,  if  it  have  ascertained 
the  leading  features,  then  it  is  a  discovery  of  the  country,  and 
carries  with  it  all  the  advantages  of  a  perfect  discovery.  Though 
occupation  should  follow,  it  need  not  immediately  succeed  dis 
covery.  But  there  must  be  an  intent  to  follow  up  the  discovery 
by  occupation.  It  is  a  question  of  intent — of  good  faith.  And 
that  question  must  be  settled  by  an  examination  of  the  motives 
and  intentions  of  the  party,  as  far  as  they  can  be  ascertained ; 
and  hence  the  allusion  to  the  circumstances  which  preceded  the 
discovery  of  this  territory.  It  is  not  contended  that  the  Papal 
authority  conferred  any  title.  But  it  was  at  that  time,  and  with 
that  people,  recognized  as  authority — as  the  highest  authority 
in  Europe  ;  and  therefore  shows  that  in  discovering,  exploring, 
and  taking  possession,  they  believed  they  had  title,  and  intended 
to  occupy ;  and  although  it  is  no  title  of  itself,  it  comes  in  aid 
of,  and  fortifies  the  title  by  discovery — shows  that  the  discovery 
was  not  accidental,  but  that  every  movement  relating  to  it  was 
the  positive  and  efficient  act  of  sovereignty.  In  no  instance 
from  the  period  when  the  Spanish  first  landed  on  its  shores — 
from  the  first  expedition  authorized  by  the  government — was 
there  an  act  except  under  its  authority  and  sanction.  As  early 
as  1543,  the  exploration  of  the  coast  was  commenced  with  the 
view  of  exercising  sovereignty  over  the  territory.  The  first 
large  expedition  which  they  planned  was  in  1540  ;  but  by  rea 
son  of  a  mutiny  in  the  Mexican  provinces,  it  failed.  The  next 
was  in  1543,  by  Ferrelo,  who  explored  as  far  north  as  43°.  The 


164: 

next  was  by  Juan  de  Fuca,  who  discovered  the  straits  which 
now  bear  his  name,  in  1592.  As  this  voyage  and  this  discovery 
have  been  questioned,  I  will  produce  an  authority  which  I  trust 
will  not  be  disputed  by  any  who  advocate  the  British  title  on 
this  or  the  other  side  of  the  water.  The  authority  to  which  I 
refer  is  the  London  Quarterly  Review  for  1816.  In  speaking  of 
this  territory,  and  of  the  voyage  of  De  Fuca,  the  reviewer  re 
marks  as  follows  : 

"  His  real  name  was  Apostolos  Valerianus.  The  story  told  to  Mr. 
Michael  Lok,  consul  for  the  Turkey  merchants  at  Aleppo,  was  a  plain 
and  no  doubt  a  true  one — that  he  was  plundered  in  a  Manilla  ship  off 
Cape  California  by  one  Candish,  (Cavendish,  who  states  his  having 
found  a  Greek  pilot  in  one  of  the  ships  he  plundered,)  an  Englishman ; 
that  he  was  afterwards  sent  by  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  to  discover  the 
Strait  of  Ainan,  but  owing  to  a  mutiny  in  the  squadron,  he  returned  ; 
that  in  1599  he  was  again  sent  on  this  discovery ;  that  he  entered  a 
strait  between  47°  and  48°  of  latitude,  and  sailed  above  twenty  days 
in  a  broad  sea  ;  and  that,  opposed  by  savages  clothed  in  skins,  he  re 
turned  to  Acapulco.  The  late  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  rather  indiscreetly, 
has  pronounced  this  story  of  De  Fuca  '  the  fabric  of  imposture ; '  for 
the  ink  was  scarcely  dry  which  transmitted  to  posterity  this  hasty 
opinion,  when  the  strait  and  the  savages  were  recognized  by  Meares 
and  others  in  the  very  spot  pointed  out  by  the  old  Greek  pilot,  to 
whom  modern  geographers  have  rendered  tardy  justice,  by  assigning 
to  the  strait  he  discovered  the  name  of  Juan  de  Fuca." 


This  is  a  high  if  not  a  conclusive  authority,  published  in 
London  thirty  years  ago,  under  the  eye  of  the  British  Ministry, 
where  it  would  have  been  corrected,  doubtless,  if  erroneous ; 
for  in  all  that  relates  to  her  foreign  policy  Great  Britain  has  no 
divisions. 

Next  was  the  expedition  of  Viscaino,  in  1603.  He  explored 
as  far  as  43°,  and  then  sailed  for  Madrid,  for  the  purpose  of  ob 
taining  liberty  to  return  and  establish  settlements  and  garrisons 
upon  the  territory.  He  obtained  this  authority  and  returned, 
having  been  promised  by  Spain  means  to  sustain  the  settlements 
which  he  should  make,  and  died  in  1608,  as  he  was  about  enter 
ing  upon  his  enterprise.  From  about  this  time,  however,  Spain, 
for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  suspended  the  further  prosecu 
tion  of  her  explorations  and  discoveries.  She  was  then  torn  by 


1S46.]  THE  OEEGON  QUESTION.  165 

intestine  broils  and  cabinet  intrigues,  and  was  at  war,  at  times, 
with  almost  every  nation  of  Europe.  But  after  the  peace  of 
1763  her  energies  revived,  and  she  resumed  the  exploration  of 
the  coast ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  doing  so  with  greater  vigor, 
and  extending  her  settlements,  a  distinct  department,  called  the 
Marine  Department  of  San  Bias,  was  established  in  Mexico, 
which  was  especially  charged  with  discovering,  exploring,  and 
taking  possession  of  this  territory  on  the  northwest  coast,  show 
ing  her  continued  determination  to  maintain  her  position,  which 
had  not  been  changed  there  from  1603  to  1774,  no  other  Power 
having  set  up  any  claim  or  made  any  pretension  whatever  to 
any  portion  thereof.  At  this  time  Perez  undertook  his  voyage, 
charged  to  proceed  as  far  as  60°,  and  to  explore  the  coast.  He 
reached  as  far  as  54°,  and  anchored  in  the  bay  afterwards  ascer 
tained  to  be  Nootka. 

In  1775,  Heceta  and  Quadra  were  directed  to  the  60th 
parallel,  and  thence  to  explore  southerly  and  take  possession. 
Heceta  made  land  at  50°,  and  returning  discovered,  but  could 
not  enter,  the  Columbia.  Quadra  reached  56°,  and  returning 
explored  between  45°  and  42°.  In  1787,  Martinez  was  sent  to 
ascertain  the  character  of  some  Russian  settlements  which  were 
forming  near  Prince  William's  Sound,  at  about  60°,  which  Spain 
seems  to  have  considered  her  limits.  He  returned  and  reported 
that  such  settlements  were  encroachments  upon  the  Spanish 
territory;  and  it  was  made  the  subject  of  remonstrance  by 
Spain  to  the  Empress  of  Russia,  who  returned  for  answer  that 
she  had  directed  her  subjects  not  to  encroach  upon  any  part 
of  "  Spanish  America  ;  "  proving  that  that  great  Power,  hold 
ing  adjoining  territory,  recognized  this  as  the  possession  of 
Spain.  Martinez  learned  that  two  Russian  ships  were  fitting 
out,  and,  as  lie  understood,  destined  for  Nootka,  and  hence  his 
voyage  to  Nootka,  under  the  orders  of  his  Government,  to  take 
absoulute  possession,  and  establish  a  settlement,  and  erect  a 
fortification,  which  he  did  ;  and  while  there  for  this  purpose, 
he  seized  and  condemned  the  vessels  of  Meares,  which  difficulty 
led  to  the  ISTootka  convention.  About  this  time  the  Columbia, 
commanded  by  Captain  Gray,  of  Boston,  on  a  trading  voyage 
in  the  Pacific,  was  permitted  to  refit  in  the  island  of  Juan  Fer 
nandez  ;  and  the  Spanish  officer  in  charge  of  the  island  was 
cashiered  because  he  did  not  seize  her  and  her  crew  for  trad- 


166 

ing  where  Spain  claimed  the  exclusive  right — proving  the 
jealousy  with  which  Spain  regarded  any  encroachments  upon 
that  which  she  claimed  before  the  world  as  her  lawful  posses 
sion.  Xor  had  any  other  Power  at  that  time  pretended  to 
claim  or  exercise  any  jurisdiction  whatever  upon  this  territory. 

Spain  had  taken  possession  of  the  whole  coast,  and  had  ex 
ercised  every  act  of  sovereignty  which  she  was  capable  of  exer 
cising  over  a  savage  region.  Her  officers  had  erected  crosses, 
performed  masses,  and  declared  in  the  name  of  the  sovereign 
that  they  took  possession  ;  and  if  they  did  not  execute  a  com 
plete  chart  of  the  coast  and  territory,  all  the  leading  features 
were  defined  and  had  been  named  by  the  directions  of  the 
Spanish  government,  who,  believing  that  it  was  improper  to 
bestow  the  names  of  persons  upon  localities,  had  almost  ex 
hausted  the  names  of  the  saints  in  her  calendar.  In  1800  she 
held  Louisiana,  and  this  whole  territory  was  contiguous  to  her 
Louisiana,  Mexico,  and  California  possessions.  This,  then,  was 
the  title  of  Spain  in  1800  :  having  discovered  every  leading 
geographical  feature  in  the  country — having  explored  it — pro 
claimed  her  sovereignty  over  it — expelled  others  from  it,  and 
having  placed  herself  in  a  position  before  the  world  as  its  Gov 
ernor  by  the  exercise  of  every  possible  act  of  sovereignty  short 
of  actual  occupation,  which  at  that  day  was  impracticable.  In 
1800,  Spain  transferred  Louisiana  to  France  with  undefined 
western  boundaries,  and  thus  rested  the  Spanish  title  at  that 
time. 

The  claim  of  our  government  is  as  follows  : 

In  1788,  Gray  and  Kendrick,  of  Boston,  under  sea  letters 
from  Congress,  went  upon  a  trading  voyage  to  the  Pacific, 
Gray  discovered  the  Columbia,  but  could  not  enter  it.  Both 
entered  and  sailed  in  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  wintered  in  ISTootka, 
and  spent  the  following  summer  there  and  along  the  neighbor 
ing  coast.  In  1792  Captain  Gray  returned  in  the  ship  Colum 
bia,  and  sailed  up  the  Columbia  River  twenty  miles  — naming 
it  after  his  ship.  In  1803  France  transferred  to  our  govern 
ment  Louisiana,  with  undefined  westerly  boundaries,  as  she 
had  received  it  from  Spain ;  under  which  transfer,  as  well  as 
the  discovery  of  the  Columbia  by  Captain  Gray,  this  territory 
was  claimed ;  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  under  the  authority  of  Con 
gress  in  1805,  sent  a  company  of  about  fifty  men,  under  Cap- 


1846.]  THE  OEEGON  QUESTION.  167 

tains  Lewis  and  Clarke,  to  explore  and  take  possession.  In 
1805  Lewis  and  Clarke  entered  upon  this  expedition.  They 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  in  the  autumn  of  1805, 
erected  a  building  there,  which  they  named  Fort  Clatsop ;  re 
mained  there  during  the  winter,  and  thence,  tracing  the  river 
upwards,  crossed  the  mountains,  and  returned  to  the  States. 
In  1808,  Mr.  Henry,  agent  of  the  Missouri  Fur  Company, 
erected  trading  establishments  upon  the  Lewis  River ;  and  in 
1810,  Mr.  Astor,  at  the  head  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company, 
erected  Astoria,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  This  was 
taken  by  the  British  in  1813,  during  the  last  war,  and  was  re 
stored  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent  in  1818;  in  1819,  Spain, 
insisting  that  the  Oregon  territory  was  not  transferred  to 
France  with  Louisiana,  assigned  us  any  rights  she  might  have 
there  above  42°.  This  presents  the  American  claim,  our  gov 
ernment  having  fixed  the  dividing  line  on  the  north  with 
Russia,  at  54°  40'. 

Great  Britain,  for  discovery,  relies  upon  the  voyage  of  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  who  visited  the  Pacific  in  1578  ;  the  voyage  of 
the  great  circumnavigator,  Captain  Cook,  in  1778,  who  touched 
at  Cape  Flattery,  near  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  and  anchored  in 
ISTootka;  that  of  Meares  in  1778,  who  sent  a  boat  into  the 
Straits  of  Fuca,  but  did  not  enter ;  that  of  Vancouver  in  1792  ; 
and  the  discovery  of  the  headwaters  of  Frazer's  river  by  Mac 
kenzie  in  1793.  So  far  as  she  bases  her  claim  on  the  more  per 
fect  discoveries  of  her  navigators,  it  may  be  worthy  of  remark 
that  this  could  not  apply  to  John  Meares,  who  figures  so  largely 
in  the  history  of  her  pretensions.  That  ubiquitous  personage 
was  at  ISTootka  a  land  speculator  and  dealer  in  furs ;  at  sea,  a 
Portuguese  captain,  and  a  smuggler ;  in  London,  a  lieutenant 
of  the  British  navy ;  and,  as  to  his  extreme  accuracy,  he  cruised 
along  the  northwest  coast,  where  the  Columbia  enters  the  ocean 
by  a  mouth  seven  miles  wide,  and  declared  that  there  was  no 
such  river  as  the  Spaniards  pretended  there.  He  prided  him 
self  greatly  in  exploding  their  discovery  of  a  river  there,  which 
they  called  the  St.  Roque ;  and,  to  signalize  his  geographical 
triumph,  he  named  the  bay  "  Deception,"  and  one  of  the  capes 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  opposite  to  Astoria,  "  Disappoint 
ment."  Vancouver,  it  is  true,  did  make  a  more  accurate  ex 
amination  of  the  coast ;  but  he  did  it  after  that  coast  had  been 


168 

previously  surveyed,  and  with  the  charts  of  Perez  aud  Gray  in 
his  hand.  Yet  he,  too,  declared  that  Gray  was  mistaken  ;  that 
there  was  no  river  there,  nor  stream  of  any  kind,  unless  it 
might  be  a  brook.  But  Gray  and  Heceta  had  both  discovered 
the  river,  and  Gray,  a  few  days  after,  went  again  to  the  spot, 
entered  the  river,  and  sailed  up  its  main  channel  for  some 
miles,  staying  there  eight  or  ten  days.  How,  then,  could  it 
with  truth  be  said  that  Vancouver's  explorations,  though  later, 
were  more  perfect  than  those  of  the  Americans  and  Spaniards  ? 
Much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  discovery  of  Frazer's  River  by 
Mackenzie ;  but  he  had  no  authority  from  his  government,  was 
a  straggling  Indian  trader,  and  accidentally  struck  its  head 
waters,  and,  after  tracing  it  upwards  of  two  hundred  miles, 
left  it,  reached  the  Pacific  far  north  of  it,  being  at  no  time 
south  of  52°  ;  and  the  point  of  coast  where  he  reached  the 
Pacific,  as  well  as  the  region  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  had 
been  discovered  long  before,  though  that  particular  river  might 
not  have  been  seen.  She  admits  the  priority  of  the  Spanish 
discoveries,  but  insists  that  her  own  were  more  perfect ;  but  a 
more  perfect  examination  and  survey  of  what  was  already 
known  gave  her  no  title  as  a  discoverer.  I  will  take  up  these 
British  discoveries,  and  examine  them  in  order. 

The  voyages  of  Cook  and  Vancouver  alone  were  made  by 
order  of  the  British  government,  but  they  were  both  under, 
taken  for  other  objects  than  discovery.  As  to  the  rest,  they 
were  the  voyages  of  mere  cruisers,  and  their  discoveries,  if 
any,  were  purely  accidental.  Drake  was  a  sea-robber,  a  buc 
caneer,  cruising  not  only  against  the  Spanish  possessions  and 
settlements,  but  against  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Yet  such 
was  the  morality  of  the  Court  of  Elizabeth,  that  she  tolerated 
a  pirate  and  homicide  like  Drake,  because  his  deeds  were  sup 
posed  to  be  of  advantage  to  the  realm.  But  as  no  reliance  is 
placed  by  the  British  government  on  the  alleged  discoveries 
of  Drake,  I  will  pass  them  by. 

The  next  was  that  of  Captain  Cook ;  but  he  was  not  em 
ployed  on  a  duty  of  that  kind.  In  proof  of  this  I  refer  to  the 
occasion  of  his  voyage,  and  to  his  specific  instructions.  In 
1745  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  offered  a  reward  of 
£20,000  sterling  to  the  discoverer  of  a  northwest  passage 
through  Hudson's  Bay.  And  in  1776  it  made  a  like  offer  of 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  169 

£20,000  in  addition,  to  any  one  who  should  discover  an  open 
ing  through  the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
above  the  latitude  of  52°.  To  make  the  discovery  of  this  latter 
passage  was  the  avowed  object  of  Cook's  voyage.  What  was 
the  language  of  his  instructions  from  his  government  ? 

"  With  the  consent  of  the  natives,  to  take  possession  in  the  name 
of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  of  convenient  situations  in  such  countries 
as  he  might  discover,  that  had  not  been,  already  discovered  or  visited  by 
any  other  European  Power,  and  to  distribute  among  the  inhabitants 
such  tilings  as  will  remain  as  traces  of  his  having  been  there ;  but,  if 
he  should  find  the  countries  so  discovered  to  be  uninhabited,  he  was  to 
take  possession  of  them  for  his  sovereign,  by  setting  up  proper  marks 
and  inscriptions,  as  first  discoverers  and  possessors." 


The  discoveries  of  the  Spaniards  were  well  known  in  Eng 
land,  and  openly  published,  before  Cook  left  the  British  shores, 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  following,  which  is  from  the  London 
Annual  Register  of  June  1776  ;  and  had  express  reference  to 
the  Spanish  discoveries  on  the  northwest  coast,  where  Cook 
afterwards  went : 

"  Several  Spanish  frigates  having  been  sent  from  Acapulco  to  make 
discoveries,  and  to  propagate  the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  to  the 
north  of  California,  in  the  month  of  July,  1744,  they  navigated  as  high 
up  on  the  coast  as  the  latitude  of  58°  20'  — 60°  above  Cape  Blanco. 
Having  discovered  several  good  harbors  and  navigable  rivers  upon  the 
west  coast  of  this  great  continent,  they  established,  in  one  of  the  largest 
ports,  a  garrison,  and  called  the  port  Presidio  de  San  Carlos  ;  and  be 
sides,  left  a  mission  at  every  port  where  the  inhabitants  were  to  be 
found.  The  Indians  they  here  met  with  are  said  to  be  a  very  docile 
sort  of  people,  agreeable  in  their  countenance,  honest  in  their  traffic,  and 
neat  in  their  dress ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  idolaters  to  the  greatest 
degree,  having  never  before  had  any  intercourse  with  Europeans.  M. 
Bucarelli,  the  viceroy  of  New  Spain,  has  received  his  Catholic  Majesty's 
thanks  for  these  discoveries,  as  they  were  made  under  his  direction ; 
and  the  several  navy  officers  upon  that  voyage  have  been  preferred.  It 
is  imagined  that  these  new  discoveries  will  be  very  advantageous,  as 
the  coast  abounds  with  whales,  as  also  a  fish  equal  to  the  Newfound 
land  cod,  known  in  Spain  by  the  name  of  Baccalao." 


I  will  also  read  an  extract  from  the  London   Quarterly 


170  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

jRevicio  of  1822,  showing  the  priority  of  Spanish  discoveries, 
and  admitting  that  Great  Britain  had  no  territorial  rights  : 

"  The  Spaniards  visited  the  northern  parts  of  the  coast  in  1774, 
when  Don  Juan  Perez,  in  the  corvette  Santiago,  traced  it  from  latitude 
53°  53'  to  a  promontory  in  latitude  55°,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
of  Santa  Margarita,  being  the  northwest  extremity  of  Queen  Charlotte's 
Island  of  our  charts ;  and,  on  his  return,  touched  at  Nootka,  about 
which  we  were  once  on  the  point  of  going  to  war.  In  the  following 
year,  the  Santiago  and  Felicidad,  under  the  orders  of  Don  Juan  Bruno 
Heceta,  and  Don  Juan  de  la  Bodega  y  Quadra,  proceeded  along  the 
northwest  coast,  and  descried,  in  latitude  56°  8',  high  mountains  cov 
ered  with  snow,  which  they  named  Jacinto  ;  and  also  a  lofty  cape  in 
latitude  57°  2',  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Engano.  Holding  a 
northerly  course,  they  reached  latitude  57°  58',  and  then  returned. 

"  Three  years  after  these  Spanish  voyages,  Cook  reconnoitred  this 
coast  more  closely,  and  proceeded  as  high  up  as  the  Icy  Cape  ;  it  was 
subsequently  visited  by  several  English  ships  for  the  purposes  of  trade ; 
and  though  every  portion  of  it  was  explored  with  the  greatest  ac 
curacy  by  that  most  excellent  and  persevering  navigator,  Vancouver, 
as  far  as  the  head  of  Cook's  Inlet,  in  latitude  61°  15' ;  yet,  on  the 
ground  of  priority  of  discovery,  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  England 
lias  no  claim  to  territorial  possession." — London  Quarterly  Review. 

The  voyage  of  Vancouver  was  for  the  purpose  of  receiving, 
as  the  agent  of  the  British  government,  the  property  of  Meares, 
which  he  alleged  had  been  taken  from  him  at  Nootka — the  re 
turn  of  which  was  stipulated  in  the  Nootka  convention.  He 
was  authorized  to  explore  and  survey,  for  the  purpose  of  fur 
nishing  correct  charts ;  but  it  was  well  known  to  the  British 
government  that  the  whole  region  had  long  been  previously 
discovered,  and  he  was  charged  with  no  such  enterprise. 

While  Great  Britain  now  holds  that  the  discoveries  of 
Spain  were  not  enough  to  give  her  a  title  to  any  part  of  the 
country,  she  thinks  that  the  landing  at  Nootka  by  a  Portu 
guese  captain,  the  discovery  of  the  headwaters  of  a  small 
stream  by  an  Indian  trader,  and  the  erection  of  a  miserable 
hut  wherein  to  dry  skins,  were  all-sufficient  to  give  her  title  to 
a  country  three  times  as  large  as  England,  at  six  thousand 
miles'  distance ;  though  the  territory  lay  immediately  contig 
uous  to  the  Spanish  possessions,  and  was  discovered  through 
out  and  taken  possession  of  by  authorized  officers  of  that 


1840.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 

government.  Great  Britain  had  practised  on  this  principle 
always ;  but  she  cannot  show  as  good  a  title  to  any  part  of 
her  vast  dominions  (unless,  perhaps,  to  England  itself)  as  we 
show  to  the  whole  northwest  coast  of  North  America.  Her 
charters  to  her  colonies  "  from  sea  to  sea"  were  as  valueless  in 
the  eyes  of  a  Papist  as  the  Pope's  charter  to  Spain  would  "be 
in  the  eyes  of  a  Protestant.  Neither  conveyed  any  valid  title 
unless  followed  up  by  discovery,  by  intent  of  settlement,  by 
acts  of  sovereignty,  and  by  actual  occupation.  The  French 
first  discovered  the  Ohio,  but  the  British  claimed  it,  went  to 
war  for  it,  and  held  it  because  it  lay  between  certain  parallels 
and  was  covered  by  her  charter.  Captain  Cook  discovered 
Australia,  a  country  larger  than  all  Europe,  and  took  posses 
sion  of  it  by  erecting  a  pole  and  breaking  a  bottle,  and  Great 
Britain  holds  it  under  that  title  to  this  day. 

Oregon  is  homogeneous — is  one  region.  The  country  is 
drained  almost  entirely  by  the  Columbia  and  its  confluents. 
This  river  is  its  principal  geographical  feature,  and  a  discovery 
of  both  its  mouth  and  its  head-waters — of  the  whole  coast,  and 
its  principal  bays,  harbors,  capes,  and  islands,  by  Spain  and  by 
the  United  States,  was  a  discovery  of  the  whole.  Besides,  it 
was  followed  by  all  the  possession  and  occupation  of  which 
such  a  country  was  susceptible,  and  by  resolute  acts  of  sover 
eignty.  This,  I  insist,  gave  a  complete  title  by  discovery  to 
the  whole,  against  Great  Britain  and  the  world,  under  the 
most  rigid  construction  of  the  rule. 

But  it  is  idle  to  discuss  the  mere  question  of  title ;  for  it  is 
evident  Great  Britain  does  not  claim  on  that  ground.  Her 
able  plenipotentiary  has  evidently  attempted  to  draw  attention 
from  the  true  points,  by  arraying  the  American  and  Spanish 
titles  against  each  other,  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  both. 
However  ingenious  this  process,  it  will  not  bear  examination. 
There  cannot,  it  is  apparent,  be  two  good  titles  to  the  whole 
of  the  same  territory ;  but  each  may  be  good  to  a  portion ; 
and  if  both  parties  hold  the  links  of  the  entire  chain,  each 
holding  a  portion,  when  united  it  will  be  complete.  Or,  if  one 
title  be  good  and  the  other  worthless,  the  perfect  will  not  be 
destroyed  if  blended  with  the  spurious.  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  both  assert  claims.  If  she  had  ours,  al 
though  hostile  to  hers,  she  would  doubtless  assert,  as  she  would 


172 

have,  a  good  title  to  the  whole  against  the  world,  A  nation 
may  as  well  procure  outstanding  titles  to  territory,  and  rely 
upon  them,  as  a  landlord  the  lease  of  his  tenant,  the  remain 
der  man  the  life  estate,  or  the  tenant  in  common  the  right  of 
his  co-tenant. 

By  the  following  statement  of  Messrs.  Huskisson  and  Ad- 
dington,  British  commissioners  in  the  negotiations  of  1826,  it 
will  be  seen  that  they  did  not  rely  upon  discovery,  but  upon 
the  Nootka  convention.  They  say : 

""Whatever  that  title  may  Lave  been,  however,  either  on  the  part 
of  Great  Britain  or  on  the  part  of  Spain,  prior  to  the  convention  of 
1790,  it  was  from  thenceforward  no  longer  to  be  traced  in  vague  nar 
ratives  of  discoveries,  several  of  them  admitted  to  be  apocryphal,  but 
in  the  text  and  stipulations  of  that  convention  itself." 

That  is,  whatever  the  title  of  England  may  have  been  pri 
or  to  the  N~ootka  convention  in  1790,  after  that  instrument  her 
claims  were  no  longer  vague  and  uncertain,  but  were  all  em 
bodied  in  that  treaty.  The  British  rights  in  Oregon  were 
fixed  by  the  convention  of  Nootka.  If  we  would  know  ex 
actly  what  they  were,  we  must  go  there  to  find  them.  If  she 
Las  no  title  by  that  treaty,  she  has  none  at  all.  Spain  lost  no 
rights  in  1790,  and  the  British  gained  none,  unless  by  the 
stipulations  of  that  treaty.  "Now  we  hold  that  that  conven 
tion  was  abrogated  and  abolished  by  the  war  of  1796.  Eng 
land  denies  this,  but  considering  it  not  free  from  doubt,  asserts 
that  if  the  convention  was  abrogated  by  the  war,  still  it  reviv 
ed  again  in  1814  by  a  convention  reviving  all  former  commer 
cial  treaties.  But  I  insist  that  by  her  own  doctrine  war  de 
stroys  such  a  treaty ;  for  she  held  that  her  treaty  with  us  as 
to  fishing  and  settlement  on  the  coast  of  Labrador  was  defeat 
ed  by  our  war  with  her  in  1812.  If  the  principle  was  good  as 
to  the  Labrador  treaty,  it  is  equally  good  as  to  the  Nootka 
sound  treaty.  We  deny  that  the  treaty  revived  in  1814,  be 
cause  the  treaty  of  alleged  revival  was  one  referring  to  Spain 
proper,  and  not  applying  to  her  colonies.  But  if  it  was  reviv 
ed  in  1814,  what  followed?  Spain  transferred  all  her  title  to 
Louisiana  to  France  in  1800.  France  claimed  that  Louisiana 
embraced  everything  to  the  ocean,  including  the  northwest 
coast ;  and  she  made  her  treaty,  believing  that  thereby  she 


1S46.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  173 

transferred  the  whole  northwest  coast  to  us  ;  and  we  claimed 
that  such  was  the  fact — that  the  cession  of  Louisiana  carried 
with  it  all  of  Oregon.  Under  that  .claim,  whether  good  or 
bad,  (and  in  this  argument  it  matters  little  which,)  and  our 
previous  discovery,  we  took  possession  of  the  country  under 
the  order  and  action  of  our  government ;  and  the  exploration 
of  Lewis  and  Clarke  was  followed  up  by  acts  of  possession  by 
Mr.  Henry  and  Mr.  Astor,  of  the  country,  and  of  the  river 
which  was  its  chief  and  most  important  feature.  Mr.  Huskis- 
son  and  Mr.  Addington  did  not  deny  this  transfer,  but  claim 
ed  that  the  question  had  previously  been  disposed  of  by  the 
treaty  of  ^ootka,  and  that  they  thus  got  rid  of  the  force  of 
the  transfer.  I  will  show  it  had  no  such  effect.  The  conven 
tion  of  Nootka  was  abolished  by  the  war  of  1796.  Spain 
made  the  transfer  in  1800,  France  in  1803,  and  we  took  posses 
sion  in  1805,  in  1806,  in  1808,  in  1810,  and  continued  until  1813. 
By  England's  own  showing,  the  convention  did  not  revive,  if 
at  all,  till  1814  ;  so  that  during  the  interval,  while  the  treaty 
was  null,  we  took  possession  of  the  country,  and  it  was  still 
ours  under  this  claim  alone. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Great  Britain  admits  all  her 
rights,  previous  to  1818,  to  rest  in  the  stipulations  of  the 
Nootka  convention.  I  do  not  deny  but  that  her  subjects  had 
certain  privileges  guaranteed  ;  but  there  was  no  grant  to  the 
sovereignty  of  Great  Britain,  and  she  had  no  right  to  exercise 
acts  of  sovereignty  by  any  power  conferred  by  that  treaty. 
The  first  article  of  the  convention  provides  that  the  buildings 
and  tracts  of  land,  situated  on  the  northwestern  coast,  which 
had  been  taken  from  British  subjects,  should  be  restored  to 
them.  The  language  of  the  treaty  was  not  that  they  be  given 
up  to  the  British  government,  but  to  British  subjects.  By  the 
second  article  a  just  reparation  was  to  be  made  for  all  injuries 
arising  from  the  acts  of  either  party.  By  the  third  article — 
the  only  one  which  conferred  rights — in  order  to  preserve  a 
good  understanding  between  the  parties,  it  was  agreed  that 
the  respective  subjects  and  citizens  of  both  should  not  be  dis 
turbed  or  molested  in  carrying  on  their  fisheries  and  their  trade 
with  the  natives.  Spain  was  in  possession  by  discovery,  and 
here  was  no  waiver  of  eminent  domain  nor  surrender  of  sover 
eignty.  The  third  article  of  the  Nootka  convention  is  as  follows : 


174 

"  In  order  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship  and  to  preserve  ill 
future  a  perfect  harmony  and  good  understanding  between  the  two  con 
tracting  parties,  it  is  agreed  that  their  respective  subjects  shall  not  be 
disturbed  or  molested,  either  in  navigating  or  carrying  on  their  fisheries 
in  the  Pacific  ocean,  or  in  the  South  seas,  or  in  landing  on  the  coasts  of 
those  seas,  in  places  not  already  occupied,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
on  their  commerce  with  the  natives  of  the  country,  or  of  making  settle 
ments  there ;  the  whole  subject,  nevertheless,  to  the  restrictions  speci 
fied  in  the  three  following  articles." 

I  call  attention  to  this  language,  for  the  purpose  of  show 
ing  the  absence  of  all  intention  or  expectation  on  the  part  of 
the  British  government  of  gaining  any  rights  under  this  con 
vention  beyond  those  guaranteed  to  her  subjects — the  restora 
tion  of  Meares's  property,  the  privilege  of  occupying  tempo 
rary  habitations  on  land  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  trade 
with  the  natives,  and  that  those  who  ventured  their  property 
upon  the  sea  in  prosecution  of  the  fisheries  should  not  be  mo 
lested.  She  always  takes  care  of  her  subjects  and  of  their  in 
terests.  Would  we  could  say  the  same  of  our  own  govern 
ment  !  The  other  articles  of  the  convention  are  not  material 
to  the  view  I  am  taking,  though  they  all  favor  the  construc 
tion  I  contend  for.  This,  I  think,  shows  that  Great  Britain 
acquired  no  rights  of  sovereignty  under  the  Nootka  conven 
tion. 

I  will  now  show  what  was  the  effect  of  the  restoration  of 
Astoria  in  1818,  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  Great  Britain 
sometimes  asserted  a  claim  by  discovery.  She  insisted  that 
she  had  rights  under  the  Nootka  convention,  and  all  conceded 
that  it  was  hers  by  conquest  from  1813  until  restored.  She 
had  one  title,  but  from  three  sources  which  were  merged.  In 
1818  she  restored  Astoria,  which  was  a  restoration  of  the 
country,  without  protest,  or  pretence  of  any  claim  whatever. 
How,  then,  did  she  divide  her  title  again,  and  transfer  a  por 
tion  to  us,  and  retain  the  residue  ?  I  hold  that  upon  every 
principle  of  national  law  or  common  sense,  she  is  estopped 
from  asserting  any  claim  which  she  now  pretends  had  exist 
ence  then.  It  is  evident  that  she  had  no  confidence  in  her 
claim,  nor  was  any  countenanced  by  the  public  men  of  that 
day ;  and  Mr.  Clay,  who  was  soon  after  Secretary  of  State, 
in  an  official  paper,  declared  that  she  had  not  the  color  of  a 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  175 

title  to  any  portion  of  the  territory.  Though  she  had  insisted 
upon  some  claim  previous  to  the  restoration  under  the  Ghent 
treaty,  Lord  Castlereagh,  Principal  Secretary  of  the  Foreign 
Office,  declared  that  we  were  entitled  to  be  fully  restored,  and 
to  be  deemed  the  party  in  possession  while  treating  of  the 
title.  The  fort  and  settlement  were  restored  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  as  such.  The  restoration  and  ac 
ceptance  were  the  acts  of  the  respective  governments  through 
their  constituted  authorities.  The  first  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Ghent,  under  which  Astoria  was  restored,  unlike  the  ISToot- 
ka  convention,  provided  for  the  restoration  to  this  govern 
ment  ;  and  under  this  provision,  the  country  was  restored,  not 
•to  individuals,  but  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States. 
We  were  then  in  full  and  peaceable  possession  by  the  consent 
and  authority  of  the  British  government.  We  had  success 
fully  defied  her  arms,  and  she  had  restored  it  to  us  without 
even  claiming  a  possessory  right ;  and  at  that  time,  certainly, 
the  whole  world  would  have  pronounced  our  title  dear  and 
unquestionable. 

But  in  fourteen  fatal  days  thereafter  we  entered  upon  nego 
tiation,  and,  as  usual,  fell  a  prey  to  the  sapping  and  mining  of 
her  diplomacy.  The  treaty  of  1818,  which  it  is  contended 
was  a  treaty  for  joint  occupancy,  was  not  one  for  that  pur 
pose,  but  a  treaty  of  permission  to  her  subjects  to  trade  and 
to  fish  upon  the  coast.  It  gave  to  Great  Britain  no  right  to 
exercise  sovereignty.  We  were  already  in  possession;  and 
she  had  no  rights  there,  unless  she  gained  them  under  the 
treaty  of  1818.  The  language  of  that  treaty  is  worthy  of  ex 
amination.  The  third  article  of  the  treaty  of  1818  reads  : 

"It  is  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be  claimed  by  either  party 
on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  mountains, 
shall,  together  with  its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of 
all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free  and  open,  for  the  term  of  ten  years 
from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the  present  convention,  to  the  vessels, 
citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  two  powers  ;  it  being  well  understood  that 
this  agreement  is  not  to  be  construed  to  the  prejudice  of  any  claim 
which  either  of  the  two  high  contracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part 
of  the  said  country ;  nor  shall  it  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any 
other  power  or  state  to  any  part  of  the  said  country ;  the  only  object 
of  the  high  contracting  parties,  in  that  respect,  being  to  prevent  dis 
putes  and  differences  amongst  themselves." 


176  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

[The  treaty  of  1827  extends  the  above  article  indefinitely, 
but  provides  that  it  may  be  terminated  by  either  party  giving 
one  year's  notice.] 

Now,  where  did  Great  Britain  obtain  her  right  to  exercise 
acts  of  sovereignty  in  that  territory  ?  It  was  said  she  was  in 
possession.  Perhaps  it  might  be  considered  practical  occupa 
tion,  inasmuch  as  her  subjects  were  there,  though  by  mere 
permission,  not  by  conquest ;  we  being  deemed  in  possession. 
She  had  no  more  right  to  exercise  any  act  of  sovereignty  in 
the  territory  under  the  Nootka  convention,  or  the  convention 
of  1818,  than  she  had  within  the  District  of  Columbia.  Sup 
pose  we  should  give  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  the  right  to 
navigate  the  Potomac,  or  any  other  river  in  the  United  States  : 
would  that  give  the  right  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain 
to  exercise  acts  of  sovereignty  there  ?  Suppose  we  should 
authorize  British  subjects  to  transact  certain  business  in  the 
District  of  Columbia :  would  any  one  pretend  that  it  gave 
that  government  jurisdiction? 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Missouri,  a  few  days  since, 
was  pleased  to  say  that  this  was  the  fruit  of  "  barren  negotia 
tions."  Would  to  Heaven  the  negotiations  had  been  barren ! 

[Mr.  Bentoii  remarked  that  they  had  lasted  thirty  years  ; 
and  he  had  designated  them,  therefore,  aged  and  barren.] 

Mr.  Dickinson  continued.  I  am  glad,  they  have  been  thus 
barren,  and  I  am  prepared  to  show  that  they  ought  to  produce 
no  fruit,  such  as  was  anticipated  by  Great  Britain.  To  return  to 
the  convention  of  1818.  Though  it  gave  no  rights  whatever 
to  the  British  government  as  such,  it  has  been,  as  was  well 
said  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  the  source  of  difficulty  to 
us.  But  for  that  convention,  we  should  now  be  in  peaceful 
and  quiet  occupation  of  the  territory.  It  was  that  which  had 
fortified  the  claim  set  up  by  the  British  negotiators — which 
claim,  as  late  as  1818,  they  did  not  consider  worthy  of  being 
called  even  a  possessory  right,  but  which  has  now  grown  into 
a  right  of  which  she  cannot  be  deprived  without  war.  What 
is  the  true  state  of  her  title  ?  Legally,  not  in  possession  of  the 
territory,  with  no  rights  as  a  government,  she  assumed  the 
right  of  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  her  courts  not  only  over 
her  own  subjects,  but  over  the  whole  territory,  and  over  all 
persons  therein.  She  has  erected  extensive  fortifications,  and 


1846.]  THE    OREGON    QUESTION.  177 

is  now  literally  in  the  armed  occupation  of  the  country,  and  in 
the  exercise  of  the  highest  acts  of  sovereignty,  showing  a  dis 
position  to  hold  it,  peaceably  if  she  can,  forcibly  if  she  must. 
How   did  she  possess  herself  of  these  privileges  ?  and  with 
what  intention  did  she  do  so  ?     An  agent  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  thus  explains  it  to  his  governor :    "  The  territory 
may  hereafter  become  of  great  consequence  to  Great  Britain, 
and   we  are   strengthening   her  claim."     They  were  making 
what  was  no  claim  a  claim,  then  a  right,  and  lastly  a  title- 
doing  as  Englishmen  had  done  in  the  East  Indies— converting 
a  small  trading  post  into  a  territorial  possession,  over  which 
they  exercise  unlimited  jurisdiction.     What  was  a  few  years 
since  a  small  trading  post  at  Calcutta,  is  now  a  vast  colonial 
possession,  and  has  given  her  jurisdiction  over  a  hundred  mil 
lions  of  human  beings. 

O 

What  is  the  real  claim  of  Great  Britain  since  1818  ?  Some 
may  be  surprised  to  hear  it  asserted  that  she  claims  no  title; 
but  such  is  the  fact,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  close  examination  of 
the  correspondence.  Her  negotiators  did  not  rely  upon  dis 
covery,  but  upon  rights  growing  out  of  the  conventions  of 
^ootkaandof!818.  Messrs.  Huskisson  and  Addington,  in 
their  correspondence  with  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  1826,  thus  state 
their  claim : 

"  Great  Britain  claims  no  exclusive  sovereignty  over  any  portion  of 
that  territory.  Her  present  claim,  not  in  any  respect  to  any  part,  but 
to  the  whole,  is  limited  to  a  right  of  joint  occupancy  in  common  with 
other  States,  leaving  the  right  of  exclusive  dominion  in  abeyance" 

Upon  this,  Mr.  Pakenham,  the  present  able  British  Min 
ister,  has  improved ;  and,  after  amusing  himself  and  the  Ameri 
can  people,  and  attempting  to  divert  the  American  Secretary 
by  pretended  discoveries,  has  contrived  to  leave  an  idea  to  nestle 
amid  a  mass  of  words,  in  a  manner  which  would  have  added 
another  laurel  to  the  wreath  which  adorned  the  brow  of  Tal 
leyrand.  After  reciting  the  various  grounds  of  claim,  he  closes 
with  the  following : 

"  In  fine,  the  present  state  of  the  question  between  the  two  govern 
ments  appears  to  be  this:  Great  Britain  possesses  and  exercises,  in  com- 
mon  with  the  United  States,  a  right  of  joint  occupancy  in  the  Oregon 


ITS  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

territory,  of  which  right  she  can  be  divested  with  respect  to  any  part 
of  that  territory  only  by  an  equitable  partition  of  the  whole  between 
the  two  Powers. 

"It  is  for  obvious  reasons  desirable  that  such  a  partition  should 
take  place  as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  difficulty  appears  to  be  in 
devising  a  line  of  demarcation  which  shall  leave  to  each  party  that 
precise  portion  of  the  territory  best  suited  to  its  interest  and  conve 
nience.1' 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Pakenliam  was  censured  by  his  gov 
ernment.  This  I  deny.  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  not  prepared  to 
say  whether  Mr.  P.  should  have  taken  49°  or  not ;  in  short, 
he  was  not  prepared  to  say  anything  about  it  before  the  pub 
lic.  Although  I  desire  no  cabinet  secrets,  I  should  like  to 
know  under  what  instructions  Mr.  Pakenham  rejected  that 
offer  ?  These  would  show  whether  the  British  Minister  was 
more  grasping  than  his  government,  but  there  is  nothing  in 
the  foreign  news  which  indicates  it. 

But  if  this  territory  is  ours,  is  it  worth  preserving  ?  Great 
Britain  sometimes  describes  it  as  a  fertile  region,  and  some 
times  as  a  cold  and  barren  waste ;  and  it  has  been  called  on 
this  floor,  the  Siberia  of  America.  It  stretches  for  nearly  a 
thousand  miles  along  the  Pacific  coast;  the  distance  from  the 
coast  to  the  Rocky  mountains,  varying  from  five  to  seven  hun 
dred  miles,  comprising  a  tract  of  country  nearly  equal 
in  extent  to  one-half  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  and  contain 
ing  rivers  navigable  for  hundreds  of  miles.  Its  climate,  in  all 
respects,  is  better  than  that  of  New  England.  The  Almighty 
has  fashioned  a  highway  from  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sisppi  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Columbia.  Within  that  region, 
plants  spring  spontaneously ;  flowers  bloom  and  shed  their 
fragrance,  and  the  humming  bird  performs  its  round  in  March. 
The  country  looks  out  upon  the  Pacific,  offering  facilities  for 
commerce  unsurpassed,  and  some  of  the  best  harbors  in  the 
world — will  give  us  the  China  trade  in  as  many  weeks  as  it 
now  takes  months  to  perform  the  journey,  and  without  the 
dangers  of  a  passage  around  the  capes ;  the  trade  of  Japan,  of 
the  clustered  islands  of  the  Pacific,  of  British  and  Dutch  East 
India  and  the  golden  commerce  of  the  whole  East,  which  has 
enriched  the  world.  It  is  the  advantages  of  this  great  com 
mercial  possession  of  which  great  Britain  seeks  to  deprive  us. 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  179 

She  sees  that  the  commerce  of  the  world,  if  divided  into  eight 
parts,  belongs  five  parts  of  it  to  herself  and  us;  and  by  further 
allotment  as  between  ourselves,  two  of  those  five  parts  are 
ours ;  and  she  sees,  too,  that,  from  our  growing  importance,  if 
we  possess  ourselves  of  this  territory,  we  shall  be  in  possession 
of  both  oceans ;  that  we  shall  be  successors  to,  as  we  are  now 
the  competitors  for,  her  trident ;  that  here  great  commercial 
cities  will  grow  up,  and  our  merchants  become  the  common 
carriers  of  the  world. 

But  we  are  told,  as  usual,  that  there  will  be  war  unless 
the  country  be  at  least  divided.  I  said  at  the  commencement 
that  I  would  discuss  the  question  with  the  same  freedom  as 
though  it  were  one  to  be  decided  before  a  judicial  tribunal ; 
and  while  I  should  deprecate  a  reckless  war,  I  should  equally 
deprecate  a  craven  and  purchased  peace.  Neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  is  necessary.  I  have  shown  by  the  admissions  of 
Great  Britain,  that  she  has  no  rights  beyond  those  which  ap 
pertain  to  her  subjects  as  such.  These  we  have  never  inter 
fered  with ;  but  she  has  herself  broken  the  treaty,  by  the  ex 
ercise  of  acts  of  sovereignty  which  she  had  a  right  only  to  ex 
ercise  within  her  own  dominions,  or  within  a  country  where 
that  authority  was  given  her. 

We  are  told,  too,  that  the  matter  in  controversy  must  be 
adjusted  by  peaceable,  honorable  negotiation.  Peaceable  ne 
gotiation  becomes  us — honorable  negotiation  should  accom 
pany  it.  But  if,  on  a  full  examination,  we  can  maintain,  in 
the  face  of  the  civilized  world,  that  the  territory  is  ours,  it 
\vould  be  an  act  of  injustice  to  surrender  it.  Sir,  we  have  the 
right  to  call  upon  Great  Britain  to  give  up  her  pretended 
claim.  She  cannot  break  the  peace  of  the  world,  when  we 
are  willing  to  respect,  and  do  respect,  all  the  rights  she  has 
there. 

It  is  said,  too,  that  we  must  come  down  to  the  49th  degree 
of  north  latitude,  and  compromise.  Why  should  that  parallel 
be  proposed  ?  It  has  been  repeatedly  offered  by  our  govern 
ment,  and  as  often  rejected.  The  last  time  it  was  offered,  her 
Majesty's  Minister  declared  that  he  hoped  this  government 
would  make  an  offer  more  consistent  with  fairness  and  equity. 
He  returned  this  answer  at  once,  without  referring  to  his  gov 
ernment  ;  and  no  such  question  exists,  except  in  imagination. 


180 

Does  it  become  our  honor,  dignity,  or  self-respect  as  a  nation, 
to  keep  constantly  urging  before  the  people  of  this  country 
and  the  world  that  the  49th  parallel  must  be  the  dividing  line ; 
that  we  will  give  her  that  line,  though  she  has  declared  she 
will  not  receive  it  ?  It  will  be  time  enough  for  us  to  say  we 
will  give  Great  Britain  a  part  when  she  makes  out  a  title  to 
it ;  or  if  we  give  her  what  is  ours,  let  her  first  at  least  con 
sent  to  receive  it.  Let  us  not  force  her  to  accept  the  territory 
which  she  says  she  refuses.  I  have  too  much  respect  for  our 
government  to  occupy  a  position  so  humiliating ;  and  though 
I  have  too  much  respect  for  the  British  government  to  indulge 
in  aspersions,  I  have  not  that  affection  for  it  which  should  in 
duce  me  to  urge  upon  it  a  portion  of  our  territory. 

The  strict  question  before  the  Senate  is,  shall  the  conven 
tion  be  terminated  ?  But  it  has  properly  taken  a  much  wider 
range,  and  the  foreign  and  domestic  policy  of  the  government 
been  brought  under  discussion.  The  different  structure  of  the 
two  governments  is  too  obvious  to  require  explanation  :  theirs, 
central,  executive,  and  its  chief  power  resting  in  its  ministry  ; 
ours,  popular,  representative,  and  its  elements  of  strength 
with  the  masses  of  the  people.  Theirs  developing  its  greatest 
energies  in  the  star-chamber  policy  of  diplomatic  negotia 
tions  ;  ours  through  its  popular  expression ;  and  hence  the 
reason  we  fail  when  thus  brought  in  conflict  with  her,  and  not 
because  her  statesmen  are  more  sagacious  than  ours. 

The  Oregon  question  here  receives  its  tone  from  the  peo 
ple — there  from  the  cabinet.  Why  has  the  declaration  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  met  with  such  unqualified  and 
universal  approbation  ?  It  was  not  merely  that  he  said,  un 
der  the  sanction  of  his  high  position,  that  our  title  to  the  whole 
of  Oregon  was  clear  and  unquestionable — it  was  not  that  he 
was  chosen  to  be  the  Chief  Magistrate,  over  a  popular  and 
distinguished  competitor — it  was  not  that  the  people  felt  an 
abiding  confidence  in  his  stern  integrity,  and  an  assurance 
that,  like  him  who  had  gone  before  him,  he  would  claim  only 
that  which  was  right,  and  would  submit  to  nothing  which 
was  wrong ;  but  it  was  because  in  his  language  they 
heard  their  own,  and  felt  that  the  sentiments  he  uttered  were 
the  sentiments  of  their  hearts. 

But  it  is  said  that  we   must   beware   how  we  discuss  this 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  181 

question,  because  the  news  from  abroad  is  pacific ;  because 
the  Queen's  speech  is  gentle ;  because  the  language  used  in 
Parliament  is  mild ;  because  the  tone  of  the  public  press  in 
Great  Britain  is  peaceful.  Sir,  I  concede  all  this  ;  but,  when 
our  whole  policy  is  made  to  depend  upon  the  Queen's  speech, 
or  upon  the  sentiments  of  British  statesmen,  or  upon  the  press 
of  Great  Britain,  we  may  as  well  at  once  go  back  to  a  state  of 
colonial  dependence.  What  is  the  Queen's  speech  ?  A  for 
mula  which  has  not  been  changed  three  sentences  for  as  many 
centuries ;  and  from  this  we  are  to  take  our  line  of  conduct. 
The  language  in  Parliament  is  pacific,  certainly : — who  ever 
knew  an  instance  in  which  Great  Britain  paraded  her  foreign 
policy  before  the  world  ?  If  we  must  know  it  we  must  find 
out  the  secrets  of  her  Foreign  Office.  Her  energies  are  differ 
ently  employed.  The  British  Premier  comes  into  Parliament 
with  every  expression  calculated  and  weighed  well  before  ut 
tered.  The  Premier,  in  his  place  in  Parliament,  sees  nothing 
that  will  disturb  the  peaceful  relations  of  the  country ;  but 
proposes  to  increase  warlike  preparation.  He  trusts  that 
peace  will  be  preserved,  and  so  do  I,  but  I  trust  Great  Britain 
will  yield  up  a  claim  asserted  without  right  and  maintained 
against  evidence.  Hence  it  is  that  I  trust  we  shall  have  no 


o 

war. 


As  to  any  commercial  arrangement  contemplated  between 
the  two  countries,  it  must  depend  upon  its  advantages,  and 
not  upon  the  Oregon  question.  Whenever  Great  Britain  shall 
propose  any  arrangement  to  this  government,  we  should  meet 
her  in  the  spirit  of  liberality  and  good  feeling  which  should 
characterize  the  intercourse  between  two  great  nations.  But  I 
see  nothing  in  the  Queen's  speech,  in  the  debates  in  Parlia 
ment,  or  in  the  temper  of  the  British  press  which  should  in 
duce  us  to  hesitate  or  relax  aught  in  the  prosecution  of  our 
rights  in  Oregon.  Perhaps  she  will  throw  open  her  ports ; 
but  what  will  induce  her  to  do  it  ?  Love  and  affection  for  the 
interests  of  the  American  people? — or  have  the  cries  of  her 
starving  millions  reached  to  Heaven  ?  Did  she  see  the  genius 
of  monarchy  rocking  upon  its  pedestal,  and  propose  to  permit 
famine  to  purchase  its  crust  in  the  market  of  the  world,  and 
thus  procure  a  renewal  of  her  lease  of  despotism,  which  she 
feared  was  drawing  to  a  close  ?  It  is  a  question  between  that 


182  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

government  and  its  people ;  her  aristocracy  have  given  way 
upon  compulsion,  and  not  from  choice.  It  is  a  bold  and  mas 
terly  policy  of  her  ministry  to  save  the  nation,  and  gives  no 
indication  that  she  will  relax  her  unjust  claim  to  Oregon. 
We  should  look  to  our  own  interest  and  to  our  own  country 
for  sentiments  by  which  to  regulate  our  action,  and  leave 
commercial  treaties  and  regulations  to  the  future.  The  Al 
mighty  has  created  beings  there,  and  materials  to  feed  them 
here ;  not  upon  the  territories  of  monarchy,  but  of  freedom. 

So  much  has  been  said  upon  the  pacific  tone  of  the  British 
press,  that  I  will  read  a  short  extract  from  the  London  Times, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  semi-official,  and  as  exhibiting  the 
true  feeling  of  the  British  Ministry : 

"  It  appears  that  the  last  proposal  submitted  to  him  (Mr.  Paken- 
ham)  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  viz. :  a  division  of  the  territory,  he  rejected  at 
once.  Now  it  is  urged  that  he  should  have  communicated  with  the 
Home  government  before  he  took  so  summary  a  course.  It  would  re 
quire  a  fuller  acquaintance  with  the  circumstances  of  the  case  than  is 
afforded  by  Sir  E.  Peel's  explanation,  to  pronounce  positively  upon  the 
propriety  of  his  conduct.  If  by  the  term  "division,"  be  understood  a 
division  formed  by  a  line  continued  from  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  we 
can  understand  the  motives  which  forced  him  to  reject  the  offer.  This 
partition  of  territory  would  have  deprived  us  of  the  Columbia  river ; 
in  fact,  of  the  most  essential  property — the  only  beneficial  interest  in 
the  disputed  country.  Excluding  this,  it  excluded  not  only  the  most 
important  part  of  our  claims,  but  that  which  previous  conventions  and 
previous  proposals  had  conceded  to  us.  It  would  have  been  impossible 
for  any  English  cabinet  to  accept  offers  so  humiliating,  or  rights  so 
truncated.  ****** 

"  If  Mr.  Pakenham  had  betrayed  an  undecided  or  doubtful  mind 
when  called  upon  to  cede  the  navigation  of  the  Columbia  and  the  rich 
soil  upon  its  banks,  what  would  have  been  said  by  the  politicians  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  mob  constituencies,  by  the  mob  flatterers,  by 
the  panders  to  bad  passions,  and  the  suitors  for  popular  favor  ?  " 

This,  then,  is  the  conciliatory  spirit  which  should  induce 
the    representatives    of   "mob    constituencies"   to    surrender. 
Oregon ! 

As  so  much  has  been  urged  in  favor  of  negotiation,  and  as 
the  teachings  of  experience  are  valuable,  I  will  refer  to  our 
diplomatic  history  for  thirty  years,  and  see  how  the  various 


1846.]  THE   OREGON   QUESTION.  183 

questions  have  been  disposed  of.  It  has  been  already  seen 
that  all  the  rights  Great  Britain  has  in  Oregon  were  conferred 
by  negotiation.  A  few  years  since  there  were  four  leading 
subjects  of  difference :  the  northeastern  boundary,  the  Caroline 
or  McLeod  affair,  the  right  of  search,  and  Oregon. 

The  northeastern  boundary  was  first  submitted  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  King  of  the  Netherlands,  who  was  instructed 
to  follow  the  highlands,  but  located  his  line  in  the  bed  of  the 
St.  John's.  His  award  was  rejected,  and  negotiation  resumed. 
Great  Britain  had  more  territory  awarded  to  her  than  a  map 
in  her  Foreign  Office  showed  she  was  entitled  to,  and  this 
government  paid  to  Maine  and  Massachusetts  for  the  territory 
thus  ceded  $300,000.  This  is  the  history  of  one  concession  by 
this  to  the  British  government. 

In  1837  there  were  collisions  between  citizens  of  New 
York  and  others,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Canada — hostilities 
having  been  exchanged  between  the  parties,  at  least  as  it  was 
supposed,  when  an  armed  company,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Canadian  authorities,  came  over  and  seized  a  steamboat  lying 
within  the  territory  and  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  while  the  hands  were  asleep  on  board,  cut  it  out,  mur 
dered  a  portion  of  the  hands,  and  one  who  fled  to  the  shore  was 
shot  down  after  he  had  reached  it.  The  boat  and  her  crew 
were  sent  over  the  Falls  of  the  Niagara.  That  was  a  question 
which,  at  the  time,  raised  the  indignation  not  only  of  citizens 
of  New  York,  but  of  the  whole  American  people.  The  atten 
tion  of  the  authorities  of  New  York,  and  of  the  United  States, 
were  directed  to  the  subject ;  reparation  was  demanded,  and 
how  was  it  procured  ? 

An  individual  named  McLeod,  an  inhabitant  of  Canada, 
avowed  himself  the  murderer,  and  being  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  was  arrested  and  confined  in  jail.  The  Federal  gov 
ernment  endeavored  to  prevent  his  trial  by  the  courts  of  New 
York  ;  and  but  for  the  commendable  firmness  of  her  executive 
and  judicial  authorities,  would  have  succeeded.  No  repara 
tion  has  yet  been  made ;  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  charged 
upon  the  floor  of  the  other  bra.nch  of  Congress  that  the  fees  of 
counsel  who  defended  McLeod  were  paid  from  the  treasury. 
I  know  nothing  concerning  the  statement,  but  hope,  for  the 
honor  of  the  nation,  it  is  not  true. 


184: 

Mr.  WEBSTER.     It  is  wholly  incorrect. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  am  happy  to  hear  it.  I  wish  to  be  cor 
rect  as  to  the  history  of  the  past ;  but  if  my  recollection 
serves  me,  the  Federal  government  insisted  that  the  author 
ities  of  New  York,  under  the  circumstances,  had  no  right  to 
try  McLeod,  who  declared  he  had  sent  the  missile  which  had 
terminated  the  life  of  one  of  her  citizens  upon  her  own  soil. 
Does  the  Senator  wish  to  explain  ? 

Mr.  WEBSTEK.  Not  at  present ;  I  do  not  want  to  inter 
rupt  the  Senator.  I  shall  think  it  necessary,  perhaps,  to  call 
on  him  hereafter  for  the  authority  upon  which  he  makes  the 
statement. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  have  understood  there  was  a  correspon 
dence  between  the  authorities  at  Washington  and  the  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York  to  that  eifect,  but  I  allude  particularly  to 
a  letter  addressed  by  Mr.  Webster,  Secretary  of  State,  to  Mr. 
Crittenden,  Attorney  General,  at  that  time,  directing  him  to 
proceed  to  New  York  and  take  charge  of  the  trial  of  McLeod. 
It  is  not  now  before  me,  and  I  do  not  recollect  its  precise  lan 
guage,  but  will  refer  to  it  before  I  close.  I  will  endeavor  to 
speak  of  the  history  of  the  past  truly,  and  in  perfect  kindness, 
but  I  wish  to  show  what  we  have  gained  by  negotiations  with 
Great  Britain,  and  who  has  made  the  concessions. 

Mr.  D.  here  gave  way  to  a  motion  for  executive  session. 

WEDNESDAY,  February  25. 

Mr.  DICKINSON  said : — When  I  gave  way  yesterday,  in 
discussing  the  McLeod  affair,  I  had  incidentally  alluded  to  a 
statement  which  I  had  understood  had  been  made  in  the  other 
House  of  Congress  by  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  For 
eign  Affairs.  The  statement  surprised  me,  for  I  thought,  if 
true,  it  was  a  great  abuse,  which  should  be  guarded  against  for 
the  future,  and  if  not,  it  should  be  denied.  I  will  produce 
and  read  the  remarks  to  which  I  alluded,  as  well  in  justification 
of  the  statement  as  to  allow  the  late  Secretary*  a  full  oppor 
tunity  for  explanation,  if  he  desires.f 

*  MR.  WEBSTEU. 

t  Extract  from  the  speech  of  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.    Speaking  of  the  McLeod  affair,  Mr.  Ingersoll  said  : 

"He  viewed  that  matter  as  a  considerable  item  among  the  causes  which  led  to 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  185 

Mr.  EVANS  said  it  was  not  in  order. 

Mr.  DICKINSON  said  : — I  have  no  desire  to  read,  if  objected 
to  from  the  other  side,  and  will  waive  it.  That  part  of  the 
statement,  however,  as  reported,  which  related  to  the  late 
Attorney  of  the  United  States  for  the  northern  district  of 
New  York,  does  that  gentleman  injustice,  (unintentional,  cer 
tainly,)  for  he  is  a  gentleman  of  integrity,  and  had  undertaken 
the  defence  of  McLeod  before  his  appointment  to  office;  and 
besides,  McLeod  was  prosecuted  in  a  State  court,  by  the 
Attorney  General  of  New  York,  where  the  District  Attorney 
of  the  United  States  had  no  official  relation. 

I  also  stated  that  the  Federal  government  endeavored  to 
arrest  the  trial  of  McLeod  by  the  authorities  of  New  York, 
on  the  ground  that,  if  he  committed  the  murder,  it  was  by  the 
direction  and  under  the  authority  of  the  British  government, 
which  had  avowed  the  act,  and  that  the  government,  and  not 
the  individual,  was  responsible.  I  understood  the  honorable 


the  overthrow  of  the  party  which  had  supported  Mr.  Van  Buren,  of  which  he  him 
self  was  one.  Out  of  this  controversy  arose  the  arrest  of  Alex.  McLeod.  What 
he  intended  to  state  now  consisted  of  facts  not  yet  generally  known,  but  which 
would  soon  be  made  known,  for  they  were  in  progress  of  publication,  and  he  had 
received  them  in  no  confidence,  from  the  best  authority.  When  McLeod  was 
arrested,  General  Harrison  had  just  died,  and  Mr.  Tyler  was  not  yet  at  home  as  his 
successor.  Mr.  Webster — who  was  de  facto  the  Administration — Mr.  Webster 
wrote  to  the  Governor  of  New  York,  with  his  own  hand,  a  letter,  and  sent  it  by 
express,  marked  '  private,'  in  which  the  Governor  was  told  that  he  must  release 
McLeod,  or  see  the  magnificent  commercial  emporium  laid  in  ashes.  The  brilliant 
description  given  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  of  the  prospective  destruction 
of  that  city  in  the  case  of  war  was,  in  a  measure,  anticipated  on  this  occasion. 
McLeod  must  be  released,  said  the  Secretary  of  State,  or  New  York  must  be  laid 
in  ashes.  The  Governor  asked  when  this  would  be  done  ?  The  reply  was,  forth 
with.  Do  you  not  see  coming  on  the  waves  of  the  sea  the  Paixhan  guns  ?— and  if 
McLeod  be  not  released,  New  York  will  be  destroyed.  But,  said  the  Governor, 
the  power  of  pardon  is  vested  in  me,  and  even  if  he  be  convicted,  he  may  be  par 
doned.  Oh,  no,  said  the  Secretary,  if  you  even  try  him  you  will  bring  destruction 
upon  yourselves.  The  Governor  was  not  entirely  driven  from  his  course  by  this 
representation.  The  next  step  taken  by  the  Administration  was  to  appoint  a 
district  attorney  who  was  to  be  charged  with  the  defence  of  Alexander  McLeod— 
the  gentleman  who  was  lately  removed  from  office— and  a  fee  of  five  thousand  dol 
lars  was  put  into  his  hands  for  this  purpose.  Application  was  afterwards  made  to 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of  New  York— who  was  now  sitting  as  a  justice  in  a 
neighboring  hall  [Justice  Nelson]— for  the  release  of  McLeod.  The  judge  did  not 
think  proper  to  grant  the  application.  The  marshal  was  about  to  let  him  go,  when 
he  was  told  that  he  must  do  it  at  his  peril,  and  that  if  McLeod  went  out  of  prison, 
he  should  go  in." 


186  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Senator  from  Massachusetts*  to  deny  such  interference,  or 
to  intimate  that  he  should  call  for  the  authority  for  such  state 
ment.  I  did  not  intend  to  charge  a  forcible  or  lawless  inter 
ference,  but  a  palpable  and  direct  one,  and  an  attempt,  on  the 
part  of  the  authorities  at  Washington,  to  arrest  the  ordinary 
course  of  justice,  and  prevent  a  trial  upon  the  merits.  McLeod 
was  confined  in  a  jail  in  a  western  county  of  New  York, 
charged  by  indictment  with  the  murder  of  Durfee,  a  citizen  of 
that  State,  within  its  borders.  While  so  confined,  and  as  his 
trial  was  approaching,  Mr.  Fox,  the  British  Minister,  avowed 
the  act  to  be  that  of  her  Majesty's  government,  and  demanded 
the  release  of  McLeod.  A  correspondence  was  said  to  have 
passed  between  the  Federal  and  State  authorities  touching  the 
question  of  McLeod's  release,  of  which  I  do  not  pretend  to 
speak  ;  but  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  letter  from  the  late  Secretary 
of  State  to  the  late  Attorney  General7f  which,  I  think,  fully 
establishes  all  I  asserted. 

The  letter  purports  to  be  issued  from  the  Department  of 
State,  March  15, 1841 ;  and,  after  reciting  the  facts,  and  stating 
that  McLeod  had  been  demanded  by  the  British  Minister  upon 
the  ground  that  the  expedition  was  planned  by,  and  executed 
under,  the  authority  of  the  British  government,  proceeds  as 
follows : 

"  All  that  is  intended  to  be  said  at  present  is,  that  since  the  attack 
on  the  Caroline  is  avowed  as  a  national  act  which  may  justify  repri 
sals,  or  even  general  war,  if  the  government  of  the  United  States,  in 
the  judgment  which  it  shall  form  of  the  transaction  and  of  its  own 
duty,  should  see  fit  so  to  decide,  yet  that  it  raises  a  question  entirely 
public  and  political — a  question  between  independent  nations — and 
that  individuals  concerned  in  it  cannot  be  arrested  and  tried  before  the 
ordinary  tribunals,  as  for  the  violation  of  municipal  law.  If  the  attack 
on  the  Caroline  was  unjustifiable,  as  this  government  has  asserted,  the 
law  which  has  been  violated  is  the  law  of  nations,  and  the  redress 
which  is  to  be  sought  is  the  redress  authorized,  in  such  cases,  by  the 
provisions  of  that  code.  *  *  * 

u  You  will  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of  this  instruction  for  the  use 
of  the  Executive  of  ISTew  York,  and  the  Attorney  General  of  that 
State.  You  will  carry  with  you  also  authentic  evidence  of  the  recog 
nition  by  the  British  government  of  the  destruction  of  the  Caroline, 
as  an  act  of  public  force,  done  by  national  authority. 

*  ME.  WEBSTER.  f  MB.  CRITTEXDEN. 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  187 

"  Having  consulted  with  the  Governor,  you  will  proceed  to  Lock- 
port,  or  wherever  else  the  trial  may  be  holden,  and  furnish  the  pris 
oner's  counsel  with  the  evidence  of  which  you  will  be  in  possession, 
material  to  his  defence.  You  will  see  that  he  have  skilful  and  eminent 
counsel,  if  such  be  not  already  retained ;  and  although  you  are  riot 
desired  to  act  as  counsel  yourself,  you  will  cause  it  to  be  signified  to 
him,  and  to  the  gentleman  who  may  conduct  his  defense,  that  it  is  the 
wish  of  this  government  that  in  case  his  defence  be  overruled  by  the 
court  in  which  he  shall  be  tried,  proper  steps  be  taken  immediately  for 
removing  the  cause,  by  writ  of  error,  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States." 

I  understand  the  evidence  the  Attorney  General  was  thus 
directed  to  take  with  him  to  be  evidence  that  McLeod  acted  by 
order  of  the  British  government,  and  the  avowal  of  the  act  by 
that  government.  Here,  it  will  be  seen,  was  a  declaration 
that  McLeod  could  not  be  arrested  or  tried,  under  the  circum 
stances,  by  the  ordinary  tribunals.  The  Attorney  General  of 
the  United  States  was  directed  to  proceed  to  the  place  of  his 
trial,  see  that  he  had  counsel,  and  in  case  the  court  should 
overrule  the  objection,  and  proceed  to  a  trial  upon  the  merits, 
it  was  to  be  signified  that  the  Federal  government  wished  the 
question  removed  by  writ  of  error  to  the  Federal  court.  This, 
I  think,  establishes  an  interference  with  the  local  administration 
of  justice  of  a  character  somewhat  decided  and  unequivocal ; 
an  interference  in  the  affairs  of  a  sovereign  State  while  seeking 
to  try  the  supposed  murderer  of  one  of  her  citizens — a  doctrine 
fraught  with  alarming  tendencies,  but  of  too  grave  a  character 
to  receive  discussion  in  this  collateral  manner. 

A  law  of  Congress  was  subsequently  enacted,  providing  that 
foreigners  charged  as  was  McLeod,  should  be  discharged  by 
Federal  officers  upon  habeas  corpus ;  and  Lord  Brougham,  in 
discussing  the  Ashburton  negotiations  in  the  British  Parliament, 
and  boasting  of  the  triumphs  of  British  diplomacy,  erroneously, 
though  not  inaptly,  said  it  was  a  law  which  altered  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  Satisfaction  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Caroline,  and  the  murder  of  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
was  demanded,  but  not  given,  and  has  been  virtually  waived. 
This  matter,  as  a  whole,  furnishes  certainly,  in  my  opinion, 
further  evidence  of  a  spirit  of  concession  and  constant  yielding 
of  rights  by  this  to  the  British  government. 


188  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  third  question  was  the  right  of  search,  or  of  visit,  set 
up  by  Great  Britain,  which  was  another  name  for  the  right 
of  impressment — a  claim  which  has  at  all  times  been  resisted 
by  this  government  as  inadmissible  and  unauthorized.  In  a 
correspondence  with  the  American  Minister  in  London,  Lord 
Palmerston  and  his  successor,  Lord  Aberdeen,  in  1841,  under 
pretence  of  arresting  the  slave-trade,  asserted  the  right  of  British 
cruisers  to  board  American  vessels  in  time  of  peace,  with  a  view 
to  determine,  by  search,  their  nationality,  and  avowed  the  in 
tention  of  their  government  to  exercise  it.  About  that  time, 
five  European  Powers — England,  France,  Russia,  Prussia,  and 
Austria — for  the  alleged  purpose  of  arresting  the  slave-trade, 
signed  the  quintuple  treaty,  asserting  the  right  of  visitation  or 
search.  The  American  Minister  in  Paris,*  believing  that  it  was 
an  attempt  to  establish  the  doctrine  as  the  law  of  nations,  in  the 
name  of  his  government  protested  against  it,  exposed  its  true 
character,  and  maintained  and  vindicated  the  freedom  of  the 
seas  in  a  manner  worthy  of  himself  and  the  government  he  rep 
resented  at  that  Court.  Although  France  had  signed,  she  re 
fused  to  ratify  the  treaty,  and  her  refusal  was  imputed  to  the 
influence  of  the  American  Minister  at  Paris.  Thus  stood  the 
matter  when  Lord  Ashburton  came  charged  with  the  adjust 
ment  of  subsisting  difficulties  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  The  American  Minister  raised  not  only  the  ques 
tion  of  the  Caroline,  but  the  question  of  the  right  of  visit  and 
of  impressment,  and  showed  with  great  ability  that  the  ocean 
was  the  common  property  of  nations ;  that  a  vessel  under  the 
American  flag  was  as  sacred  as  American  soil,  and  that  no 
other  Power  had  the  right  to  violate  or  invade  it. 

Lord  Ashburton  seems  to  have  waived  a  discussion  of  the 
subject,  by  saying  that  he  was  not  charged  with  it,  though  he 
virtually  admitted  that  Great  Britain  claimed  the  right,  when 
an  emergency  should  arise  requiring  its  exercise. 

Mr.  CKITTENDEN.  Do  I  understand  the  Senator  as  saying 
that  the  British  Minister  insisted  upon  the  right  of  impress 
ment? 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  think  he  claimed  that  the  right  existed, 
to  be  exercised  in  time*  of  war,  but  not  necessary  to  be  exercised 

*  ME.  CASS. 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  189 

in  time  of  peace,  and  waived  its  consideration  because  he  was 
not  particularly  charged  with  it.  The  right  of  visit,  was,  how 
ever,  a  practical  question,  openly  asserted  by  the  British  gov 
ernment — one  that  was  deeply  agitating  this  country  and  all 
Europe,  and  if  not  waived  by  our  government,  it  was  not 
abandoned  by  that  of  Great  Britain,  but  was  passed  over  to 
the  future,  with  the  declaration  of  that  government  before  the 
world,  that  British  armed  cruisers  had  the  right  to  visit  or 
search  vessels  bearing  the  American  flag,  with  a  view  to  ascer 
tain  their  identity. 

On  the  discussion  of  the  Ashburton  treaty,  Lord  Brougham 
assailed  our  Minister  in  Paris,  who,  he  asserted,  influenced 
France  against  ratifying  the  quintuple  treaty,  in  a  shower  of 
bitter  epithets  and  reproaches  ;  and  as  we  have  heard  much  of 
the  courtesy  of  that  government  towards  ours,  I  will  read  an 
extract  or  twTo  from  the  speech  of  that  distinguished  British 
statesman.  Upon  that  discussion,  he  said  : 

"  I  must  refer — though  I  am  loath  to  broach  any  matters  but  those 
immediately  under  discussion — to  a  man  existing  in  France,  who  may 
be  said  to  have  been,  and  still  to  be,  the  impersonation  of  hostile  feel 
ing,  the  promoter  of  discord  between  America  and  England.  I  name 
him,  because  I  wish  to  attach  undivided  blame  to  the  quarter  within 
which,  as  I  hope,  the  guilt  is,  without  any  accomplice,  confined.  I 
name  General  Cass  as  the  person,  whose  manoeuvres,  whose  discredit 
able  conduct,  whose  breach  of  duty  to  his  own  government — more 
flagrant  than  his  breach  of  duty  to  humanity,  and  as  a  descendant  of 
free  English  parents — whose  conduct  in  these  particulars  it  is  wholly 
impossible  either  to  pass  over  or  to  palliate." 


And  iii  the  same  connection,  continued : 

"  Wherever  there  can  be  discovered  an  inferior  caste  of  statesmen 
— wheresoever  in  raking  into  the  filth  and  the  dross  of  faction,  the 
dregs  of  political  society,  there  is  to  be  dug  up  a  grovelling,  ground 
ling  set  of  politicians — that  wherever  the  mere  rabble  holds  sway,  as 
contradistinguished  from  men  of  property,  of  information,  and  of  prin 
ciple — in  that  quarter,  among  those  groundling  statesmen,  among  those 
rabble  mobs,  among  that  loMTest  class  of  the  people,  you  are  absolutely 
certain  to  find  the  strongest  and  most  envenomed  prejudices  against 
the  American  alliance  with  England,  and  the  greatest  disposition  to 
see  war  usurp  the  place  of  peace  between  the  two  kindred  nations." 


190  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

This  inelegant  invective  was  earned  by  the  American  Min 
ister  in  France  for  truly  representing  and  maintaining  his  coun 
try's  interests  and  the  honor  of  its  flag  ;  a  question  which  not 
only  concerned  our  whole  merchant  marine  here,  but  the  rights 
of  every  citizen  of  the  United  States.  The  course  of  the  Ameri 
can  Minister  was  approved  by  the  constituted  authorities  of  his 
country,  and  applauded  by  the  popular  voice,  and  yet  the  right 
of  search  was  left  where  it  was  found,  by  the  Ashburton  treaty ; 
and  Mr.  Cass,  in  a  becoming  spirit,  asked  leave  to  return  to  his 
country  the  day  he  was  advised  of  its  ratification.  I  do  not 
intend  to  pursue  the  question  further  than  is  necessary  to  show 
that  it  was  another  concession  by  this  to  the  British  govern 
ment,  which  is  already  apparent ;  and  yet  it  is  said,  we  are  un 
compromising  and  indulge  a  spirit  of  war. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  how  three  of  the  four  matters  in  differ 
ence  in  1842  have  been  disposed  of  by  negotiation — on  which 
side  have  been  the  concessions ;  and  the  fourth,  Oregon,  is 
where  it  was  then,  and  is  the  subject  now  under  consideration. 
The  only  action  contemplated  by  Congress  is  in  regard  to  the 
question  of  notice,  which  can  be  disposed  of  with  much  brevity. 
What  kind  of  notice  should  be  given  ?  I  certainly  prefer  the 
notice  provided  for  by  the  treaty, — a  simple  notice  that  the 
convention  shall  terminate.  This  would  best  comport  with  the 
dignity  of  both  nations.  But  it  has  been  said  that  this  kind  of 
notice  would  break  off  negotiation,  and  lead  to  war,  a  supposi 
tion  I  will  in  no  wise  regard  ;  for  war  between  two  such  nations 
ought  not  to  flow  from  an  act  provided  for  by  treaty  stipula 
tion.  ~Noi*  does  it  necessarily  break  off  negotiation,  but  will 
bring  the  parties  together,  and  aid  negotiation,  if  they  should 
choose  again  to  enter  upon  it.  It  is  urged  that  we  must  com 
promise.  But  there  is  no  such  question  before  the  Senate  or 
the  country,  and  I  will  not  consider  or  entertain  any.  The 
President,  feeling  bound  by  the  acts  of  previous  Administra 
tions,  in  a  spirit  of  concession,  made  an  offer  of  compromise  which 
was  rejected  and  withdrawn. 

I  approve  of  the  measures  the  President  has  recommended, 
and  would  carry  them  all  into  effect.  Great  Britain  has  taken 
armed  occupation  of  the  territory,  and  extended  her  jurisdiction 
over  it  without  right,  and  I  would  have  our  government  do  the 
same  with  right.  She  is  not  lawfully  in  possession  under  the 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  191 

treaty,  and  I  care  not  that  her  hunters,  and  traders,  and  block 
houses  are  there ;  I  would  not  only  erect  stockades  on  this,  but 
on  that  side  of  the  mountains,  if  necessary ;  and  as  well  extend 
our  laws  over  Americans  there,  as  over  the  territory.  There 
is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  timidity,  and  a  neglect  to  assert 
rights.  It  should  be  the  policy  of  this  government  not  to  seek 
for  territory  beyond  the  continent,  but  to  retain  all  its  posses 
sions  that  it  now  has.  We  never  can  acknowledge  the  Euro 
pean  doctrine  of  the  balance  of  power,  which  has  recently  been 
so  offensively  exercised  within  this  Union.  We  own  not  a  sin 
gle  island  of  the  ocean,  and  should  not  desire  to  own  any,  but 
should  guard  with  peculiar  vigilance  all  that  is  ours  against  the 
rapacity  of  a  Power  which  has  already  greater  possessions  in 
North  America  than  ourselves. 

When  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  under  consideration,  we 
saw  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  which  had 
warred  against  each  other  for  centuries,  and  are  still  alive  with 
hereditary  animosities,  unite  in  attempting  to  regulate  our  bal 
ance  of  power,  and  at  this  moment  they  are  engaged  in  control 
ling  the  affairs  of  the  Argentine  Confederacy — a  principle  akin 
to  that  which  seeks  to  circumscribe  our  boundaries  and  our  in 
stitutions,  and  yields  to  monarchy  what  it  takes  from  freedom 
— a  policy  incompatible  with  our  interests,  our  honor,  and  our 
just  rights  ; — which  can  never  be  tolerated,  and  cannot  be  too 
soon  nor  too  firmly  met  and  resisted. 

This  territory  is  neither  to  be  undervalued  nor  disregarded 
because  it  is  distant.  When  the  route  to  Oregon  shall  be  trav 
ersed  by  steam,  as  it  will  be  at  no  distant  day,  it  will  be  nearer 
the  Capital  in  point  of  time  than  many  of  the  old  States  were  a 
few  years  since,  and  the  facilities  for  interchanging  communica 
tions  with  it  greater.  Time  and  space  are  practically  annihilated. 
An  element  which  superstition  recently  regarded  only  as  the 
messenger  of  heaven's  vengeance,  now  transmits  as  well  the 
transactions  of  business  as  the  greetings  of  affection.  In  a  gov 
ernment  constituted  like  ours,  where  the  Executive  power  is  the 
servant,  and  not  the  master,  the  remotest  points  are  as  strong 
as  the  nearest,  and  every  pillar  adds  durability  and  beauty  to 
the  structure. 

As  an  inducement  to  our  government  to  yield  to  Great  Brit 
ain,  each  of  the  negotiations  to  which  I  have  alluded,  has  been 


192  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

accompanied  by  a  declaration  of  probable  war ;  and  yet  there 
would  have  been  no  war  had  our  rights  been  fully  asserted  and 
firmly  maintained.  War  would  be  as  injurious  to  Great  Britain 
as  to  us.  If  she  could  do  us  any  harm,  it  would  be  in  a  few 
acts  of  rapine  in  our  commercial  cities,  and  in  these  she  would 
reach  as  many  of  her  own  interests  as  ours.  Great  Britain,  it 
has  been  truly  said,  is  a  mighty  and  powerful  nation  ;  but  this 
is  no  reason  for  yielding  to  her  that  which  is  not  her  own.  But 
her  power  is  greatly  overrated.  Great  outlay  is  not  always 
evidence  of  positive  strength,  nor  is  profuse  expenditure  invari 
able  evidence  of  wealth.  True,  she  has  armies  in  every  quarter 
of  the  globe,  and  naval  forces  in  every  sea ;  but  it  is  resources 
which  give  strength,  and  not  men  or  material  in  commission. 
She  has  soldiers  amid  Arctic  snows  and  Equatorial  sands,  war 
ring  as  well  with  the  elements  as  with  man ;  but  in  her  thirst 
for  power  and  her  efforts  to  subjugate  the  world,  she  has  pos 
sessions  there  to  maintain,  and  her  forces  cannot  be  withdrawn. 
She  has  increased  her  armaments,  but  her  demand  has  increased 
with  the  supply.  She  was  mighty,  too,  in  1776  and  in  1812, 
and  yet  exerted  her  power  over  a  freedom-loving  people  in 
vain.  Should  she  tender  the  olive  branch,  I  would  accept  it. 
Should  she  arm,  I  would  arm  also,  and  place  the  country  in  a 
state  of  defence,  and  stand  firmly  and  fearlessly  by  it.  She 
knows  the  strong  sympathy  which  exists  between  the  com 
mercial  interests  of  the  two  countries.  She  knows  how  sensi 
tive  that  interest  is.  She  knows,  too,  its  influences,  and  hence 
it  is  that  she  opens  negotiation,  prepares  for  war,  and  then  waits 
for  panic  and  diplomacy  to  conquer.  In  thirty  years,  though 
often  threatening,  she  has  not  turned  her  guns  against  us.  May 
it  be  a  longer  period  yet  before  the  peace  of  the  nations  shall 
be  disturbed.  But  if,  in  the  maintenance  of  our  rights,  war 
should  follow,  let  it  be  regarded  as  the  destiny  of  freemen. 

But  while  we  are  contemplating  the  magnitude  of  this  gi 
gantic  Power,  let  us  turn  for  a  single  moment  to  our  own  fair 
land,  and  see  whether  we  have  power  to  defend  our  own  pos 
sessions.  Look  out,  sir,  upon  the  regions  of  the  great  northern 
lakes,  and  thence  upon  the  Rio  del  Norte.  Cast  your  eye  upon 
the  wide-spread  prairies  of  the  west,  thence  to  the  banks  of  the 
St.  John's,  and  see  twenty  millions  of  free  and  happy  people. 
No  hireling  soldiery  to  wrench  from  the  hand  of  industry  the 


1846.]  THE  OREGON  QUESTION.  193 

bread  it  has  earned;  no  standing  armies  to  eat  out  the  sub 
stance  of  the  people  ;  but  millions  of  swords  ready  to  leap  from 
their  scabbards — millions  of  men  armed  and  equipped  for  the 
service,  to  defend  their  country,  their  firesides,  and  their  altars  ; 
and  millions  of  mothers,  sisters,  and  daughters,  as  in  the  days 
of  the  Revolution,  with  their  own  fair  hands,  ready  to  feed,  and 
clothe,  and  bind  up  the  lacerated  bosom  of  the  soldier. 

With  a  right  to  this  territory,  as  I  trust  I  have  shown,  clear 
and  unquestionable  ;  with  such  high  motives  to  defend  it,  and 
such  elements  of  strength,  should  it  now  be  abandoned,  we 
should  deserve  the  reproaches  which  fell  from  the  mother  of 
the  Moorish  chief,  when  he  mourned  over  the  fall  of  Granada, 
which  he  had  ingloriously  surrendered  :  "  Well  mayest  thou 
weep  like  a  woman  over  that  which  thou  didst  not  defend  like 
a  man." 

This  is  not  a  mere  struggle  for  Oregon — for  five  hundred 
thousand  miles  of  distant  territory  ;  it  is  a  contest  between  two 
great  systems — between  monarchy  and  freedom — between  the 
darkness  of  the  Old  World  and  the  sunlight  of  the  New — be 
tween  the  mines  and  manufactories  of  Europe,  and  the  fertile 
fields  of  the  distant  west ; — another  effort  by  tyrannic  man  to 
lord  it  over  his  fellows,  claiming  Divine  commission.  In  this, 
most  of  the  wars  which  have  scourged  mankind  and  desolated 
the  world  have  originated — the  faggot  has  blazed,  the  inquisi 
tion  been  erected,  and  human  blood  streamed  around  its  polluted 
altar,  and  it  is  the  influences  of  the  same  fell  spirit  which  seek 
extended  dominion  in  the  western  hemisphere. 

I  would  preserve  this  heritage  of  freedom  for  the  adventur 
ous  young,  who  are  thronging  thither  to  achieve  a  subsistence 
— for  aged  penury  which  may  there  find  a  shelter  and  filial  pro 
tection — for  the  hardy  frontiersmen  who  have  braved  the  dan 
gers  of  border  life  that  our  institutions  might  spread  into  these 
virgin  realms,  and  fertilize  and  bless  with  all  that  can  minister 
to  the  happiness  of  man.  But  especially  I  would  preserve  it 
for  the  enslaved  of  the  earth,  who  may  there  throw  off  their 
chains,  and  sit  under  their  own  vine  and  fig  tree,  with  none  to 
molest  or  to  make  them  afraid ;  for  the  down-trodden  and  op 
pressed  sons  of  Ireland  who  may  flee  to  this  refuge  of  liberty, 
and  of  England,  too,  when,  like  the  sea,  she  shall  give  up  her 
living  dead. 

13 


194:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

I  close,  sir,  in  the  language  of  the  distinguished  Senator 
from  Michigan*,  "  It  is  better  to  fight  for  the  first  foot  than  the 
last — for  the  door-sill  than  the  hearth-stone-— the  porch  than  the 
-altar." 

*  ME.  CASS. 


SPEECH 

IN  REPLY  TO  MR.  WEBSTER  UPON  THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUN 
DARY,  THE  RIGHT  OF  SEARCH,  AND  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE 
CAROLINE. 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  April  9,  1846. 

[At  the  Session  of  Congress  1845-46  the  discussion  of  the  Oregon 
question  called  up  the  general  subject  of  the  international  relations  of  our 
government  and  that  of  Great  Britain  ;  as  well  regarding  the  questions 
then  open  as  those  of  previous  controversy.  The  settlement  of  the 
Northeastern  boundary ;  the  Caroline  or  McLeod  case ;  the  right  of 
search,  &c.,  were  freely  examined  and  commented  on  by  many  members 
of  both  houses. 

Mr.  Dickinson,  in  his  speech  on  the  resolution  for  terminating  the 
joint  occupancy  of  Oregon,  delivered  in  the  Senate  February  24th  and 
25th,  1846,  referred  briefly  to  the  course  of  the  government  on  these 
subjects,  and  in  several  particulars,  criticised  and  condemned  it.  In 
speaking  of  the  McLeod  case  he  alluded  to  statements  made  by  Hon.  C. 
J.  Ingersoll  in  the  House  of  Representatives  relative  to  the  action  taken 
therein  by  the  Administration,  Mr.  Webster  being  then  Secretary  of 
State.  On  the  5th  and  6th  of  April  following,  Mr.  Webster  addressed 
the  Senate  in  an  elaborate  defence  of  the  Treaty  of  Washington  and 
in  explanation  of  the  other  subjects  referred  to,  with  which  he  had  been 
connected  as  a  member  of  the  government.  He  denied  and  denounced 
in  strong  terms  the  statements  made  by  Mr.  Ingersoll,  and  complained 
of  the  use  made  of  them  by  Mr.  Dickinson ;  his  speech  being  character 
ised,  in  these  respects,  by  a  good  degree  of  vehemence.  Mr.  Dickinson 
replied,  with  equal  earnestness,  in  the  speech  here  given. 

The  passages  between  the  two  Senators  in  this  debate,  are  under 
stood  to  be  the  "occurrences"  alluded  to  with  regret  by  Mr.  Webster 
in  his  admirable  and  magnanimous  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Dickinson  at 
the  close  of  the  Session  of  1850,  and  by  the  latter  in  a  corresponding 
spirit,  in  his  reply  thereto.] 


196 

ON  taking  my  seat  in  this  distinguished  body,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  but  little  more  than  one  year  since,  I  could  not  have  be 
lieved  that  I  should  so  soon  be  forced  into  a  discussion  so  far 
personal  as  the  one  to  which  I  find  myself  compelled  by  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts.*  I  came  here  regard 
ing  this  body  as  one  of  the  most  dignified  upon  earth  ;  as  the 
great  conservative  branch  of  our  happy  government,  and  this 
chamber  as  the  last  place  which  should  be  desecrated  by  the 
strifes  and  controversies  which  too  often  mingle  their  poisonous 
influences  with  the  affairs  of  human  life.  I  came  prepared  to 
extend  to  all,  and  to  receive  in  turn  the  courtesy  and  con 
sideration  which  the  station  demands  :  but,  though  it  has  not 
heretofore  been  alleged  against  me  that  I  have  transcended  the 
proprieties  of  debate,  I  am  now  called  upon  to  defend  myself, 
in  terms  which,  I  humbly  conceive,  should  never  find  a  place 
in  the  official  intercourse  of  Senators.  However  little  to  my 
taste  Mr.  President,  maybe  discussions  of  this  character;  how 
ever  profitless,  fruitless  and  even  improper  I  may  regard  them, 
I  Lave  no  alternative  and  shall  not  shrink  from  the  contest. 
But  in  doing  so,  I  shall,  I  trust,  neither  go  beyond  nor  fall  short 
of  the  issue  presented. 

On  the  24th  and  25th  days  of  February  last,  in  the  exer 
cise  of  official  privilege  and  duty,  I  had  the  honor  to  address 
the  Senate  upon  the  Oregon  question ;  and,  as  it  became  a  sub 
ject  of  inquiry  whether  any  portion  of  the  territory  claimed  by 
the  United  States  should  be  yielded  to  Great  Britain  for  a 
compromise,  I  endeavored  to  show  that  in  most  of  our  negotia 
tions  with  that  power,  she  had  arrogantly  asserted  and  main 
tained  her  pretensions ;  and  that,  in  a  spirit  of  concession,  we 
had  yielded  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  that  hitherto  the  conces 
sions  had  been,  if  not  entirely,  too  much  upon  our  side.  In 
pursuing  this  train  of  argument,  and  urging  it  as  a  reason  why 
this  course  should  not  be  repeated,  I  alluded  to  the  treaty  and 
negotiations  fixing  the  northeastern  boundary,  and  argued  that 
it  was  a  clear  concession  to  the  British  government,  not  only 
in  yielding  up  a  portion  of  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  of  Maine, 
bnt  in  omitting  to  settle  other  questions  of  controversy  then 
existing  between  the  two  governments,  which  could  and  ought 

*  MR.  WEBSTER. 


1846.]       THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.         197 

to  have  been  disposed  of, — and  mentioned  the  Oregon  ques 
tion,  the  right  of  search  and  the  case  of  McLeod.  But  I  spoke 
of  that  negotiation  as  public  history — as  the  action  of  Govern 
ment,  not  of  the  individuals  who  administered  it — for  the  pur 
pose  of  borrowing  the  painful  experience  of  the  past  for  the 
benefit  of  the  present  and  the  future,  and  without  employing  a 
reproachful  word  or  making  an  unkind  allusion,  and  I  have 
nothing  to  retract  or  modify. 

The  speech  was  delivered  in  the  presence  and  hearing  of  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts,  and  full  opportunity  was  afforded 
him  at  the  time  to  correct  anything  I  said,  either  in  language 
or  sentiment,  and  it  seems  he  now  only  takes  exception  to 
"  statements  "  in  my  speech  ;  for  he  says  in  regard  to  myself: 

"  Mr.  President,  I  will  now  take  some  further  notice  of  what  has 
been  said  by  the  member  from  New  York,  (Mr.  Dickinson.)  I  exceed 
ingly  regret — truly  and  unfeignedly  regret,  that  the  observations  of  the 
gentleman  make  it  my  duty  to  take  some  notice  of  them.  Our  acquaint 
ance  is  but  short,  but  it  has  not  been  unpleasant.  I  always  thought 
him  a  man  of  courteous  manners  and  kind  feelings ;  but  it  cannot  be 
expected  that  I  shall  sit  here  and  listen  to  statements  such  as  the  hon 
orable  member  has  made  on  this  question  and  not  answer  them.  I  re 
peat,  it  gives  me  great  pain  to  take  notice  of  the  gentleman's  speech." 

This,  then,  Mr.  President,  acquits  me  of  discourtesy  else 
where,  and  I  will  now,  with  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate,  show 
that  the  Honorable  Senator  had  no  provocation  by  reason  of 
anything  which  that  speech  contains ;  for  I  refer  to  it  and  to  all 
I  said  upon  the  subject,  and  defy  the  severest  criticism  to  point 
to  an  erroneous  statement  or  a  discourteous  expression. 

The  following  were  my  specifications  : 

1st.  I  charged  that  the  Ashburton  treaty  gave  to  Great 
Britain  much  more  territory  than  a  map  in  her  Foreign  Office 
showed  she  was  entitled  to ;  and  that  we  paid  to  Maine  and 
Massachusetts  for  it  some  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

2d.  That  no  reparation  was  obtained  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Caroline  and  the  murder  of  Durfee  by  British  subjects,  and 
that  the  Federal  government  interfered  with  the  ordinary  course 
of  justice  in  New  York,  and  endeavored  to  prevent  a  trial  of 
McLeod  upon  the  merits,  though  charged  with  and  indicted  for 
the  murder  of  Durfee,  a  citizen  of  that  State. 


198  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

3d.  That  the  infamous  right  of  search,  by  British  cruisers — 
another  name  for  impressment — claimed  and  offensively  asserted 
by  Great  Britain,  and  practically  exercised  over  our  merchant 
men,  was  waived  in  the  negotiation  and  passed  over  to  the 
future,  with  this  declaration  of  British  right  standing  before  the 
world.  And, 

4th.  That  the  Oregon  question,  which  could  and  ought  to 
have  been  settled  with  the  north-eastern  boundary,  was  left 
where  it  was  found. 

These  several  points  I  sought  to  establish  by  reference  to  the 
political  and  documentary  history  relating  to  them,  and  I  refer 
to  what  I  then  said  for  a  more  extended  notice. 

But  the  Honorable  Senator  complains  that  I  incorporated  into 
my  speech  an  extract  from  a  speech  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Ingersoll, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  Mr.  Ingersoll,  in  a  speech  delivered  on  the 
floor  of  the  House  on  the  9th  of  February  last,  made  certain 
statements  touching  the  McLeod  affair,  and  the  action  of  the 
Federal  government  concerning  it,  through  the  then  Secretary 
of  State.  That  speech  was  reported  at  length  at  the  time,  in 
the  public  papers  which  circulate  throughout  the  Union  and  are 
sent  to  Europe.  Mr.  Ingersoll  is  a  person  of  eminence  and  dis 
tinction,  extensively  known,  and  now  occupying  one  of  the  most 
commanding  positions  in  the  Representative  Government.  The 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  must  have  seen  and  read  his  re 
marks  at  the  time  they  were  reported ;  and  yet  he  interposed 
no  denial  whatever,  but  suffered  the  statement  to  circulate,  from 
the  9th  to  the  24th  of  February,  unnoticed  and  uncontradicted. 
While  speaking  of  the  extraordinary  submission  of  our  govern 
ment  to  that  of  Great  Britain  in  the  case  of  McLeod,  the  de 
struction  of  the  Caroline,  and  the  murder  of  Durfee,  I  alluded  to 
the  statement  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  that  the  counsel  of  McLeod  had 
been  paid  from  the  Treasury.  The  Senator  emphatically  denied 
such  payment,  but  denied  nothing  further,  although  I  offered 
to  yield  him  the  floor.  Some  two  or  three  weeks  afterwards,  in 
publishing  a  pamphlet  edition  of  my  speech,  and  having  been 
frequently  called  on  for  copies  of  Mr.  Ingersoll's  speech,  to 
which  I  had  alluded,  I  cut  an  extract  from  his  reported  speech 
and  appended  it  as  a  note  to  mine.  This  was  done  after  the 
speech  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  had  been  more  than  a  month  in  circular 


1846.]  THE    NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.  199 

tion,  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  it  a  part  of  mine,  for  I  ex 
pressly  declared  that  I  knew  nothing  concerning  the  statement, 
but  for  the  convenience  of  those  who  might  wish  to  understand 
the  allusion.  I  neither  added  to  nor  detracted  from  the  state 
ment  of  Mr.  Ingersoll,  leaving  it  to  stand  upon  its  own  high  au 
thority,  and  accompanying  it  with  the  denial  of  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts,  precisely  as  it  was  made.  And  this  has  been 
alleged  by  the  Senator  as  a  cause  of  complaint ! 

I  now  propose,  Mr.  President,  to  review  briefly  the  remarks 
of  the  Honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  and  to  notice 
more  fully  than  I  have  heretofore  done,  the  settlement  of  the 
north-eastern  boundary,  and  the  general  subject  of  the  Ashbur- 
ton  treaty.  And  first,  the  subject  of  the  boundary.  The  Sena 
tor  informs  us  that  when  he  became  invested  with  the  diplo 
matic  insignia,  he  found  this  matter  exceedingly  embarrassed 
by  the  correspondence  of  previous  administrations ;  and  after 
citing  portions  of  its  history  he  proceeds  : 

"  Really,  Sir,  is  not  this  a  most  delightful  prospect  ?  Is  there  not 
here  as  beautiful  a  labyrinth  of  diplomacy  as  one  could  wish  to  look 
at  of  a  summer's  day  ?  Would  not  Castlereagh  and  Talleyrand,  Vessel- 
rode  and  Metternich,  find  it  an  entanglement  worthy  the  labor  of  their 
hands  to  unravel  ?  Is  it  not  apparent,  Mr.  President,  that  at  this  time 
the  adjustment  of  the  question,  by  this  kind  of  diplomacy,  if  to  be 
reached  by  any  vision,  required  telescopic  sight  ? " 

This,  Mr.  President,  was  the  condition  of  the  north-eastern 
boundary  question,  as  related  by  the  Honorable  Senator.  So 
complex  was  its  entanglement  that  its  mere  contemplation 
would  afford  employment  for  a  summer's  day.  Its  intricacy 
would  have  baffled  the  diplomatic  skill  of  all  the  noted  negotia 
tors  of  modern  times.  Castlereagh  and  Talleyrand,  Nesselrode 
and  Metternich,  would  have  been  unable  to  thread  the  mazes 
of  this  diplomatic  labyrinth  which  the  Senator  disposed  of  by 
wholesale  and  with  a  single  dash  of  the  pen. 

The  Honorable  Senator  enumerates  the  illustrious  line  of 
Presidents,  from  Washington  to  Van  Buren,  and  shows  that 
each  in  his  turn  had  vainly  endeavored  to  put  at  rest  this  vexed 
question.  Yes,  Mr.  President,  the  immortal  Washington,  the 
Father  of -our  country, — he  who  was  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  : — he  who  fought  the 


200 

battles  of  the  Revolution  and  guided  a  band  of  feeble  colonies 
to  the  proudest  destiny  of  nations, — retires  from  the  cares 
of  state,  to  the  quiet  shades  of  Mount  Yernon,  unable  to  settle 
the  north-eastern  boundary.  The  gigantic  mind  of  the  elder 
Adams,  with  the  spirit  of  the  Revolution  upon  him, — he  who 
had  contributed  so  abundantly  to  the  cause  of  his  country's  in 
dependence, — he  whose  patriotism  and  devotion  were  undoubted? 
left  the  northeastern  boundary  to  be  cared  for  by  those  who 
should  succeed  him.  Thomas  Jefferson — the  author  of  the  Dec 
laration  of  American  Independence,  who  proclaimed  to  the 
world  the  obvious  but  mighty  truth  that  all  men  are  created 
equal, — though  eight  years  administering  the  government,  found 
his  great  knowledge  unequal  to  the  task ;  and  lived  and  died, 
and  the  question  remained  unsettled.  It  withstood  the  exer 
tions  of  Madison,  the  patriot  and  statesman ; — of  the  laborious 
and  researching  Monroe ; — of  the  younger  Adams,  to  whom 
was  conceded  more  diplomatic  learning  than  any  other  Ameri 
can  statesman  of  his  time.  Jackson,  the  sage  and  hero,  who 
left  his  mighty  impress  upon  the  institutions  of  his  country,  and 
by  his  bold  and  fearless  patriotism  commanded  the  respect  and 
admiration  of  the  world — passed  over  the  controversy,  undis 
posed  of,  to  his  successor.  The  prudence  and  sagacity,  the  per 
severing  purpose  and  quiet  firmness  of  Van  Buren  also  failed, 
and  like  those  who  had  preceded  him,  he  retired  from  office 
with  the  north-eastern  boundary  question  unsettled  and  Maine 
undivided.  And,  in  short,  so  pertinaciously  had  all  administra 
tions,  up  to  this  time,  adhered  to  the  interests  and  honor  of  the 
country,  that,  as  the  Senator  informs  us,  Lord  Palmerston,  her 
Majesty's  principal  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  de 
clared,  in  an  official  despatch,  "That  as  early  as  1840  the  Brit 
ish  government  had  perceived  that  they  never  could  come  to  a 
settlement  of  this  controversy  with  the  government  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  and  they  therefore  wished  and  waited  for  a  change  in 
the  government  of  the  United  States." 

But  this  event,  so  earnestly  desired  by  the  British  govern 
ment,  so  necessary  in  its  estimation  to  the  adjustment  of  this 
question,  had  happened ; — a  new  administration  had  been  in 
stalled; — the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  had  been  invested 
with  the  power  and  dignity  of  premier, — and  in  the  first  year 
and  fifth  month  of  that  auspicious  reign,  this  troublesome  and 


1846.]       THE  NOKTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.         201 

long-lived  controversy  was  adjusted!  And  how,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  was  this  transcendent  feat  of  diplomacy  accomplished  ? 
By  doing  that  which  all  preceding  Administrations  had  re 
fused  to  do — giving  up  to  Great  Britain  the  whole  territory  in 
dispute  and  700,000  acres  into  the  bargain  !  What  a  sublime 
triumph  over  British  diplomacy !  But,  sir,  the  Senator  says 
that  Maine  consented  to  the  arrangement,  and  seems  to  sup 
pose  that  no  other  section  had  a  right  to  complain.  It  was, 
however,  a  question  of  national  as  well  as  State  boundary,  one 
in  which  every  member  of  the  confederacy  had  an  interest ; 
and  would  have  been  none  the  less  a  concession  if  Maine  had 
been  silenced  and  had  voluntarily  consented.  But  how  did 
she  consent  ?  With  the  declaration  of  the  Secretary  that  no 
more  favorable  terms  could  be  obtained, — the  oft-repeated  cry 
that  she  was  about  to  involve  two  great  Christian  nations  in  a 
bloody  war — with  threats  of  future  arbitration  and  the  parade 
of  a  spurious  map,  her  consent  was  finally  wrung  from  her. 
Read,  sir,  the  consent  of  the  Commissioners  of  Maine  to  the 
dismemberment  of  their  State,  and  the  indignant  and  elo 
quent  protest  it  contains,  though  borne  down  and  crushed  by 
circumstances  into  acquiescence.  Sir,  the  consent  of  Maine  to 
part  with  her  soil  and  her  sovereignty  was  given  with  a  bleed 
ing  heart ;  it  was  like  the  consent  of  him  who  bares  his  own 
right  arm  to  the  surgeon's  knife  when  advised  that  his  life  can 
only  be  preserved  by  its  amputation  ; — she  consented  as  one 
consents  to  commit  to  kindred  dust  the  children  of  his  body ; — 
she  consented  as  the  red  man  consents  to  be  driven  from  his 
happy  hunting  grounds,  the  graves  of  his  fathers  and  the 
banks  of  the  streams  where  he  sported  in  childhood ; — she  con 
sented,  as  was  said  by  another,*  as  "  the  victim  consents  to 
execution,  because  he  walks  and  is  not  dragged  "  to  the  scaf 
fold  which  has  been  erected  to  receive  him. 

I  will  now,  Mr.  President,  proceed  to  examine  this  treaty 
somewhat  more  in  detail,  and  to  consider  its  concessions  and 
enumerate  its  equivalents,  and  leave  it  to  an  impartial  public 
to  judge  of  its  wisdom  and  propriety.  By  reference  to  that 
part  of  my  Oregon  speech  already  noticed,  it  will  be  seen  that 
I  asserted  that  the  Dutch  line  (which  took  from  us  an  exten- 

*  MR.  BEXTOX. 


202 

sive  territory)  was  rejected;  and  thaVthe  Ashburton  line 
gave  to  Great  Britain  more  territory  than  a  map  in  her  For 
eign  Office  showed  she  was  entitled  to  ; — in  fact  about  700,000 
acres  more  than  the  Dutch  line  gave  her ;  and  that  we  paid 
for  it  to  Maine  and  Massachusetts  about  $300,000.  This  I  now 
repeat,  and  prove  my  assertion  by  the  authority  of  Lord 
Brougham,  who,  in  discussing  the  Ashburton  treaty  in  the 
British  Parliament,  said : — 

"  The  Dutch  is  as  far  inferior  to  tlie  line  Lord  Ashburton  has  got, 
as  the  Dutch  line  is  better  than  we  had  any  title  to  expect;  and  while  it 
keeps  open  the  communication,  it  removes  the  Americans  much  farther 
from  the  St.  Lawrence  than  the  Dutch  line  did,  which  was  the  other 
great  object." 

In  speaking  of  the  map  to  which  I  alluded,  he  said  : — 

"  I  know  that  map — I  know  a  map  whicli  I  can  trace  to  the  custody 
of  George  III.,  and  on  which  there  is  the  American  line,  and  not  the 
English  line,  and  upon  which  there  is  a  note  that,  from  the  handwrit 
ing,  as  it  has  been  described  to  me,  makes  me  think  it  was  the  hand 
writing  of  George  III.  himself,-' This  is  the  line  of  William  Oswald's 
treaty  of  1783,'  written  three  or  four  time  across  the  face  of  it." 


And,  after  some  further  remarks,  he  adds  : — 

"But,  somehow  or  other,  that  map,  which  entirely  destroys  our  con 
tention,  and  gives  all  to  the  Americans,  has  been  removed  from  the 
British  Museum,  [George  III.'s  library  was  presented  to  the  Museum,] 
and  is  now  to  be  found  at  the  Foreign  Office." 

Lord  Palmerston,  to  be  sure,  dissented  from  the  opinions 
of  Lord  Brougham,  but  Lord  Brougham  was  sustained  by  the 
House  almost  unanimously,  two  Peers  only  dissenting.  By  this 
it  is  conceded  that  the  Dutch  line  gave  to  Great  Britain  much 
more  than  she  was  entitled  to, — in  short,  that  she  had  no  right 
to  any  portion  of  the  disputed  territory ;  and  yet  this  treaty 
gives  to  her  700,000  acres  more  than  the  Dutch  line  proposed 
to  give.  And  we  agree  with  Great  Britain  too,  (for  it  is  pro 
vided  in  the  treaty,)  to  pay  to  Maine  and  Massachusetts  for 
the  soil  thus  surrendered  $300,000,  and  besides  have  paid  and 
are  to  pay  $200,000  more  for  the  expenses  of  Maine  in 


1846.]  THE   NORTH-EASTERN   BOUNDARY,  ETC.  203 

defending  it.  But,  says  the  honorable  Senator,  the  land  was 
almost  entirely  worthless,  and  is  probably  at  this  time  covered 
with  five  feet  depth  of  snow.  Then  why,  if  valueless  for  any 
purpose,  did  the  late  Secretary  purchase  it  at  an  expense  of 
8500,000  ?  And  why,  pray  tell,  was  Great  Britain  so  anxious 
to  obtain  it  and  give  for  it  the  valuable  and  vast  equivalents  ? 
The  Honorable  Senator  does  not  deny  the  correctness  of  my 
assertions,  but  complains  that,  the  fundamental  principle  of  this 
treaty  being  that  of  equivalents,  I  did  not,  in  stating  the  con 
cessions  made  by  it  to  Great  Britain,  fairly  enumerate  and  esti 
mate  the  equivalents  received  ;  and  this  is  one  of  his  principal 
grounds  of  complaint.  Foremost  in  rank  and  principal  in  value 
in  the  catalogue  of  equivalents,  the  Senator  places  House's 
Point.  This  he  informs  us  is  a  valuable  military  post,  com 
manding  the  entrance  to  Lake  Champlain,  at  a  point  near  the 
line  between  the  British  possessions  in  Canada  and  the  State  of 
New  York.  This  large  sum  of  money,  the  Senator  assures  us, 
was  not  in  effect  paid  for  the  worthless  seven  hundred  thousand 
acres  ceded  from  the  acknowledged  territory  and  jurisdiction 
of  Maine  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  but  to  obtain  Rouse's  Point 
and  its  vast  military  advantages.  But  if  ]  aid  for  Rouse's  Point, 
why  paid  to  Maine  and  Massachusetts  ?  They  asserted  no  claim 
whatever  to  Rouse's  Point,  and  their  land  the  Senator  pro 
nounces  to  be  almost  worthless.  Now  let  us  examine  for  a  mo 
ment  the  Senator's  argument,  and  note  the  conclusions  to  which 
it  brings  us.  The  line  awarded  by  the  King  of  the  Netherlands, 
called  the  Dutch  line,  gave  us  Rouse's  Point  and  its  military  ad 
vantages  ;  and  secured  to  Maine  the  seven  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  land  which  this  treaty  gave  to  Great  Britain.  As  a  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  during  the  administration  of  Gen.  Jackson, 
{he  Senator  opposed  the  Dutch  line,  for  the  alleged  reason  that 
it  was  not  sufficiently  favorable,  and  voted  against  every  prop 
osition  which  looked  to  its  adoption ;  and  he  now  boasts  of 
the  diplomacy  which  gave  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the 
seven  hundred  thousand  acres  of  worthless  land  and  transferred 
the  land  to  Great  Britain  in  exchange  for  Rouse's  Point,  when 
the  award  of  the  Dutch  King,  which  he  resisted,  gave  us  both 
the  land  and  the  Point  for  nothing.  And  yet  the  Senator  insists 
that  he  had  in  the  settlement  of  this  line,  a  strict  regard  to  the 
principle  of  equivalents.  Sir,  I  had  supposed  that  "  equivalent  " 


'204: 

meant  something  of  equal  value,  though  I  ha,ve  not  looked  at 
Webster's  Dictionary  to  see  how  he  defines  the  word.  The 
practical  construction  given  to  it  by  the  Honorable  Senator  in 
this  case,  at  least  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
would  seem  to  be  as  follows  : — A  line  was  offered  to  our  Gov 
ernment  reserving  to  Maine  the  seven  hundred  thousand  acres, 
and  also  reserving  to  us  Rouse's  Point.  The  Senator  opposed 
that  line,  and  procured  its  rejection.  He  then  gave  the  seven 
hundred  thousand  acres  for  the  military  point,  paying  to  Maine 
some  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  land  given  in  ex 
change  ;  and  now  assures  us  that  he  negotiated  upon  the  basis 
of,  and  with  an  eye  to  the  "  equivalents." 

On  the  first  day  of  the  Honorable  Senator's  speech,  I  asked 
him  if  the  award  of  the  Dutch  King  did  not  give  us  Rouse's 
Point.  His  answer  was  "  certainly  not ;  "  but  followed  by  the 
admission  that  it  gave  us  a  semi-circular  line  running  round  the 
fort,  but  not  including  what  we  had  possessed  before  ; — and  he 
argued  in  substance  that  it  would  be  useless  as  a  military  post 
under  the  Dutch  line,  because  the  line  which  gave  it  to  us  was 
circuitous, — as  if  cannon  balls  and  grape  shot  from  the  fort,  in 
discharging  their  deadly  errands,  would  turn  and  describe  the 
same  circuit  rather  than  pass  to  their  destination  on  a  right  line. 
To  place  beyond  doubt  the  fact  that  this  post  was  given  to  us 
by  the  award  of  the  King  of  Holland,  I  have  procured  from  the 
War  Department  that  part  of  the  award  relating  to  Rouse's 
Point,  which  is  as  follows  : 

"  And  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America  has 
erected  certain  fortifications  at  the  place  called  Rouse's  Point,  under 
the  impression  that  the  ground  formed  part  of  their  territory — an  im 
pression  sufficiently  authorized  by  the  circumstance  that  the  line  had, 
until  then,  been  reputed  to  correspond  with  the  45th  degree  of  north 
latitude. 

"  We  are  of  opinion,  that  it  will  be  suitable  (il  conviendra)  to  pro 
ceed  to  fresh  observations  to  measure  the  observed  latitude,  in  order  to 
mark  out  the  boundary,  from  the  river  Connecticut  along  the  parallel 
of  the  45th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  named 
in  the  treaties  Iroquoize  or  Cataraguy,  in  such  a  manner,  however,  that, 
in  all  cases,  at  the  place  called  Rouse's  Point,  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  of  America  shall  extend  to  the  fort  erected  at  that  place, 
and  shall  include  said  fort  and  its  kilometrical  radius  (rayon  Tcilome- 
trigue).  [Signed]  WILLIAM." 


1846.]  THE   NOETII-EASTERN   BOUNDARY,  ETC.  205 

But  the  Honorable  Senator  points  us  to  a  narrow  strip  of 
land  on  the  borders  of  New  York  and  Vermont,  which  he 
claims  to  have  secured  to.  those  States,  upon  the  principle  of 
equivalents,  in  the  closing  of  this  negotiation.  Let  us  examine 
the  history  of  this  acquisition.  By  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1783, 
between  this  government  and  Great  Britain,  the  45th  parallel 
of  north  latitude,  as  ascertained  by  Great  Britain  herself,  before 
the  Revolution,  was  fixed  as  the  boundary  line  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada ;  and  the  fortification  at  Rouse's 
Point  was  erected  just  within  the  line  on  the  American  side. 
Subsequent  examinations  proved  that  this  line  had  been  errone 
ously  located  by  Great  Britain,  and  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent  the 
error  was  rectified  and  the  line  made  to  correspond  with  the 
true  parallel.  This  gave  or  may  have  given,  though  it  is  ques 
tionable,  to  Great  Britain,  a  narrow  strip  of  land  from  the 
northern  boundaries  of  the  States  mentioned,  of  half  a  mile  in 
width  at  one  end  and  running  to  a  point  at  the  other ;  most  of 
it  in  a  wild  state,  and  the  rest  sparsely  settled.  The  same  re 
marks  are  applicable  to  a  portion  of  territory  on  the  eastern 
boundary  of  New  Hampshire,  lying  between  two  creeks,  and  it 
being  doubtful  which  one  was  intended.  But  the  whole  terri 
tory  in  all  these  cases  had  remained  in  our  possession,  and  the 
inhabitants  subject  to  our  jurisdiction.  The  value  of  this  land, 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  territory,  was  trifling,  and  Great  Britain 
had  no  wish  to  include  American  freemen  within  her  boundaries. 
She  readily  consented  to  fix  the  line  where  it  was  originally 
located ;  to  give  up  what  she  scarcely  claimed,  and  to  which 
her  right  was  doubtful ; — that  of  which  she  had  never  been  pos 
sessed  and  did  not  want.  Although  it  was  well  to  correct  and 
fix  definitely  this  line,  it  was  of  itself  the  subject  of  no  embar 
rassment,  nor  controversy,  and  should  rank  as  a  small  afiair, 
either  as  a  British  "  equivalent  "  or  as  a  feat  of  diplomacy. 

But  last  in  this  treaty  of  equivalents  is  the  free  navigation 
of  the  St.  John's  River,  a  limited  and  partial  right  at  best,  and, 
as  was  shown  by  the  Honorable  Senator  from  Maine,*  a  few 
days  since,  so  embarrassed  by  British  constructions,  taxes, 
duties  and  other  exactions,  as  to  curtail  materially  the  benefits 
it  even  pretended  to  secure.  Besides,  we  receive  no  more  in 

*  MR.  FAIRFIELD. 


206 

navigation  than  we  bestow  upon  this  river,  and  give  a  right  of 
way  over  our  soil  which  is  not  reciprocated  by  a  right  over 
theirs. 

Was  this  ceded  territory,  Mr.  President,  valuable  to  either 
government  for  any  purpose  ?  I  had  never  supposed  it  would 
compare  in  fertility  with  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  yet 
I  had  supposed  it  valuable, — for  I  remember  that  the  Honorable 
Senator,  who,  as  Secretary,  negotiated  this  treaty,  in  a  public 
speech  in  the  Senate  a  few  years  ago,  proposed  to  take  forcible 
possession  of  it  on  the  4th  day  of  some  July.  Until  I  heard  the 
Senator's  description  of  it  upon  this  floor  the  other  day,  I  had 
believed  this  day  was  selected  by  him  as  one  devoted  to  patri 
otic  deeds ; — but  I  now  conclude  it  roust  have  been  to  avoid 
the  vast  accumulations  of  snow  resting  upon  it  at  most  other 
seasons  of  the  year.  And,  sir,  permit  me  to  inquire,  why  was 
it  that  Great  Britain  desired  this  territory  ?  for  she  never  acts 
without  a  motive.  Upon  the  Oregon  discussion,  my  Honorable 
colleague  *  alluded  collaterally  to  the  settlement  of  this  boun 
dary,  and  spoke  of  the  military  communication  which,  by  this 
treaty,  the  British  government  had  secured  between  New 
BrunsAvick  and  Quebec,  and  of  the  country  she  had  thus  gained. 
I  propose  to  pursue  the  matter  a  step  further,  and  to  inquire 
whether  Great  Britain  had  not  long  and  unsuccessfully  sought 
to  obtain  this  very  territory,  which  has  at  last  been  ingloriously 
yielded  to  her  pertinacity.  By  reference  to  a  history  of  our 
Foreign  Relations,  contained  in  American  State  Papers,  vol.  3, 
page  709,  it  will  be  seen,  that,  in  negotiating  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  the  British  Commissioners,  as  stated  in  a  communication 
from  ours  of  August  19th,  1814,  demanded 

"  A  direct  communication  from  Halifax  and  the  Province  of  New 
Brunswick  to  Quebec,  to  be  secured  to  Great  Britain.  In  answer  to  our 
question  in  what  manner  this  was  to  be  effected,  we  were  told  that  it 
must  be  done  by  a  cession  to  Great  Britain  of  that  portion  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Maine,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  intervenes  between 
New  Brunswick  and  Quebec  and  prevents  that  direct  communication." 

And  in  the  note  of  the  British  Commissioners,  bearing  the 
same  date,  to  be  found  on  the  next  page  of  the  same  volume, 

*  MR.  Dix. 


1846],  THE   NOETH-EASTERN    BOUNDARY,  ETC.  207 

they  demand  "  such  a  variation  .of  the  line  of  partition  as  may- 
secure  a  direct  line  of  communication  between  Quebec  and 
Halifax."  And  now,  Sir,  turn  to  the  noble  response  of  the 
American  Commissioners,  to  be  found  at  page  712  of  the  Vol 
ume  before  mentioned,  that  "  they  have  no  authority  to  cede  any 
part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  to  no  stipulation 
to  that  effect  will  they  subscribe"  Contrast  this  truly  American 
and  patriotic  sentiment  with  the  reply  of  our  government  to  a 
preliminary  note  of  Lord  Ashburton,  the  British  special  envoy, 
upon  the  same  subject.  Lord  Ashburton  announced  himself  to 
the  Administration  on  the  13th  of  June,  1842.  Formal  notes 
were  interchanged  and  an  interview  appointed  for  the  18th. 
The  first  written  communication  from  the  Government  of  any 
importance  was  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State,*  under  date 
of  July  8th,  1842,  and  contained  the  following: 

"AVe  understand,  and,  indeed,  collect  from  your  Lordship's  note, 
that  with  whatever  opinion  of  her  right  to  the  disputed  territory; 
England,  in  asserting  it,  has  principally  in  view  to  maintain  on  her  own 
soil  her  accustomed  line  of  communication  between  Canada  and  New 
Brunswick.  We  acknowledge  the  general  justice  and  propriety  of  this  ob 
ject,  and  agree  at  once,  that,  with  suitable  equivalents,  a  conventional 
•line  ought  tole  such  as  to  secure  it  to  England.  The  question  therefore 
simply  is,  what  line  will  secure  it  ?  " 

The  great  object  of  Great  Britain  was  that  which  she  had 
vainly  endeavored  to  obtain  for  thirty  years — her  line  of  com 
munication  between  Canada  and  New  Brunswick  over  Ameri 
can  territory;  and  although  the  proposition  had  been  indig 
nantly  rejected  by  all  previous  Administrations,  the  American 
representative,  on  this  occasion,  was  "  ready  to. acknowledge  its 
general  justice  and  propriety,"  and  to  "  agree  at  once  "  to  yield 
it,  for  "  suitable  equivalents,"  and  only  waited  to  ascertain 
what  portion  of  the  State  of  Maine  England  desired,  and  in  what 
shape  it  would  secure  to  her  her  favorite  object.  The  value 
of  this  concession  for  the  mere  purposes  of  boundary  and  the 
advantages  it  gives  Great  Britain  in  a  civil  as  well  as  a  mil 
itary  point  of  view,  is  sketched  by  the  Commissioners  of  Maine, 
in  a  despatch  to  Mr.  Webster,  Secretary  of  State,  dated  July 
22d,  1842,  as  follows: 

*Mn.  WEBSTER. 


^08 

"  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  it  preserves  to  us  a  frontier  in  a  forest  al 
most  impenetrable  on  the  north,  which  would  defend  itself  by  its  own 
natural  character,  and  that,  if  anything  should  be  deducted  from  the 
agricultural  value  of  that  portion  beyond  the  Madawaska  settlements, 
on  account  of  its  ruggedness  and  its  want  of  attraction  to  settlers,  much 
may  be  added  to  its  value  as  a  boundary  between  the  two  nations.  The 
value  of  this  tract  to  Great  Britain,  loth  in  a  civil  and  military  point  of 
view,  cannot  be  overlooked.  It  gives  her  the  most  central  route  for  the 
movement  of  troops  in  war,  and  her  mails  and  passengers  in  peace,  and 
is  most  particularly  important  in  case  of  renewed  outbreaks  in  her  North 
American  colonies." 

Mark,  too,  the  significant  language  of  Lord  Brougham,  al 
ready  cited,  as  to  the  value  of  the  Ashburton  line. 

I  believe  I  have  shown,  Mr.  President,  that  Maine  was  not 
only  dismembered  by  this  negotiation  of  equivalents,  but  that 
soil,  sovereignty  and  military  advantages  were  given  to  Great 
Britain  which  had  been  held  sacred  from  the  foundation  of  the 
government,  and  that  we  paid  a  price  for  transferring  our  own 
territory  and  for  submitting  to  deep  and  lasting  dishonor. 

The  right  of  search  or  of  visit,  was  also  a  subject  alluded  to 
in  my  Oregon  speech,  which  I  insisted  ought  to  have  been  set 
tled  at  the  same  time  with  the  North-eastern  boundary — being 
no  more  nor  less  than  the  right  claimed  by  Great  Britain  for 
her  cruisers  to  board  our  merchant  vessels,  detain  them  on  their 
passage,  under  the  pretence  of  ascertaining  whether  they  are 
really  what  they  purport  to  be — American  vessels — and  entitled 
to  the  protection  of  the  American  flag — a  right  to  be  claimed 
and  exercised  in  peace,  as  a  justification  for  seizing,  and  im 
pressing,  and  dragging  the  American  sailor  into  foreign  service 
in  time  of  war.  This  right  Great  Britain  had  arrogantly  and 
impudently  asserted,  and  was  exercising,  in  violation  of  the 
American  flag  and  of  our  common  right  to  the  freedom  of  the 
seas.  This  atrocious  assumption  and  infamous  practice  had 
been  resisted  by  our  government,  in  various  forms  and  upon 
all  occasions,  until  after  the  change  of  administration  which  the 
British  government,  according  to  Lord  Palmerston,  deemed  so 
desirable  to  the  adjustment  of  difficulties.  This  same  Lord 
Palmerston,  in  insisting  upon  the  right  of  search,  in  a  despatch 
to  Mr.  Stevenson  in  1841,  defines  it  as  follows: — 

"Though,  by  common  parlance,  the  word  'flag'  is  used  to  express 


184:6.]  THE   NOKTII-EASTEKN   BOUNDARY,  ETC.  209 

the  test  of  nationality,  and  though,  according  to  that  acceptation  of  the 
word,  her  Majesty's  government  admit  that  British  cruisers  are  not  en 
titled,  in  time  of  peace,  to  search  merchant  vessels  sailing  under  the 
American  flag ;  yet  her  Majesty's  government  do  not  mean  thereby  to  say 
that  a  merchantman  can  exempt  himself  from  search  by  merely  hoist 
ing  a  piece  of  bunting,  with  the  United  States  emblems  and  colors  upon  it; 
that  which  her  Majesty's  government  mean  is,  that  the  rights  of  the 
United  States  flag  exempts  a  vessel  from  search,  when  that  vessel  is 
provided  with  papers  entitling  her  to  wear  that  flag  and  proving  her  to 
be  United  States  property,  and  navigated  according  to  law.  But  this 
fact  cannot  be  ascertained,  unless  an  officer  of  the  cruiser,  whose  duty  it 
is  to  ascertain  this  fact,  shall  board  the  vessel ;  or  unless  the  master  of 
the  merchantman  shall  bring  his  papers  on  board  the  cruiser,"  &c. 

Here,  it  will  be  seen,  this  British  "  right "  is  unblushingly 
asserted,  and  we  are  sneeringly  told  that  the  "  piece  of  bunting 
with  the  United  States  emblems  and  colors  upon  it,"  will  not 
protect  our  merchants,  unless  they  have  the  requisite  papers, 
and  that  this  must  be  determined  by  the  insolence  of  British 
authority — by  detaining  the  vessel  and  searching  her  papers, 
to  determine  whether  she  is  a  subject  of  search. 

Lord  Aberdeen,  the  successor  of  Lord  Palmerston,  in  a  like 
despatch,  some  two  months  later,  asserts  the  same  general  doc 
trine,  though  in  more  guarded  language,  and  says  : 

"It  is  obvious  therefore  that  the  utmost  caution  is  necessary  in  the 
exercise  of  this  right  claimed  by  Great  Britain.  While  we'have  recourse 
to  the  necessary,  and  indeed  the  only  means  of  detecting  imposture,  the 
practice  will  be  carefully  guarded  and  limited  to  cases  of  strong  suspi 
cion.  The  undersigned  begs  to  assure  Mr.  Stevenson  that  the  most  pre 
cise  and  positive  instructions  have  been  issued  to  her  Majesty's  officers 
on  the  subject." 

This  claim  on  the  part  of  the  British  government,  so  revolt 
ing  to  every  true  American,  so  humiliating,  degrading  and  dis 
honorable,  was  made  the  subject  of  indignant  protest  in  the  face 
of  the  world  by  our  Minister  at  Paris,  Mr.  Cass ;  and  was  also 
met  by  bold  and  eloquent  resistance  by  Mr.  Stevenson,  our 
Minister  in  London,  and  declared  in  an  official  despatch  to 
Lord  Aberdeen,  to  be  "  a  violation  of  national  rights  and  sov 
ereignty  and  the  incontestable  principles  of  international  law," 
the  exercise  of  which  might  "  lead  to  consequences  of  a  painful 
character." 

14 


210 

But  notwithstanding  the  interest  felt  in  this  question  by 
the  American  people,  in  the  Ashburton  negotiation  the  dis 
cussion  was  revived  upon  it  and  its  miscreant  accompaniment, 
impressment,  sufficiently  to  show  that  they  Avere  open  questions, 
and  then  they  were  left  where  they  were  found,  unsettled,  and 
besides,  further  embarrassed  by  the  fact  that  they  had  been 
again  the  subject  of  discussion  and  again  postponed  to  a  more 
convenient  season.  But,  Sir,  did  I  say  the  right  of  search  was 
left  where  it  was  found  ?  The  negotiation  had  not  even  this 
poor  negative  merit.  The  treaty  compelled  us  to  keep  a  fleet  of 
not  less  than  eighty  guns  in  the  African  seas  to  act  in  concert 
with  Great  Britain  in  her  crusade  of  mock  benevolence.  It 
chained  us  to  the  car  of  this  huge  Juggernaut,  and  compels  us 
to  do  her  bidding,  and  that,  too,  without  providing  that  it 
should  in  the  least  exempt  us  from  the  exercise  of  the  British 
right  of  search.  It  was  not  enough  that  our  flag  was  insulted 
and  our  honor  stained  ; — the  right  of  search  must  be  retained, 
and  we  not  permitted  to  exercise  our  humanity  in  our  own  way, 
but  we  must  be  placed  under  the  dominion  of  Great  Britain, 
and  compelled  to  send  a  fleet  to  the  African  seas  to  help  search, 
to  get  rid  of  being  searched,  without  any  stipulation  that  even 
this  abject  submission  should  exempt  us. 

But  there  is  another  verse  in  this  degrading  chapter,  accord 
ing  to  the  authority  of  Lord  Brougham.  We  have  already 
seen  that  Lord  Aberdeen  asserted  and  insisted  upon  the  right 
to  search  American  vessels  by  British  cruisers,  by  boarding 
them,  detaining  them,  and  examining  their  papers,  &c.,  with  a 
view  to  determine  by  British  optics  the  genuineness  of  their 
nationality.  We  have  heard  the  language  in  which  that  fla 
grant  doctrine  was  asserted,  and  the  repudiation  of  its  mon 
strous  features  by  the  agents  of  our  government.  But  what 
response  did  this  British  assumption  over  American  honor  meet 
with  in  the  Ashburton  negotiation?  Lord  Brougham  shall 
testify.  In  his  speech  before  alluded  to,  in  speaking  of  the 
right  of  search  as  contended  for  by  Lord  Aberdeen,  he  says : 

"  Then,  what  says  Mr.  Webster  ?  At  one  of  his  first  interviews  with 
Lord  Ashburton,  when  the  subject  was  glanced  at,  Mr.  Webster  cut 
short  all  discussion  by  distinctly  and  categorically  asserting  that  the 
question  had  been  set  completely  at  rest  by  the  unanswered  and  unan 
swerable  statement  of  my  noble  friend  (Lord  -Aberdeen)  to  Mr.  Ste- 


1846.]       THE  NOKTH-EASTEEN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.         211 

venson.  [The  Marquis  of  Lansdown  asked  when  this  appeared  in  the 
papers.]  It  is  not  in  any  despatch.  I  have  it  in  the  statement  of  my 
noble  friend,  Lord  Ashburton,  made  in  his  place  as  a  Peer  of  Parlia 
ment,  which  I  think  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  mind  as  to  what  Mr.  Web 
ster  said  to  him, — that  the  question  had  been  forever  settled  by  Lord 
Aberdeen's  despatch  to  Mr.  Stevenson.  *  *  *  I  find  it  stated  by 
Lord  Aberdeen,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Fox,  that  he  had  no  intention  to  re 
new  the  discussion  upon  the  subject,  which  was  the  less  necessary,  as 
the  Secretary  of  State,  that  is,  Mr.  W.ebster,  had  more  than  once,  (I 
said  once,  I  find  that  I  understated  the  case,)  more  than  once  declared 
to  the  British  Plenipotentiary,  that  is,  Lord  Ashburton,  that  the  state 
ments  of  Lord  Aberdeen  had  been  satisfactory.1' 

When  Great  Britain  asked  for  a  portion  of  the  State  of 
Maine  for  the  convenience  of  her  military  operations,  though 
it  had  been  denied  her  by  all  preceding  administrations,  under 
the  Ashburton  negotiations  it  was  agreed  at  once  to  yield  it. 
When  she  asserted  the  right  to  board  our  merchantmen,  detain 
them  on  their  passage,  subject  them  to  the  domineering  of  Brit 
ish  insolence,  inspect  their  papers,  and  thus  insult  our  flag,  the 
whole  length  and  breadth  of  this  most  offensive  of  even  Brit 
ish  doctrines  was  conceded,  though  until  then  it  had  been 
constantly  repudiated  and  condemned  by  our  government  and 
execrated  by  the  common  judgment  of  mankind. 

Again,  sir,  in  my  speech  complained  of,  in  enumerating  the 
concessions  made  to  Great  Britain,  I  alluded  to  the  destruction 
of  the  Caroline,  the  murder  of  Durfee,  and  the  case  of  Mc- 
Leod,  and  now  refer  to  what  I  then  said  for  a  statement  of  the 
facts.  My  business  is  not  with  what  Mr.  Van  Buren  did  not 
do,  but  with  what  the  administration  succeeding  him  did  do, 
and  to  that  I  shall  address  myself.  Although  the  destruction 
of  the  Caroline  and  the  murder  of  Durfee  took  place  at  the 
close  of  1837,  and  were  soon  thereafter  the  subjects  of  com 
munication  between  the  two  governments,  McLeod,  the  alleg 
ed  murderer  of  Durfee,  was  not  arrested  until  November  12, 
1840,  and  the  whole  case  was  not  therefore  presented  in  its 
important  bearings  until  after  that  time.  Mr.  Van  Buren  de 
manded  reparation  of  the  British  government,  and  although 
he  did  not  obtain  it,  he  persisted  in  the  demand,  and  it  was  in 
force  at  the  close  of  his  term  of  office  unimpaired  and  unem 
barrassed  by  any  acts  or  admissions  of  his  administration.  On 
the  13th  of  December,  1840,  Mr.  Fox,  the  British  minister  res- 


212 

ident  at  Washington,  in  an  official  despatch  to  Mr.  Forsyth, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  informed  him  of  the  arrest  of  Mc- 
Leod,  and  proceeded  as  follows  : 

"After  a  tedious  and  vexatious  examination,  Mr.  McLeod  was 
committed  for  trial,  and  he  is  now  imprisoned  in  Lockport  jail.  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  call  upon  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  take 
prompt  and  effectual  steps  for  the  liberation  of  Mr.  McLeod.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  destruction  of  the  steamboat  '  Caroline  '  was  a  public 
act  of  persons  in  her  Majesty's  service,  obeying  the  order  of  their  supe 
rior  authorities.  That  act,  therefore,  according  to  the  usages  of  nations, 
can  only  be  the  subject  of  discussion  between  the  two  national  govern 
ments.  It  cannot  justly  be  made  the  ground  of  legal  proceedings  in 
the  United  States  against  the  individuals  concerned,  who  were  bound  to 
obey  the  authorities  appointed  by  their  own  government. 

"  The  question,  however,  of  whether  Mr.  McLeod  was  or  was  not 
concerned  in  the  destruction  of  the  '  Caroline  '  is  beside  the  purpose  of 
the  present  communication.  That  act  was  the  public  act  of  persons 
obeying  the  constituted  authorities  of  her  Majesty's  province.  The 
national  government  of  the  United  States  thought  themselves  called 
upon  to  remonstrate  against  it ;  and  a  remonstrance  which  the  Presi 
dent  did  accordingly  address  to  her  Majesty's  government,  is  still,  I  be 
lieve,  a  pending  subject  of  diplomatic  discussion  between  her  Majesty's 
government  and  the  United  States  legation  in  London.  I  feel,  there 
fore,  justified  in  expecting  that  the  President's  government  will  see  the 
justice  and  the  necessity  of  causing  the  present  immediate  release  of 
Mr.  McLeod,  as  well  as  of  taking  such  steps  as  may  be  requisite  for 
preventing  others  of  her  Majesty's  subjects  from  being  persecuted  or 
molested  in  the  United  States  in  a  similar  manner  for  the  future." 

To  this  extraordinary  demand,  Mr.  Forsyth,  on  the  20th 
day  of  December,  1840,  returned  the  following  most  patriotic 
and  conclusive  answer : 

"  The  jurisdiction  of  the  several  States  which  constitute  the  Union 
is,  within  its  appropriate  sphere,  perfectly  independent  of  the  federal 
government.  The  offence  with  which  Mr.  McLeod  is  charged  was  com 
mitted  within  the  territory  and  against  the  laws  and  citizens  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  is  one  that  comes  clearly  within  the  compe 
tency  of  her  tribunals.  It  does  not,  therefore,  present  an  occasion 
where,  under  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  Union,  the  interposition 
called  for  would  be  proper,  or  for  which  a  warrant  can  be  found  in  the 
powers  with  which  the  federal  executive  is  invested.  Nor  would  the  cir 
cumstances  to  which  you  have  referred,  or  the  reasons  you  have  urged, 


1846.]  THE   NOKTII-E ASTERN    BOUNDARY,  ETC.  213 

justify  the  exertion  of  such  a  power  if  it  existed.  The  transaction 
out  of  which  the  question  arises  presents  the  case  of  a  most  unjustifia 
ble  invasion,  in  time  of  peace,  of  a  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  by  a  band  of  armed  men  from  the  adjacent  territory  of 
Canada;  the  forcible. capture  by  them,  within  our  own  waters,  and  the 
subsequent  destruction,  of  a  steamboat,  the  property  of  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  murder  of  one  or  more  American  citizens.  If 
arrested  at  the  time,  the  offenders  might  unquestionably  have  been 
brought  to  justice  by  the  judicial  authorities  of  the  State  within  whose 
acknowledged  territory  these  crimes  were  committed  ;  and  their  subse 
quent  voluntary  entrance  within  that  territory  places  them  in  the  same 
situation.  The  President  is  not  aware  of  any  principle  of  international 
law,  or,  indeed,  of  reason  or  justice,  which  entitles  such  offenders  to 
impunity  before  the  legal  tribunals,  when  coming  voluntarily  within 
their  independent  and  undoubted  jurisdiction,  because  they  acted  in 
obedience  to  their  superior  authorities,  or  because  their  acts  have  be 
come  the  subject  of  diplomatic  discussion  between  the  two  govern 
ments.  These  methods  of  redress — the  legal  prosecution  of  the  offen 
ders,  and  the  application  to  their  government  for  satisfaction — are 
independent  of  each  other,  and  may  be  separately  and  simultaneously 
pursued.  The  avowal  or  justification  of  the  outrage  by  the  British 
authorities,  might  be  a  ground  of  complaint  with  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  distinct  from  the  violation  of  Uje  territory  and  laws 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  application  of  the  government  of  the 
Union  to  that  of  Great  Britain  for  the  redress  of  an  authorized  out 
rage  of  the  peace,  dignity,  and  rights  of  the  -Cnited  States,  cannot 
deprive  the  State  of  New  York  of  her  undoubted  right  of  vindicating, 
through  the  exercise  of  her  judicial  power,  the  property  and  lives  of 
her  citizens." 

On  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  Mr.  Fox  replied,  comuni- 
cating  his  "  vast  regret  and  surprise  "  at  the  expression  of  Mr. 
Forsyth  ;  admitted  that  the  "  Caroline  "  was,  when  destroyed, 
"  within  the  territory  of  a  friendly  Power,"  but  attempted  to 
prove  that  its  destruction  and  the  murderous  acts  attending  it, 
were  necessary  acts  of  "  self-defence ; "  protested  against  the 
positions  taken  by  Mr.  Forsyth  in  his  last  communication,  and 
darkly  hinted  at  "  grave  and  serious  consequences."  Mr.  For 
syth  two  days  afterwards  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  this 
despatch,  and  added : 

"  Full  evidence  of  that  outrage  has  been  presented  to  her  Britannic 
Majesty's  government,  with  a  demand  for  redress ;  and  of  course  no 


214 

discussion  of  the  circumstances  here,  can  be  either  useful  cr  proper ; 
nor  can  I  suppose  it  to  be  your  desire  to  insist  on  it." 

Thus  rested  the  question  at  the  close  of  the  Administration 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren.  On  the  12th  day  of  March,  1841,  (being 
the  eighth  day  of  the  new  Administration,)  Mr.  Fox,  the 
British  Minister,  addressed  to  Mr.  Webster,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  a  note,  similar  in  language  and  sentiment  to  that  pre 
viously  addressed  to  Mr.  Forsyth  upon  the  same  subject,  and 
repeated  the  demand  of  the  British  Government  for  the 
release  of  McLeod.  On  the  15th  of  the  same  month,  three 
days  after  the  demand,  the  Secretary  of  State  sent  a  commu 
nication  to  Mr.  Crittenden,  the  Attorney  General,  reciting  the 
circumstances  and  containing  the  following  extraordinary  and 
alarming  doctrine : 

"  All  that  is  intended  to  be  said  at  present  is,  that  since  the  attack 
on  the  Caroline  is  avowed  as  a  national  act  which  may  justify  reprisals, 
or  even  general  war,  if  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  the 
judgment  which  it  shall  form  of  the  transaction  and  of  its  own  duty, 
should  see  fit  so  to  decide,  yet  that  it  raises  a  question  entirely  public 
and  political — a  question  between  independent  nations — and  that  indi 
viduals  concerned  in  it  cannot  be  arrested  and  tried  before  the  ordinary 
tribunals,  as  for  a  violation  of  municipal  law.  If  the  attack  on  the 
Caroline  was  unjustifiable,  as  this  government  has  asserted,  the  law 
which  has  been  violated  is  the  law  of  nations,  and  the  redress  which  is 
to  be  sought,  is  the  redress  authorized  in  such  cases,  by  the  provisions 
of  that  code." 

A  copy  of  this  note  was  transmitted  to  Mr.  Fox,  in  an 
official  despatch,  and  he  was  informed  by  Mr.  Webster,  that : 

''  Soon  after  the  date  of  Mr.  Fox's  last  note,  [the  note  demanding 
the  release  of  McLeod,]  an  instruction  was  given  to  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral  of  the  United  States,  from  this  [the  State]  department,  by  direction 
of  the  President,  which  fully  sets  forth  the  opinions  of  this  govern 
ment,  on  the  subject  of  McLeod's  imprisonment ;  a  copy  of  which  the 
undersigned  has  the  honor  to  enclose." 


We  have,  therefore,  Mr.  President,  the  opinions  of  the 
respective  Administrations  upon  the  same  case,  and  will  for  a 
moment  consider  them  in  contrast.  Mr.  Forsyth  says  : 


1846.]      THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.         215 

"  The  avowal  or  justification  of  the  outrage  by  the  British  author 
ities,  might  be  a  ground  of  complaint  with  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  distinct  from  the  violation  of  the  territory  and  laws  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  The  application  of  the  government  of  the 
Union,  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  redress  of  an  authorized  out 
rage  of  the  peace,  dignity  and  rights  of  the  United  States,  cannot  de 
prive  the  State  of  New  York  of  her  undoubted  right  of  vindicating, 
through  the  exercise  of  her  judicial  power,  the  property  and  lives  of 
her  citizens." 

Mr.  Webster  says : 

"  Since  the  attack  on  the  Caroline  is  avowed  as  a  national  act,  which 
may  justify  reprisals,  or  even  general  war,  if  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  judgment  which  it  shall  form  of  the  transaction 
and  of  its  own  duty,  should  see  fit  so  to  decide,  yet  that  it  raises  a 
question  entirely  public  and  political — a  question  between  independent 
nations — and  that  individuals  concerned  in  it  cannot  be  arrested  and 
tried  before  ordinary  tribunals,  as  for  the  violation  of  municipal  law." 

Mr.  Forsyth  says: 

"  If  arrested  at  the  time,  the  offenders  might  unquestionably  have 
been  brought  to  justice  by  the  judicial  authorities  of  the  State  within 
whose  acknowledged  territory  these  crimes  were  committed  ;  and  their 
subsequent  voluntary  entrance  within  that  territory,  places  them  in  the 
same  situation." 

Mr.  Webster  says : 

"  Individuals  concerned  in  it,  cannot  be  arrested  and  tried  before 
the  ordinary  tribunals,  as  for  the  violation  of  municipal  law." 

Mr.  Forsyth  says : 

"  The  President  is  not  aware  of  any  principle  of  national  law,  or, 
indeed,  of  reason  or  justice,  which  entitles  such  offenders  to  impunity 
before  the  legal  tribunals." 

Mr.  Webster,  after  saying  that  "  they  cannot  be  arrested 
and  tried  before  the  ordinary  tribunals,"  adds : 

"  The  law  which  has  been  violated  is  the  law  of  nations,  and  the 
redress  which  is  to  be  sought  is  the  redress  authorized,  in  such  case», 
by  the  provisions  of  that  code." 


216 

Mr.  Forsyth  says : 

"  These  methods  of  redress — the  legal  prosecution  of  the  offenders, 
and  the  application  to  their  government  for  satisfaction — are  indepen 
dent  of  each  other,  and  may  be  separately  and  simultaneously  pur 
sued." 

Mr.  Webster  says : 

"It  raises  a  question  entirely  public  and  political — one  between 
independent  nations — and  that  individuals  concerned  in  it  cannot  bo 
arrested  or  tried  before  the  ordinary  tribunals." 

And  yet  the  honorable  Senator  tells  us  that  in  the  case  of 
McLeod  he  did  not  think  it  proper  to  "  gainsay  the  positions 
taken  by  Mr.  Forsyth," — and  supposes  that  when  Mr.  Forsyth 
penned  and  transmitted  his  despatch  he  was  not  aware  that 
the  British  government  had  avowed  the  act  as  the  act  of  the 
government ;  and  to  prove  this  cites  the  concluding  portion  of 
Mr.  Forsyth's  despatch  to  Mr.  Fox,  that  "this  fact  (the 
avowal)  has  not  been  before  communicated,"  &c.  Before 
when  ?  I  answer,  before  that  despatch  of  Mr.  Fox,  to  which 
he  was  then  giving  his  answer.  He  did  not  say,  as  the  Senator 
would  have  us  understand  him,  that  the  fact  had  not  been 
communicated;  but  that  it  had  not  been  before  communicated; 
before  the  last  despatch  of  Mr.  Fox ;  and  he  very  properly 
added,  after  fully  showing  that  it  constituted  no  defence,  and 
that  the  Federal  government  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  that 
it  belonged  to  the  court,  having  cognizance  of  the  oifence,  to 
pass  upon  its  validity  when  established  before  it.  The  whole 
question — the  circumstances  under  which  the  act  was  com 
mitted,  the  avowal  and  the  demand — was  before  Mr.  Forsyth 
when  he  penned  his  despatch,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  letter  of 
Mr.  Fox  to  him,  which  places  the  demand  upon  the  ground 
that  "  that  act  was  the  public  act  of  persons  obeying  the  con 
stituted  authorities  of  her  Majesty's  government,"  Besides, 
the  reply  of  Mr.  Forsyth  covers  the  whole  question,  and 
denies  that  the  offender  could  be  shielded  by  his  government, 
even  though  acting  by  its  direction  and  authority,  and  even 
though  it  avow  and  justify  the  act. 

The  memory  of  the  lamented  Forsyth  is  the  cherished  prop- 


1846.]  THE   NORTH-EASTEKN   BOUNDARY,  ETC.  217 

erty  of  the  people  of  this  Union,  and  his  name  and  his  fame  are 
his  sufficient  eulogy.  He  was  the  learned  lawyer,  the  able 
statesman,  the  eloquent  Senator  and  the  spotless  citizen,  and 
well  might  this  vitally  interesting  question  of  international  law 
be  left  to  rest  upon  the  immutable  basis  where  he  placed  it ; — 
but,  Mr.  President,  this  same  question,  whether  the  murderer 
of  Durfee  could  claim  exemption  from  trial  and  punishment,  by 
reason  of  having  acted  under  the  authority  of  her  Britannic 
Majesty's  Government,  was  brought  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  New  York — the  court  of  her  highest  original  jurisdiction  in 
such  cases — a  court  that,  for  its  high  character,  is  second  to 
none  in  the  Union.  It  was  fully  and  ably  argued ;  was  held 
under  advisement  from  one  term  until  another,  and  then  decided 
by  an  elaborate  and  learned  opinion,  that  the  authority  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  and  its  avowal  of  the  act,  constituted  no 
defence  whatever,  and  that  McLeod  must  be  tried  upon  the 
merits  like  others  charged  with  similar  offences.  And  this  de 
cision  of  that  high  tribunal,  at  the  time,  the  Honorable  Senator 
informs  us,  excited  his  utter  surprise  ;  and  he  now  pronounces 
it,  at  the  peril  of  his  professional  reputation,  not  respectable. 
And  what  was  the  doctrine  that  so  surprised  the  Senator  and 
the  decision  that  he  pronounces  beneath  respectability  ?  That 
a  British  felon,  in  an  American  court  of  justice,  had  the  same, 
but  no  greater  rights,  than  our  own  citizens.  And  who,  sir, 
were  the  judges  who  gave  this  opinion  in  conflict  with  British 
sympathies,  and  which  the  Senator  brands  as  not  respectable  ? 
Of  the  chief  justice  who  then  presided  upon  that  bench  * — dis 
tinguished  by  his  spotless  purity  of  character,  his  amenity  of 
manners,  his  devotion  to  the  public  service  and  his  high  judicial 
attainments — it  need  only  be  said  that  he  was  called  from  the 
service  of  his  own  proud  State,  to  adorn,  by  his  learning  and 
integrity,  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  in  our  land.  One  of  his 
associates,  the  present  chief  justice  f — distinguished,  too,  for 
his  strong  integrity  of  purpose,  for  the  compass  and  vigor  of  his 
mind, — for  his  great  fund  of  good  sense  and  sound  judicial  ac 
quirements — has  endeared  himself  to  the  people  of  that  State, 
by  his  public  services,  and  fixed  the  impress  of  his  master  mind 
and  moral  firmness  upon  her  judicial  institutions  forever. 

*  Hon.  SAMUEL  NELSON.  f  Hon.  GREEXE  C.  BRONSON. 


218 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  Mr.  President,  to  know  well  the 
eminent  and  lamented  jurist  who  pronounced  the  opinion  of  the 
court  in  the  case  of  McLeod.*  He  had  learning  which  even  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  might  covet,  and  virtues  which  all 
might  contemplate  with  advantage.  He  discharged  with  fidelity 
all  the  relations  of  a  blameless  life — was  a  patriot  and  an  honest 
man,  and  prematurely  fell  a  victim  to  the  labors  of  a  profession 
which  he  loved  and  a  station  which  he  eminently  adorned.  His 
memory  will  be  cherished  with  reverence,  when  the  marble 
which  tells  of  his  resting  place  shall  have  mingled  with  its 
kindred  dust ;  and  hearts  of  purity  and  affection  will  cluster 
around  the  little  spot  of  earth  which  covers  his  remains,  when 
many  of  prouder  and  mightier  pretensions  shall  live  only  in  the 
remembrance  of  their  vices  and  the  wrongs  they  have  inflicted 
upon  mankind. 

The  doctrine  held  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York,  as 
well  as  by  Mr.  Forsyth,  was  that  of  justice  and  patriotism,  and 
placed  the  foreign  and  domestic  assassin  upon  the  same  ground. 
That  contended  for  by  the  British  government  and  adopted  and 
advocated  by  the  Honorable  Senator,  would  place  the  life  of 
every  American  citizen,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  at  the 
mercy  of  the  foreign  assassin,  without  law  to  protect  or  punish, 
where  a  petty  officer  of  a  foreign  government  could  be  found  to 
direct,  or  a  government  to  avow,  and  a  villain  be  hired  to  exe 
cute.  A  doctrine  which  might  strike  the  heart  of  the  citizen  in 
his  slumber ;  penetrate  to  the  capital  of  State  or  nation,  and  as 
sassinate  the  Governor  in  his  chamber,  the  President  in  his 
mansion,  you,  sir,  in  your  chair,  or  the  Senator  in  his  place.  It 
is,  sir,  a  doctrine  of  unalloyed  atrocity ; — one  to  light  the  torch 
of  the  incendiary  for  the  performance  of  his  hellish  deeds, — to 
stimulate  the  pistol's  flash  and  dagger's  plunge, — to  whet  the 
knife  of  the  foreign  cut-throat,  and  nerve  the  arm  that  wields 
the  murderer's  bludgeon  ; — a  doctrine  to  throw  the  aegis  of 
British  law  over  the  foreign  murderer,  and  exempt  him  from 
arrest  or  trial,  while  he  seeks  out  his  victim,  strikes  the  deadly 
blow,  and  retires  to  his  own  government  to  receive  his  reward ; 
when  the  American,  for  a  like  offence,  would  be  made  to  lan 
guish  where  the  iron  enters  into  the  soul,  and  to  suffer  a  shame 
ful  and  ignominious  death. 

*  Hon.  ESECK  COWEX. 


1846.]  THE   NORTH-EASTERN   BOUNDARY,  ETC.  219 

The  Honorable  Senator  calls  upon  me  to  produce  my  au 
thority  for  saying  that  in  the  McLeod  affair  there  was  a  pal 
pable  and  direct  interference  with  the  Courts  of  New  York, 
and  in  a  tone  calculated  to  induce  the  supposition  that  no  such 
authority  exists.  Sir,  I  have  presented  it  once  without'  com 
ment,  and  will  now  present  it  with,  and  prove  my  assertion  be 
yond  cavil  or  contradiction.  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
administration  despatched  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States  to  New  York,  for  some  purpose  concerning  the  trial  of 
McLeod.  His  instructions,  in  regard  to  the  destruction  of  the 
Caroline  and  the  murder  of  Durfee,  contained  the  following : 

"  Individuals  concerned  in  it  cannot  be  arrested  and  tried  before 
file  ordinary  tribunals,  as  for  the  violation  of  municipal  law.  If  the 
attack  on  the  Caroline  was  unjustifiable,  as  this  government  has  as 
serted,  the  law  which  has  been  violated  is  the  law  of  nations,  and  the 
redress  which  is  to  be  sought,  is  the  redress  authorized,  in  such  cases, 
by  the  provisions  of  that  code.  *  *  * 

"  You  will  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of  this  instruction  for  the  use 
of  the  Executive  of  New  York,  and  the  Attorney  General  of  that  State. 
You  will  carry  with  you  also  authentic  evidence  of  the  recognition  by 
the  British  government  of  the  destruction  of  the  Caroline,  as  an  act 
of  public  force,  done  by  national  authority. 

"  Having  consulted  with  the  Governor,  you  will  proceed  to  Lock- 
port,  or  wherever  else  the  trial  may  be  holden,  and  furnish  the  prisoner's 
counsel  with  the  evidence  of  which  you  will  be  in  possession  material 
to  his  defence.  You  will  see  that  he  have  skilful  and  eminent  counsel, 
if  such  be  not  already  retained  ;  and,  although  you  are  not  desired  to 
act  as  counsel  yourself,  you  will  cause  it  to  be  signified  to  him  and  to 
the  gentlemen  who  may  conduct  his  defence,  that  it  is  the  wish  of  this 
government,  that,  in  case  his  defence  be  overruled  by  the  court  in 
which  he  shall  be  tried,  proper  steps  be  taken  immediately  for  remov 
ing  the  cause,  by  writ  of  eM-or,  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States." 

McLeod  bad  been  indicted  for  the  murder  of  Durfee,  whose 
life  he  boasted,  before  his  arrest,  he  had  taken,  and  exhibited 
the  bloody  weapon  which  he  declared  was  the  instrument  of 
death.  The  question  raised  by  the  American  Secretary  was  not 
whether  he  was  guilty  of  the  act,  for  that  was  to  be  determined 
by  a  jury  upon  his  trial ;  but  it  was  whether  he  could  be  tried, 
as  other  persons  who  are  charged  with  crime  are  tried ;  the 


220 

Secretary  contending  that  he  could  not.  It  was,  sir,  an  inter 
ference,  direct  and  palpable,  with  the  course  of  justice  in  New 
York,  for  the  Federal  government  to  send  a  Federal  officer  to 
take  any  part  in  her  administration  of  criminal  justice  ;  it  was 
an  officious  menace  to  declare  that  an  indicted  murderer  could 
not  be  "  arrested  and  tried  before  the  ordinary  tribunals,"  be 
cause  he  was  a  British  subject  and  had  murdered  by  British  au 
thority,  and  to  direct  an  appeal  to  the  Federal  Court  if  a  con 
trary  doctrine  should  be  held.  It  was  such  interference  to  send 
a  copy  of  these  instructions  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  where 
the  criminal  was  charged,  and  to  the  Attorney  General,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  prosecute  the  indictment  in  behalf  of  the  people, 
if  directed  by  the  Governor,  for  "  their  use."  It  was  such  in 
terference  to  direct  a  Federal  officer  to  proceed  to  the  place  of 
trial,  and  to  do  what  he  would  not  have  done  in  the  case  of  an 
American — "  furnish  the  prisoner's  counsel  with  evidence  ma 
terial  to  his  defence,"  which  his  counsel  could  have  procured,  or 
it  could  have  been  furnished  by  the  British  Minister.  It  was 
such  interference  for  the  Federal  government  to  direct  its  of 
ficer  to  see  that  the  prisoner  had  skilful  and  eminent  counsel — 
and,  in  case  his  defence — that  of  having  murdered  by  authority 
— should  be  overruled,  to  have  it  signified  to  the  prisoner  and 
his  counsel  that  it  was  "  the  wish  of  this  Government,"  that  the 
case  should  be  removed  by  writ  of  error  to  the  Federal  Court. 

In  maintaining  that  there  was  not  the  "  slightest  interference  " 
by  the  Federal  government  with  the  authorities  of  New  York, 
the  Honorable  Senator  produced  and  read  a  private  letter  writ 
ten  by  himself  to  the  Governor  of  New  York,  which  alone,  in 
my  humble  judgment,  proves  the  interference  it  was  produced 
to  disprove. 

"DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,     | 
"WASHINGTON,  March  17,  1841.  > 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR — The  President  has  learned,  not  directly,  but  by 
means  of  a  letter  from  a  friend,  that  you  had  expressed  a  disposition 
to  direct  a  nolle  prosegui  in  the  case  of  the  indictment  against  McLeod, 
on  being  informed  by  this  government  that  the  British  government 
had  officially  avowed  the  attack  on  the  Caroline,  as  an  act  done  by  its 
own  authority.  The  President  directs  me  to  express  his  thanks  for  the 
promptitude  with  which  you  appear  disposed  to  perform  an  act  which 
he  supposes  proper  for  the  occasion,  and  which  is  calculated  to  relieve 


1846.]  THE   NOETH-EASTEEN   BOUNDAEY,  ETC.  221 

this  government  from  embarrassments,  and   the  country  from  some 
danger  of  collision  with  a  foreign  power. 

"  You  will  have  seen  Mr.  Crittenden,  whom  I  take  this  occasion  to 
commend  to  your  kindest  regard. 

"  I  have  the  honor'to  be,  yours  truly, 

"  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 
"  His  EXCELLENCY  WILLIAM  H.  SEWAKD, 
"  Governor  of  New  York." 

Now,  sir,  why  was  the  Federal  government  endeavoring  to 
procure  the  entry  of  a  nolle  prosequi  in  a  case  in  the  Court  of 
New  York,  if  there  was  "  not  the  slightest  interference  ?  "  Or 
how  came  it  to  learn  through  a  friend  that  such  a  course  was 
contemplated ;  or  to  be  so  lavish  of  thanks,  in  a  matter  which 
in  no  wise  concerned  it ;  or  to  volunteer  the  opinion  that  it  was 
"  proper  for  the  occasion  ?  "  The  Senator,  on  the  supposition 
that  I  had  alleged  the  suing  out  of  a  habeas  corpus  by  the 
prisoner  as  an  interference  by  others,  although  I  had  made  no 
allusion  to  it  in  that  respect,  inquired  in  what  school  I  had  been 
taught  ?  My  answer  is,  in  the  school  of  the  State  which  sent 
me  here ;  where  I  learned  that  a  murderer  cannot  claim  exemp 
tion  from  law  because  he  is  a  British  subject ; — in  the  courts  of 
which  State  the  Senator  often  appears  as  counsel  in  important 
causes,  aod  ought  to  be  familiar  with  its  constitution  and  laws. 
And  yet  he  writes  to  the  Governor  of  New  York  expressing 
his  gratrJi cation  that  the  Governor  had  manifested  a  disposition 
to  direct  a  nolle  prosequi  to  be  entered  in  the  case  of  McLeod, 
and  thanks  him  for  the  promptitude  with  which  he  was  about 
to  discharge  an  indicted  British  murderer  without  trial,  because 
such  action  was  "  proper  for  the  occasion ; " — when  there  is  not, 
probably,  an  intelligent  man  nor  woman  in  that  State  but  knows 
that  the  Governor  has  no  more  power  over  the  indictment,  be 
fore  conviction,  than  the  image  which  surmounts  the  Capitol  at 
Albany. 

That  Lord  Ashburton  had  full  authority  to  treat  of  all  these 
questions  is  shown  by  both  his  own  and  Mr.  Webster's  first 
despatches ;  for  Lord  Ashburton  says  his  mission  had  been  de 
termined  by  his  sovereign  "  by  an  unfeigned  desire  to  settle 
this  (the  North-eastern  boundary)  and  all  other  questions  of 
difference,"  and  Mr.  Webster  says  he  was  charged  by  the 
Queen's  government  "  with  full  powers  to  negotiate  and  settle 


222 

all  matters  in  discussion  between  the  United  States  and  Eng 
land."  Then  why,  I  repeat,  were  not  all  matters  in  differ 
ence,  of  which  these  questions  formed  a  conspicuous  part,  set 
tled  ;  and  the  settlement  only  made  to  include  that  one  which 
was  then  embarrassing  to  Great  Britain  and  which  she  was 
anxious  to  dispose  of,  when  with  less  sacrifices  the  whole  could 
have  been  honorably  adjusted  ? 

And  why  did  Great  Britain  wish  then  to  dispose  of  the 
question  of  the  North-eastern  boundary  ?  She  saw  that  it  was 
the  time  for  her  to  gain  military  advantages.  She  saw  too 
that  the  brave  and  hardy  sons  of  Maine  had  resolved  no  longer 
to  brook  her  insolence  and  outrage,  but  were  rallying  to  the 
defence  of  their  own  soil  and  the  maintenance  of  their  rights 
upon  their  own  responsibility,  regardless  of  her  threats,  and  in 
defiance  of  her  power.  At  this  period  the  condition  of  the 
world  filled  the  mind  of  the  British  government  with  fear 
ful  apprehension.  The  dark  catalogue  of  wrongs  which  she 
had  visited  upon  mankind  rose  up  before  her,  and  spirits  of 
evil,  like  the  visions  which  disturbed  the  slumbers  of  the 
guilty  Richard,  filled  her  imagination  with  terror  and  con 
sternation.  She  remembered  that  her  serpent  monarchy 
was  strangled  when  it  crawled  around  the  cradle  of  our  in 
fant  Hercules.  She  remembered  the  fate  of  the  serried  hosts 
she  had  destined  to  revel  amid  the  "beauty  and  booty" 
of  a  sacked  and  plundered  city.  She  heard  the  echo  of 
the  guns  which  subdued  her  pride  upon  the  ocean  wave, 
and  conquered  her  fleets  upon  Champlain  and  Erie.  She 
saw  the  glaring  eye-balls  of  her  own  starving  subjects  turn 
ing  upon  her  in  madness  and  desperation,  and  heaved  to 
her  mighty  centre  with  the  throes  of  approaching  dissolu 
tion.  She  saw  the  Celestial  Empire  arousing  from  inertness 
and  lethargy  to  avenge  the  rapine  which  had  been  visited  upon 
its  people  in  the  name  of  benevolence  and  Christianity.  She 
saw  the  fierce  Affghan  poising  his  spear  in  his  mountain  passes, 
cherishing  his  wild  revenge,  and  biding  his  time  to  repay  her 
butchery  in  kind.  She  saw  another  Hyder  Ally  laying  waste 
the  Carnatic  with  blood  and  desolation,  and  a  Tippoo  Saib 
dying  desperately  with  sabre  in  hand,  amid  heaps  upon  heaps 
of  her  slaughtered  countrymen.  She  saw  an  Irish  Parliament 
assembling  upon  College  Green,  and  the  brave  and  generous 


1846.]      THE  NORTH-EASTERN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.         223 

sons  of  Erin  taking  their  proud  station  with  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  She  saw  the  aged  King  of  an  impulsive  and  revolu 
tionary  race  descending  to  his  resting  place,  and  heard  in  the 
distance  the  fearful  cry  of  "  Regency  !  Regency  !  "  This,  Mr. 
President,  induced  her  to  cultivate  with  us  pacific  relations, 
and  might,  and  ought,  to  have  secured  to  us  an  honorable  set 
tlement  of  all  matters  in  difference. 

But  the  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts  assures  us 
that  our  honor  was  not  compromised  in  the  matter  of  the  Car 
oline  ; — that  a  proper  explanation  and  apology  was  obtained 
from  Great  Britain  and  accepted  by  our  government  in  full 
satisfaction  of  the  outrage.  This  apology,  sir,  we  will  read  ; 
but  should  first  adequately  prepare  our  minds  for  an  occasion 
so  momentous  as  beholding  this  haughty  power  humbled  be 
fore  us.  Genius  of  Britannia,  "  if  you  have  tears  prepare  to 
shed  them  now  !  "  Your  proud  flag  mast  be  lowered ; — your 
spirit  shall  now  be  bowed  and  broken  !  Daughter  of  Colum 
bia,  rejoice ! — your  great  and  tyrannic  rival  has  been  van 
quished,  and  satisfaction  has  at  last  been  extorted  for  the  in 
vasion  of  your  soil  and  the  murder  of  your  children.  Ah,  Vic 
toria,  Victoria !  This  is  the  day  of  American  triumph  and  of 
British  humiliation  !  The  apology  has  been  wrung  from  her, 
and  here  it  is, — painful  and  humiliating  to  Great  Britain,  it  is 
true, — but  she  is  rendering  high  and  solemn  satisfaction  for 
the  violation  of  American  territory,  and  the  blood  of  an  Amer 
ican  citizen,  murdered  in  his  slumbers.  She  speaks  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Lord  Ashburtou  : — 

"  Nearly  five  years  are  now  passed  since  this  occurrence ;  there  has 
been  time  for  the  public  to  deliberate  upon  it  calmly ;  and  I  believe  I 
may  take  it  to  be  the  opinion  of  candid  and  honorable  men,  that  the 
British  officers  who  executed  this  transaction,  and  their  Government 
who  approved  it,  intended  no  slight  or  disrespect  to  the  sovereign  au 
thority  of  the  United  States.  That  they  intended  no  such  disrespect 
I  can  most  solemnly  affirm,  and  I  trust  it  will  be  admitted  that  no  in 
ference  to  the  contrary  can  be  fairly  drawn,  even  by  the  most  suscepti 
ble,  on  points  of  national  honor." 

Here  the  noble  lord  pauses  for  breath,  and,  for  a  moment, 
consoles  himself  and  soothes  his  antagonist  by  describing  the 
quiet  and  Chesterfieldian  manner  in  which  the  heroes  of  the 


224 

torch   and   those  who   wielded  the  instruments  of  blood  per 
formed  their  several  parts  and  executed  their  purpose : — 

"The  time  of  night  was  purposely  selected  as  most  likely  to  secure 
the  execution  with  the  least  loss  of  life  ;  and  it  is  expressly  stated  that, 
the  strength  of  the  current  not  permitting  the  vessel  to  be  carried  off> 
and  it  being  necessary  to  destroy  her  by  fire,  she  was  drawn  into  the 
stream  for  the  express  purpose  of  preventing  injury  to  persons  or  prop 
erty  of  the  inhabitants  of  Schlosser." 


And  now  for  the  rest  of  the  apology,  diluted  slightly  with 
the  residue  of  the  justification  : — • 

"  Although  it  is  believed  that  a  candid  and  impartial  consideration 
of  the  whole  history  of  this  unfortunate  event  will  le.id  to  the  conclusion 
that  there  were  grounds  of  justification  as  strong  as  were  ever  presen 
ted  in  such  cases,  and,  above  all,  that  no  slight  of  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  was  ever  intended,  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  there 
was,  in  the  hurried  execution  of  this  necessary  service,  a  violation  of 
terrritory  ;  and  I  am  instructed  to  assure  you  that  her  Majesty's  gov 
ernment  consider  this  a  most  serious  fact,  and  that,  far  from  thinking 
an  event  of  this  kind  should  be  lightly  risked,  they  would  unfeignedly 
deprecate  its  occurrence.  Looking  back  at  what  passed  at  this  dis 
tance  of  time,  what  is,  perhaps,  most  to  be  regretted  is,  that  some  ex 
planation  and  apology  for  this  occurrence  was  not  immediately  made  ; 
this,  with  a  frank  explanation  of  the  necessity  of  the  case,  might,  and 
probably  would,  have  prevented  much  of  the  exasperation  and  of  the 
subsequent  complaints  and  recriminations  to  which  it  gave  rise.'7 

And  here  is  the  acceptance,  by  our  government,  of  this 
singular  apology : — 

"  Seeing  that  the  transaction  is  not  recent ;  having  happened  in  the 
time  of  one  of  his  predecessors ;  seeing  that  your  lordship,  in  the  name 
of  your  government,  solemnly  declares  that  no  slight  or  disrespect  was 
intended  to  the  sovereign  authority  of  the  United  States ;  seeing  that  it 
is  acknowledged  that,  whether  justifiable  or  not.  there  was  yet  a  violation 
of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  that  you  are  instructed  to  say 
that  your  government  considers  that  as  a  most  serious  occurrence; 
seeing  finally  that  it  is  now  admitted  that  an  explanation  and  apology 
for  this  violation  was  due  at  the  time,  the  President  is  content  to  re 
ceive  these  acknowledgments  and  assurances  in  the  conciliatory  spirit 
which  marks  your  lordship's  letter,  and  will  make  this  subject,  as  a 


1846.  ]      THE  NOETH-EASr,  EKN  BOUNDARY,  ETC.         225 

complaint  of  violation  of  territory,  the  topic  of  no  further  discussion  be 
tween  the  two  governments." 


And  now  justice  is  satisfied ; — insulted  honor  lias  been  vin 
dicated  ; — the  violation  of  American  soil,  the  destruction  of 
American  property,  the  blood  of  an  American  citizen  have 
been  atoned  for — and  the  British  lion,  humbled  and  subdued, 
is  released  from  thraldom,  and  may  depart  in  peace !  But 
what  further?  We  find  a  return  compliment — a  counter  apol 
ogy  for  the  apology  of  Lord  Ashburton,  made  on  behalf  of 
our  government  by  the  Secretary  of  State ;  for  it  seems  that 
even  the  apology  obtained,  was  also  upon  the  principle  of 
"  equivalents."  It  is  as  follows : — 

"  It  was  a  subject  of  regret  that  the  release  of  McLeod  was  so  long 
delayed.  A  State  court,  and  that  not  of  the  highest  jurisdiction,  de 
cided  that,  on  summary  application,  embarrassed  as  it  would  appear  by 
technical  difficulties,  he  could  not  be  released  by  that  court.  His  dis 
charge  shortly  afterwards  by  a  jury,  to  whom  he  preferred  to  submit 
his  case,  rendered  unnecessary  ihe  further  prosecution  of  the  legal  ques 
tion.  It  is  for  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  whose  attention  has 
been  called  to  the  subject,  to  say  what  further  provision  ought  to  be 
made  to  expedite  proceedings  in  such  cases." 

Can  any  one  fail  to  discover  in  all  this  an  utter  want  of 
proper  national  spirit,  and  a  truckling  to  the  Power  at  whose 
hands  we  had  demanded  redress  for  signal  wrongs  ?  And,  Mr. 
President,  how  was  it  viewed  in  Europe  and  in  the  British  Par 
liament  ?  In  the  speech  of  Lord  Brougham,  before  mentioned, 
he  says : 

"  It  is  said,  however,  that  my  noble  friend  [Lord  Ashburton]  made 
an  apology  on  the  subject  of  the  Caroline.  Did  he  ?  Here  is  the  lan 
guage  of  this  so-called  apology.  He  is  speaking  of  those  who  went 
across  the  St.  Lawrence  and  cut  out  the  Caroline,  and  who  committed 
the  act  of  hostility  and  of  invasion  of  the  American  territory  ;  and  if 
my  noble  friend  made  an  apology,  we  must  expect  to  hear  him  use  the 
language  of  apology.  You  will  expect  to  hear  him  saying — '  "We 
are  sorry  for  it ;  we  will  never  do  so  any  more  ;  we  admit  that  we  are 
wrong  and  that  you  are  right ;  and  we  beg  that  you  will  accept  this 
declaration  as  apology  for  what  we  have  done.'  This  is  the  sort  of 
language  which,  when  men  talk  of  an  apology,  you  may  expect  me  to 
15 


226 

read  as  the  language  of  my  noble  friend.  But  what  does  he  really  say  ? 
1 1  might  safely  put  it  to  any  candid  man  acquainted  with  the  state  of 
the  circumstances,  whether  the  military  commander  could,  on  the  24th 
of  December,  reasonably  expect  that  he  could  be  relieved  by  any 
American  authority.' " 

"  It  arose  out  of  the  case  of  McLeod,  which  was  not  only  declared 
to  be  an  unlucky  one  by  my  noble  friend,  but  was  also  admitted  by 
Mr.  Webster  to  be  so  ;  for  he  says  in  the  very  next  paper  to  that  from 
which  I  have  already  quoted,  that  'it  is  a  subject  of  regret  that  the 
release  of  McLeod  should  have  been  so  long  delayed.'  I  do  not  attempt 
to  triumph  over  the  United  States  because  of  this  admission.  I  do  not 
assume  to  look  down  on  the  American  Secretary  on  account  of  it.  I 
do  not  wish  to  seize  hold  of  this  sentence  as  an  apology,  and  therefore 
a  humiliation  of  America.  But  after  all  that  I  have  heard  said  about 
iny  noble  friend  having  made  an  apology,  I  really  must  say  that  the 
tone  of  the  passage  which  I  have  just  read  does  look  to  me  much  more 
like  an  apology  than  anything  which  is  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  my 
noble  friend's  despatches.  It  is  couched  in  the  appointed  phraseology 
of  apology,  the  terms  used  by  men  when  they  feel  they  have  done 
wrong,  and  wish  to  be  pardoned  by  the  injured  party.  *  *  * 

"  Ten  days  before  my  noble  friend  turned  his  back  upon  the  country 
where  his  negotiation  had  been  so  satisfactorily  concluded,  a  law  re 
ceived  the  assent  of  the  President,  altering  the  Constitution ;  giving 
the  power  that  was  so  jealously  looked  upon,  and  rendering  it  impos 
sible,  henceforth  and  forever,  that  such  a  case  as  McLeod's  could  occur 
any  more.  I  apprehend,  therefore,  that  in  that  part  of  the  negotiation 
which  referred  to  the  Caroline,  the  success  of  the  negotiation  has  been 
triumphant  and  complete." 

And  now,  sir,  having  closed  a  review  of  this  whole  subject, 
let  me  inquire  whether,  in  the  history  of  the  world  a  parallel 
can  be  found.  Terms  were  accepted,  indignities  brooked,  apol 
ogies  tendered,  and  sacrifices  made,  which,  unless  I  err  in  every 
impulse  of  my  nature,  in  every  faculty  and  conclusion  of  my 
judgment,  should  never  have  been  submitted  to  nor  entertained 
for  a  moment.  The  administration  in  power  at  the  time  of  these 
occurrences,  refused  to  negotiate  concerning  the  destruction  of 
the  Caroline,  until  reparation  should  be  tendered  by  the  British 
government ;  but  its  successor  caused  its  representative  to  sit 
down  at  the  council  board  of  the  nation  with  the  ambassador 
of  those  whose  unwashed  hands  were  yet  dripping  with  the 
blood  of  an  American  citizen  ; — an  indignity  to  which  no  other 
nation  ever  submitted ; — one  which  even  degraded  and  super- 


18-1:6.]  THE   NORTH-EASTERN    BOUNDARY,  ETC.  227 

animated  Spain  or  fitful  and  powerless  Mexico  would  have  re 
sisted  to  the  death,  and  spurned  with  the  most  unmitigated 
scorn.  And  yet,  sir,  this  great,  free  and  powerful  confederacy 
has  drunk  deeply  of  this  cup  of  humiliation.  McNab,  who 
planned  the  invasion  and  murder,  has  been  knighted  by  the 
Queen, 

"  While  Durfee's  ghost  walks  unrevenged  amongst  us." 

I  have  now  done,  after  tendering  to  the  Senate  my  ac 
knowledgments  for  its  attention,  and  an  apoplogy  for  having 
detained  it  so  long,  in  a  matter  so  much  personal  in  its  bearing, 
and  adding  my  assurance  that  it  shall  depend  upon  others  rather 
than  myself  whether  I  shall  ever  ask  its  indulgence  upon  a  like 
occasion. 


SPEECH 

ON  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  TERRITORY,  AND  THE  FORMATION  OF 
GOVERNMENTS  FOR  THE  TERRITORIES. — THE  DOCTRINE  OF 
"  POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY  "  PROPOSED  AND  DEFENDED. 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  JANUARY  12,  1848. 

[The  following  resolutions,  introduced  by  Mr.  Dickinson,  on  the 
14th  of  December,  1847,  came  up  in  order  for  consideration : 

"  Resolved,  That  true  policy  requires  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  strengthen  its  political  and  commercial  relations  upon  this 
continent,  by  the  annexation  of  such  contiguous  territory  as  may  con 
duce  to  that  end,  and  can  be  justly  obtained ;  and  that  neither  in  such 
acquisition  nor  in  the  territorial  organization  thereof  can  any  conditions 
be  constitutionally  imposed,  or  institutions  be  provided  for  or  estab 
lished,  inconsistent  with  the  right  of  the  people  thereof  to  form  a  free 
sovereign  State,  with  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the  original  mem 
bers  of  the  Confederacy. 

"  Itesolved,  That,  in  organizing  a  territorial  government  for  territories 
belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  principle  of  self-government  upon 
which  our  federative  system  rests  will  be  best  promoted,  the  true  spirit 
and  meaning  of  the  Constitution  be  observed,  and  the  Confederacy 
strengthened,  by  leaving  all  questions  concerning  the  domestic  policy 
therein  to  the  legislatures  chosen  by  the  people  thereof." 

The  resolutions  having  been  read  by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Dickinson,  ad 
dressing  the  Senate,  said :] 

MR.  PRESIDENT — We  are  admonished  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  times  and  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  American  people, 
to  strengthen  our  political  and  commercial  relations  upon  this 
continent  by  the  annexation  of  such  contiguous  territory  as  can 
be  justly  obtained,  as  well  for  the  positive  benefits  the  acquisi 
tion  may  confer,  as  to  shut  out  forever,  as  far  as  practicable, 
the  pernicious  influences  and  impertinent  intermeddlings  of 
European  monarchy.  And  while  the  circumstances  under  which 
this  policy  may  properly  be  enforced,  are  too  varied  and  con 
tingent  to  be  enumerated  or  suggested,  the  state  of  our  relations, 


1848.]  THE   ACQUISITION   OF   TERRITORY.  229 

both  foreign  and  domestic,  demand  that  it  be  fully  declared  be 
fore  the  world:  We  have  been  compelled  by  misguided  Mexico 
to  resort  to  the  ultima  ratio  of  nations  for  an  adjustment  of 
grievances.  With  her  capital,  her  ports,  her  fortifications,  and 
principal  towns  in  our  possession,  she  spurns  all  proposals  for 
accommodation,  and  we  have  no  alternative  left,  consistent  with 
national  spirit  or  self-respect,  but  to  retain  of  the  possessions 
allotted  us  by  the  tribunal  of  her  own  selection,  ample  indemnity 
for  the  wrongs  she  has  heaped  upon  our  government  and  peo 
ple.  But  should  she  in  some  sane  moment  consent  to  negotiate, 
she  can  furnish  indemnity  only  in  territory,  and  this  govern 
ment  can  accept  of  no  terms  but  such  as  give  full  compensa 
tion  ;  so  that  whether  we  have  peace  or  war,  treaty  or  no  treaty, 
the  question  of  territorial  acquisition  cannot  be  avoided.  Had 
we  remained  at  peace  with  Mexico,  the  same  policy  of  acquisi 
tion  would  sooner  or  later  have  been,  presented ;  and  should  a 
treaty  of  peace  be  negotiated,  and  a  full  indemnity  be  paid  in 
money,  of  which  there  is  no  prospect,  the  question  of  extending 
our  possessions  even  then  could  not  long  be  postpone^.  Al 
though  clearly  demanded  by  national  interests,  and  almost  uni 
versally  favored  by  the  American  people,  this  policy  has  been 
embarrassed  by  an  element  of  irritation  calculated  to  arrest,  if 
not  defeat  it  altogether.  Some  who  profess  to  favor  it,  do  so 
only  upon  condition  that  domestic  slavery  shall  be  prohibited 
by  Congress  in  any  acquired  territory;  others,  with  marked 
determination,  oppose  any  increase  with  such  restrictions ;  and 
both  these  classes  propose  to  cooperate  with  the  opponents  of 
acquisition,  unless  their  peculiar  views  respectively  are  adopted. 
/  Believing  that  a  policy  so  eminently  national  should  not  thus 
/oe  defeated  or  put  at  hazard  ;  that  the  legislation  of  Congress 

/  can  have  little  influence  over  the  domestic  regulation  of  terri- 

/     tory ;  that  its  temporary  government  is  a  matter  of  secondary 

importance  compared  with  the  policy  of  acquisition,  and  that  its 

domestic  regulation  may  be  safely  intrusted  to  those  most  deep- 

l       ly  interested  in  the  institutions  they  may  establish, — I  have  in- 

\     troduced  these  resolutions.    They  were  presented  that  the  Sen- 

\  ate  might  form  and  pronounce  its  judgment  before  the  country 

"upon  the  two  great  questions  embraced  therein,  which  engage 

so  large  a  share  of  the  public  consideration.     They  do  not,  as  is 

supposed  by  some,  bring  here,  with  its  profitless  discussions  and 


230 

exciting  consequences,  the  vexed  question  of  slavery,  for  it  was 
here  before  them ;  but  they  propose  to  transfer  it  hence,  and 
leave,  under  the  Constitution,  all  questions  concerning  the  ad 
mission  or  prohibition  of  this  institution  in  the  Territories,  to  the 
inhabitants  thereof,  that  its  intrusion  may  not  hereafter  arrest 
the  policy,  defeat  the  measures,  or  disturb  the  councils  of  the 
nation.  They  were  offered  in  the  hope  that  all  who  believe  in 
the  great  cardinal  principle  of  freedom — the  capacity  of  man 
for  his  own  government — would  harmonize  conflicting  opinions, 
and  unite  upon  this  common  ground  of  justice  and  equality. 

The  people  of  the  original  States  declared  "  that  to  form  a 
more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  ensure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  themselves  and  their  pos 
terity,"  they  established  the  Constitution.  Although  the  Arti 
cles  of  Confederation,  which  gave  place  to  this  instrument,  pro 
vided  for  the  admission  of  Canada  to  the  Union,  and  the  com 
prehensive  terms  employed  to  explain  the  objects  of  the  Con 
stitution  show  that  no  narrow  territorial  boundaries  were  con 
templated,  it  is  apparent  that  few  statesmen  at  that  early  period 
foresaw  the  early  growth  we  were  destined  to  attain.  The 
wisest  and  ablest  of  the  time  timidly  negotiated  for  years3at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  for  the  right  of  navigating  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  proposed  to  fix  upon  that  river  as  the  western  boun 
dary  of  the  United  States  forever.  And  in  treating  for  the  ter 
ritory  of  Louisiana,  our  government  sought  to  procure  only  a 
portion,  and  the  greatest  snare  was  virtually  taken  upon  com 
pulsion.  The  policy  which  from  acquisition  has  already  given 
to  this  Union  four  sovereign  States,  and  holds  others  in  reserve, 
was  at  the  time  assailed  with  a  virulence  and  denunciation,  and 
threats  of  disunion,  which  may  be  profitably  consulted  rather 
than  copied  by  those  who  are  alarmed  by,  or  propose  to  repeat, 
the  cry  of  territorial  aggrandizement.  \  Louisiana,  too,  was  a\ 
^/Spanish  province,  contained  a  foreign  population,  strangers  to  ) 
our  form  of  government,  and  was  transferred  with  its  people  j 
\  from  Spain  to  France,  and  from  France  to  the  United  States,  / 
\  within  a  few  hours  ;  and  yet,  what  State  has  been  more  faithful ' 
vto  the  Union,  or  more  ably  represented  ? 

Territory  beyond  the  Mississippi  was  then  regarded  as  al 
most  without  the  pale  of  probable  civilization,  and  the  expedi- 


1848.]  THE    ACQUISITION    OF   TEKKITOEY.  231 

tion  of  Lewis  and  Clark  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  where 
the  mail  of  the  United  States  is  now  regularly  distributed,  was 
hailed  as  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  North  American  enterprise 
and  daring.  But  the  tide  of  emigration  and  the  course  of  em 
pire  have  since  been  westward.  Cities  and  towns  have  sprung 
up  from  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  the  river  we  essayed  to 
fix  as  our  western,  now  passes  nearest  to  our  eastern  boundary. 
From  three,  our  population  has  increased  to  twenty  millions — 
from  thirteen,  to  twenty-nine  States,  with  others  in  the  process 
of  formation  and  on  their  way  to  the  Union.  Two  great  Euro 
pean  Powers  have  withdrawn  from  the  continent,  yielding  us 
their  possessions  ;  and  from  the  northern  lakes  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi,  numerous 
aboriginal  nations  have  been  displaced  before  the  resistless  tide 
of  our  prevailing  arts,  arms,  and  free  principles ;  and  whoever 
will  look  back  upon  the  past,  and  forward  upon  the  future, 
must  see,  that,  allured  by  the  justice  of  our  institutions,  before 
the  close  of  the  present  century,  this  continent  will  teem  with  a 
free  population  of  upwards  of  a  hundred  million  souls.  Nor 
have  we  yet  fulfilled  the  destiny  allotted  us.  New  territory  is 
spread  out  for  us  to  subdue  and  fertilize ;  new  races  are  pre 
sented  for  us  to  civilize,  educate,  and  absorb ;  new  triumphs 
for  us  to  achieve  for  the  cause  of  freedom. 

North  America  presents  to  the  eye  one  great  geographical 
system,  every  portion  of  which,  under  the  present  facilities  for 
communication,  may  be  made  more  accessible  to  every  other 
than  were  the  original  States  to  each  other  at  the  time  they 
formed  the  Union  ;  it  is  soon  to  become  the  commercial  centre 
of  the  world.  And  the  period  is  by  no  means  remote,  when 
man,  regarding  his  own  wants  and  impulses,  and  yielding  to  the 
influences  of  laws  more  potent  than  those  which  prescribe  arti 
ficial  boundaries,  will  ordain  that  it  shall  be  united  in  political 
as  well  as  natural  bonds,  and  form  but  one  political  system,  and 
that,  a  free,  confederated,  self-governed  republic,  represented 
in  a  common  hall  in  the  great  valley  of  the  West — exhib 
iting  to  an  admiring  world  the  mighty  results  which  have 
been  achieved  for  freedom  in  the  western  hemisphere.  Then 
will  a  more  perfect  Union  be  formed,  and  justice  be  established 
upon  enduring  foundations — the  domestic  tranquillity  en 
sured,  the  common  defence  be  provided  for,  the  general 


232 

welfare  promoted,  and  the  blessings  of  liberty  secured  to  pos 
terity. 

Our  form  of  government  is  admirably  adapted  to  extend 
empire.  Founded  in  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people, 
and  deriving  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
its  influences  are  as  powerful  for  good  at  the  remotest  limits  as 
at  the  political  centre.  We  are  unlike  all  communities  which 
have  gone  before  us,  and  illustrations  drawn  from  comparing  us 
with  them,  are  unjust  and  erroneous.  The  social  order  which 
characterizes  our  system  is  as  unlike  the  military  republics  of 
other  times,  as  is  the  religion  of  the  Saviour  of  men  to  the  im 
positions  of  Mahomet.  Our  system  wins  by  its  justice,  while 
theirs  sought  to  terrify  by  its  power.  Our  territorial  boundary 
may  span  the  continent,  our  population  be  quadrupled,  and  the 
number  of  our  States  be  doubled,  without  inconvenience  or 
danger.  Every  member  of  the  Union  would  still  sustain  itself, 
and  contribute  its  influences  for  the  general  good  ;  every  pillar 
would  stand  erect,  and  impart  strength  and  beauty  to  the  edi 
fice.  In  matters  of  national  legislation,  a  numerous  population, 
extended  territory,  and  diversified  interests,  would  tend  to  re 
form  abuses  which  would  otherwise  remain  unredressed,  to  pre 
serve  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  to  bring  back  the  course  of 
legislation  from  the  centralism  to  which  it  is  hastening.  One- 
half  the  legislation  now  brought  before  Congress  would  be  left 
undone,  as  it  should  be ;  a  large  portion  of  the  residue  would 
be  presented  to  the  consideration  of  State  Legislatures ;  and 
Congress  would  be  enabled  to  dispose  of  all  matters  within  the 
scope  of  its  legitimate  functions  without  inconvenience  or  delay. 

The  present  political  relations  of  this  continent  cannot  long 
continue,  and  it  becomes  this  nation  to  be  prepared  for  the 
change  which  awaits  it.  If  the  subjects  of  the  British  Crown 
shall  consent  to  be  ruled  through  all  time  by  a  distant  cabinet, 
Mexico  cannot  long  exist  under  the  misrule  of  marauders  and 
their  pronunciamentos  ;  and  this  was  as  clearly  apparent  before 
as  since  the  existence  of  the  wTar.  If,  then,  just  acqusition  is 
the  true  policy  of  this  government,  as  it  clearly  is,  it  should  be 
pursued  by  a  steady  and  unyielding  purpose,  and  characterized 
by  the  sternest  principles  of  national  justice.  It  should  not 
rashly  anticipate  the  great  results  which  are  in  progress,  nor 
thrust  aside  the  fruits  when  they  are  produced  and  presented. 


1848.]  THE   ACQUISITION    OF   TERRITORY.  233 

The  national  existence  of  Mexico  is  in  her  own  keeping,  but  is 
more  endangered  at  this  time  by  her  own  imbecility  and  stub 
bornness — her  national  ignorance  and  brutality — than  from  the 
war  we  are  prosecuting  and  all  its  consequences.  She  has  been 
hastening  to  ruin  for  years  upon  the  flood-tide  of  profligacy  and 
corruption;  and  if  she  is  now  rescued,  and  her  downfall  arrested 
and  postponed  for  a  season,  it  may  justly  be  attributed  to  the 
salutary  influences  of  the  chastisement  she  has  received.  But  a 
majority  of  her  people  belong  to  the  fated  aboriginal  races,  who 
can  neither  uphold  government,  nor  be  restrained  by  it ;  who 
flourish  only  amid  the  haunts  of  savage  indolence,  and  perish 
under,  if  they  do  not  recede  before,  the  influences  of  civilization. 
Like  their  doomed  brethren,  who  were  once  spread  over  the 
several  States  of  the  Union,  they  are  destined,  by  laws  above 
human  agency,  to  give  way  to  a  stronger  race,  from  this  con 
tinent  or  another.  What  has  been  the  national  progress  of 
Mexico  ?  When  our  population  was  three  millions,  hers  was 
five ;  and  when  ours  is  twenty,  hers  is  eight ;  and  while  we 
have  attained  the  highest  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
she  has  fallen  so  low  that  there  is  little  left  to  wound  her  feel 
ings  or  degrade  her  character.  She  has  existed  as  an  independent 
government,  if  her  fretful  and  confused  being  may  be  thus  dig 
nified,  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  has  changed  her  gov 
ernment  by  military  revolution,  during  that  period,  almost  as 
many  times  as  she  has  existed  years.  She  has  an  extended  and 
somewhat  populous  territory,  without  an  authorized  govern 
ment  or  the  means  of  instituting  one,  or  the  virtue  or  intelli 
gence  to  uphold  it.  The  rights  of  her  people  are  ill  defined 
and  worse  protected.  She  has  now  neither  army,  navy,  nor 
means  of  national  defence — no  treasury  nor  system  of  revenue. 
She  has  national  antipathies  and  resentments,  but  neither  na 
tional  spirit  nor  national  virtue  ;  and  has  thus  far  dragged  out 
her  wretched  existence,  like  the  eagle  of  mythology,  chained  to 
the  rock,  gnawing  at  her  own  vitals.  Her  valuable  mines,  rich 
agricultural  regions,  and  desirable  harbors,  present  a  tempting 
occasion  for  European  rapacity  to  revive  upon  this  continent 
their  execrable  proposal  to  regulate  the  balance  of  power,  in 
furtherance  of  which,  England  has  already  commenced  seizing 
upon  South  American  possessions. 

And   should   our   army  now  be  withdrawn,  leaving  her 


234 

deluded  people  the  prey  of  the  ferocious  spirits  who  have  has 
tened  her  downfall,  we  may  expect  to  see  some  supernumerary 
of  the  House  of  Bourbon  placed  at  their  head  to  play  automa 
ton  to  the  British  Cabinet.  The  policy  of  extending  our  ju 
risdiction  over  any  portion  of  Mexican  territory,  is  a  question 
between  Europe  and  America — between  monarchy  and  free 
dom — and  not  between  the  United  States  and  the  republic  of 
Mexico ;  and  we  should  not  hesitate  to  extend  our  protection 
to  such  provinces  as  are  held  by  us  in  undisturbed  possession 
now,  and  patiently  await  the  development  of  the  future. 
Should  the  progress  of  events,  without  injustice  on  our  part, 
open  to*  the  enterprise  of  our  citizens  the  rkh  mining  and 
agricultural  districts  of  that  country,  and  infuse  among  this 
semi-barbarous  people  the  blessings  of  civilization  ;  should  the 
valuable  trade  which  has  been  monopolized  by  England  be 
enjoyed  by  the  States,  and  our  mint  coin  the  money  of  the 
world ;  and  should  a  passage  across  the  Isthmus  be  obtained, 
placing  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  within  two  weeks  sail  of 
New  Orleans,  and  valuable  Pacific  harbors  be  permanently 
secured,  so  indispensable  to  the  protection  of  our  vast  trade 
in  that  sea,  and  our  settlements  upon  that  coast, — there  would 
be  no  occasion  for  lamentation  or  alarm.  The  day  is  not  far 
distant  when  all  this  and  much  more  will  be  realized,  through 
a  process  as  fixed  and  unyielding  as  the  laws  of  gravitation. 
And  whenever  the  time  which  is  to  determine  whether  entire 
Mexico  shall  come  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  or  become  a  colonial  dependent  upon  European  power, 
the  duty  of  this  government  will  admit  of  neither  doubt  or 
Hesitation. 

But  we  have  the  question  of  territorial  extension  directly 
presented  for  our  consideration.  The  President,  in  his  annual 
message,  recommends  that  the  provinces  of  New  Mexico  and 
California,  now  quietly  held  by  us,  be  permanently  retained  as 
indemnity,  and  subjected  to  the  civil  j  urisdiction  of  the  United 
States.  Upon  this  just  recommendation  of  the  Executive  we 
shall  soon  be  called  to  act ;  and  while  the  great  mass  of  the 
American  people  will  approve  the  suggestion,  some  will  crave 
our  sympathies  while  they  mourn  over  what  they  are  pleased 
to  term  the  "  dismemberment  of  Mexico."  Let  those  who  may, 
indulge  this  misplaced  and  sickly  sentiment.  Such  of  the 


1848.]  THE   ACQUISITION   OF   TERRITORY.  235 

Mexican  people  as  may  have  the  good  fortune  to  fall  within 
our  jurisdiction,  should  it  be  the  entire  population,  would  be 
objects  of  envy  rather  than  of  commiseration,  and  may  regard 
it  as  a  special  interposition  of  Providential  favor.  They 
would  find  a  repose  which  they  have  never  experienced,  and  a 
protection  for  life,  liberty,  and  property,  to  which  they  are 
strangers.  They  would  exchange  a  lawless  and  irresponsible 
despotism  for  a  government  of  opinion ;  wild  and  debasing 
habits  for  rational  civilization ;  the  precarious  subsistence  of 
savage  life  for  the  wholesome  rewards  of  productive  industry ; 
the  devastations  of  war  for  the  arts  of  peace.  Our  govern 
ment  would  rear  in  their  midst  the  genial  influences  of  equality, 
and  secure  to  the  hand  of  industry  the  bread  of  its  earning. 
It  would  elevate  their  condition  in  the  scale  of  moral  and  social 
being,  and  infuse  amongst  them  the  vigilant  and  manly  spirit 
which  actuates  our  people.  It  would  leave  them  with  all  just 
relations  to  each  other,  enjoying  the  religion  they  venerate, 
and  the  altars  where  they  are  wont  to  worship.  To  them,  the 
consequences  of  a  "  dismemberment "  would  be  such  as  were 
experienced  by  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  when 
France  and  Spain  were  respectively  "  dismembered  "  of  these 
fertile  territories.  Russia  u  dismembered  "  Poland,  that  the 
order  of  despotism  might  reign  at  Warsaw.  But  America 
"  dismembered  "  monarchy,  that  the  blessings  of  civil  liberty 
might  be  extended  upon  the  continent. 

While  the  object  of  the  government  is  not  "  dismember 
ment,"  our  troops  cannot  be  withdrawn  without  fatal  conse 
quences,  and  deep  and  lasting  dishonor;  and  if  Mexico  per 
sists  in  her  course  of  blind  injustice,  the  results  are  easily  an 
ticipated.  The  war  with  Mexico  is  not  a  war  of  conquest. 
Conquests  were  not  its  objects  ;  and  yet,  they  may  be  among 
its  fortunate  incidents.  A  nation  engaged  in  war  may,  by  the 
law  of  nations,  rightfully  conquer  all  the  territory  it  can  sub 
due,  and  hold  it  as  its  own.  So  much  are  conquests  deemed 
the  property  of  the  conqueror,  that  when  a  treaty  of  peace  is 
made,  the  territory  conquered  is  deemed  the  property  of  the 
conqueror,  unless  the  treaty  stipulates  for  the  surrender ;  nor 
does  this  conquest  extinguish  a  debt  due  the  conqueror  before 
the  commencement  of  the  war.  The  conquests  we  have 
gained  in  Mexico  are  ours,  without  yielding  to  her  any  equiv- 


236 

alent.  We  have  won  tl  .e  sovereignty  over  them  honestly, 
fairly,  and  legally,  by  the  law  of  nations;  and  in  treating  with 
her,  she  is  entitled  to  just  what  we  may  think  proper  to  give 
her  for  relinquishing  her  right  to  reconquer  them,  and  it  is 
worth  just  what  good  judgment  may  dictate.  And  whenever 
she  proposes  to  treat  upon  this  principle,  we  are  morally  bound 
to  treat  with  her.  We  cannot  virtuously  continue  the  war 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  making  further  conquests ;  but  we 
can  virtuously  continue  it  to  the  subjection  of  the  whole  of 
Mexico,  if  she  will  not  make  peace  with  us  upon  just  and  hon 
orable  terms,  or,  if  we  choose,  upon  such  terms  as  shall  have 
due  reference  to  the  territory  we  have  acquired  by  con 
quest.  The  question  of  boundary  is  a  fair  subject  of  ne 
gotiation.  We  proposed  negotiation,  which  she  refused.  She 
proffered  war,  which  we  accepted,  and  she  has  no  right  to 
complain  of  the  result  of  the  issue  she  herself  tendered  us, 
and  we  have  a  right  to  enjoy  what  the  chances  of  war  have 
thrown  into  our  hands.  The  disparity  of  force  has  been  in 
favor  of  Mexico.  What  we  have  brought  into  the  field  has 
had  no  influence  in  producing  results.  The  strength  was  im 
measurably  on  her  side  when,  upon  her  own  soil,  her  popula 
tion,  or  even  her  forces  in  the  field,  are  compared  with  our  in 
vading  army.  Under  like  circumstances,  when  we  were  only 
three  millions  strong,  we  contended  successfully  against  the 
power  of  Great  Britain ;  and  Spain  contended  in  like  manner 
against  the  forces  of  Napoleon. 

Neither  national  justice  nor  national  morality  requires  us 
tamely  to  surrender  our  Mexican  conquests ;  nor  should  such 
be  the  policy  of  the  government,  if  it  would  advance  the 
cause  of  national  freedom,  or  secure  its  enjoyment  to  the 
people  of  Mexico.  But  whatever  may  be  the  policy  touching 
Mexican  conquests,  we  cannot,  if  we  would,  restore  New 
Mexico  and  California  to  that  government,  for  the  reason  that 
they  will  not  be  restored.  The  laws  which  control  the  policy 
of  territorial  acquisition  are  beyond  the  control  of  legislation. 
Fountains  of  tears  may  be  shed  over  the  dismemberment  of 
Mexico  ;  supplies  to  our  gallant  army  may  be  refused,  and  it 
may  be  called  back  from  its  field  of  glory,  or  compelled  to 
retreat  therefrom  to  a  "  defensive  line,"  or  be  disbanded  and 
dismissed  ;  and  the  people  holding  these  provinces  will  not 


1848.]  THE   ACQUISITION"    OF   TERRITORY.  237 

consent  to  go  where  there  is  only  anarchy,  violence,  and  op 
pression.  Give  back  these  provinces !  As  well  return  to 
Great  Britain  what  was  once  her  colonial  possessions ;  give 
back  Louisiana  to  France,  Florida  to  Spain,  Texas  to  Mexico. 
Neither  the  solemnities  of  legislative  enactments  nor  the 
sanctions  of  the  treaty-making  power  can  compel  them  to  re 
turn  ;  and  if  it  is  attempted  by  strength  of  arms,  it  will  require 
a  greater  force  than  has  yet  been  engaged  in  the  Mexican  war. 
These  provinces  are  ours  by  every  principle  of  justice  and  of 
international  law.  They  have  been  purchased  upon  the  battle 
fields  of  Mexico  by  a  bravery  which  has  not  been  excelled  in 
the  history  of  mankind.  The  consideration  has  been  too 
dearly  paid,  and  our  title-deeds  are  written  in  the  best  blood 
of  our  sons.  Let,  then,  the  laws  of  humanity  and  peace  be 
extended  over  them,  and  they  be  dedicated  forever  to  the 
cause  of  freedom. 

The  principle  declared  by  the  last  clause  of  the  first  res 
olution,  that  no  conditions  can  be  constitutionally  imposed 
upon  any  territorial  acquisition,  inconsistent  with  the  right  of 
the  people  thereof  to  form  a  free,  sovereign  State,  with  the 
powers  and  privileges  of  the  original  members  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  I  deem  too  obvious  for  serious  argument.  Whatevei 
laws  Congress  may  constitutionally  enact  for  the  regulation  of 
the  territories  of  the  United  States,  are  subject  to  be  altered 
or  repealed  at  pleasure.  The  ancient  Medes  and  Persians  de 
clared  their  edicts  unalterable ;  but  no  such  power  is  vested  in 
the  American  Congress;  and  those  who  propose  to  have  i'j 
enact  "unalterable  and  fundamental"  laws,  employ  terms 
which,  if  they  have  duly  considered,  they  do  not  comprehend. 
Every  State  admitted  to  the  Union,  from  the  moment  of  its 
admission,  enjoys  all  the  rights  of  sovereignty  common  to 
every  other  State.  The  Constitution  carries  along  with  it  its 
own  definitions  of  sovereignty,  and  if  any  State  is  prohibited 
from  any  of  the  rights  of  every  other,  then  it  is  not,  in.  the 
sense  contemplated,  a  sovereign  State.  If  it  is  admitted  with 
a  constitution  authorizing  domestic  slavery,  it  may  change  its 
constitution  so  as  to  prohibit  it  at  its  pleasure.  If  its  consti 
tution  at  the  time  of  its  admission  prohibits  slavery,  it  may 
change  so  as  to  authorize  it,  and  this,  too,  regardless  of  any 
legislation  upon  the  subject  by  Congress  or  otherwise,  before 


238  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

its  admission  to  the  Union.  In  other  words,  every  State,  after 
its  admission,  may,  in  virtue  of  its  own  sovereign  power  as 
regards  its  domestic  affairs,  establish  or  abolish  this  institu 
tion,  whatever  may  have  been  the  conditions  imposed,  or 
attempted  to  be  imposed,  upon  it  during  its  Territorial 
existence. 

The  second  resolution  declares  that  the  principle  of  self- 
government  upon  which  the  federative  system  rests  will  be 
best  promoted,  the  true  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  Constitution 
observed,  and  the  Confederacy  strengthened,  by  leaving  all 
questions  concerning  the  domestic  regulation  of  territory  to 
the  legislatures  chosen  by  the  people  thereof. 

It  must  be  conceded  by  all,  that  Congress  has  no  inherent 
power  over  this  subject,  and  no  more  right  to  legislate  con 
cerning  it  than  the  British  Parliament,  unless  such  authority 
is  delegated  by  the  Constitution.  The  only  clause  of  the 
Constitution  which  is  supposed  to  confer  upon  Congress  the 
right  to  legislate  for  the  people  of  a  Territory,  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of,  and  make  all  need 
ful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States,"  &c. 

In  providing  legislation  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
for  places  occupied  by  the  government  of  the  United  States 
for  fortifications  and  other  erections  required  by  the  public 
service,  the  Constitution  thus  confers  the  power  upon  Con 
gress  : 

"  To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatever,  in  such  dis 
trict  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may  by  cession  of  particular 
States,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat  oi?  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  authority  over  all 
places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in 
which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals, 
dock-yards,  and  other  needful  buildings." 

By  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  first  above  cited,  it  is 
evident,  that  territory  is  mentioned  in  its  material,  and  not  in 
its  political  sense,  for  it  is  classed  with  "  other  property,"  and 
Congress  is  authorized  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 


1848.]  THE    ACQUISITION   OF   TKEBITOBY.  239 

rules  and  regulations  respecting  both.  In  the  other  section 
they  are  separated,  and  Congress  is  authorized  to  legislate 
over  all  places  occupied  for  public  structures,  but  no  such 
authority  is  extended  to  territory.  The  language  of  the  Con 
stitution  is  that  of  great  precision — free  from  repetition — and 
every  word  was  well  weighed  in  its  positive  and  relative 
sense.  And  if  its  fraraers  had  supposed  the  phrase  "  needful 
rules  and  regulations "  authorized  legislation  over  places  be 
longing  to  the  United  States,  and  used  for  public  service,  they 
would  scarcely  have  authorized  legislation  over  such  places  in 
express  language  in  another  section.  Again,  in  providing 
legislation  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  Congress  is  authorized 
to  '<  exercise  exclusive  legislation "  over  it.  Now,  if  the 
words  "  needful  rules  and  regulations  "  were  deemed  proper 
and  apt  language  to  confer  legislative  authority  over  the 
internal  affairs  of  a  Territory,  why  were  they  not  employed 
to  authorize  legislation  over  the  District  ?  And  to  reverse  the 
order  of  the  inquiry,  if  it  was  intended  to  confer  upon  Congress 
the  power  thus  to  legislate  over  territory,  why  was  it  not 
given  in  the  same,  or  equivalent  express  terms  as  in  autho 
rizing  legislation  for  the  District  ?  From  this  view,  there  is 
little  doubt  that  a  strict  construction  would  deny  to  Congress 
the  right  to  legislate  for  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  people  of 
a  Territory  without  their  consent. 

Congress  has,  however,  upon  various  occasions,  exercised 
legislative  power  over  the  subject,  especially  in  incorporating 
into  the  law  organizing  Territories  the  provisions  of  the  ordi 
nance  of  1787  ;  and  this  has  been  acquiesced  in  by  the  people 
of  the  Territories  so  organized.  The  ordinance  was  framed 
under  the  old  Confederacy,  for  the  government  of  the  North 
western  Territory,  and  the  sixth  article  forbade  slavery  or  in 
voluntary  servitude  therein.  Its  validity  has  often  been  ques 
tioned,  and  its  adoption  was  pronounced  by  Mr.  Madison  to  be 
"  without  the  least  color  of  constitutional  law."  But  whether 
authorized  or  not,  having  been  passed  before  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  the  act  has  no  authority  as  a  precedent  for 
like  practice  under  it.  In  erecting  territorial  governments 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  the  action  of  Congress 
has  net  been  uniform.  In  organizing  the  North-western  Terri 
tories,  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance  relating  to  slavery  have 


24:0 

been  extended  to  some,  and  withheld  from  others  standing  in 
the  same  geographical  relation  to  the  States,  and  such  forms  of 
organization  as  have  been  proposed  by  Congress  have  met  with 
general  acquiescence.  But  this  has  neither  given  the  right  to 
Congress  nor  taken  it  from  the  people  of  the  Territories. 
The  Missouri  compromise  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  ordinary 
act  of  legislation,  upon  the  majority  principle.  It  was  rather 
in  the  nature  of  a  compact,  not  adopted  as  such,  to  be  sure,  but 
assented  to  or  acquiesced  in  by  all  the  States  through  their  rep 
resentatives  in  Congress  or  otherwise.  Whether  it  has  force 
in  the  Territories  or  not,  depends  upon  the  construction  of  the 
Constitution  already  discussed;  but  it  has  no  binding  force 
upon  a  State  beyond  that  of  moral  obligation.  In  the  annexa 
tion  of  Texas,  the  Missouri  compromise  line  was  extended  by 
a  majority  vote;  but  it  was  disregarded  by  that  State  in  her 
domestic  organization,  nor  has  any  department  of  the  general 
government  or  any  other  power  save  her  own  people,  any 
control  over  it.  This  furnishes  a  practical  illustration  of  the 
value  of  "  unalterable"  provisions  by  Congress  in  the  organiza 
tion  of  territory.  It  is  not  denied  that  if  the  people  of  the  Ter 
ritory  acquiesce  in,  or  adopt  the  form  of  domestic  government 
proposed  for  them  by  Congress,  it  becomes  their  own,  having 
all  the  force  of  law  until  they  "  alter  or  abolish  it."  But  this 
gives  to  Congress  no  constitutional  right  to  enforce  its  legisla 
tion  upon  the  people  of  the  Territories  against  their  will,  and 
much  less  does  it  prohibit  the  people  of  the  State  in  embryo 
from  exercising  their  own  inherent  right  of  sovereignty  in  their 
domestic  affairs. 

The  resolution  declares  that  the  domestic  policy  of  the  peo« 
pie  of  a  Territory  should  be  left  with  them ;  and  if  that  power 
resides  in  Congress,  as  is  contended,  it  should  be  delegated  to 
the  people  of  the  Territory,  and  be  exercised  by  them.  From 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  the  adoption  of  the  Consti 
tution,  every  act  of  those  who  erected  our  system  of  govern 
ment  indicates  a  prevailing  confidence  in  the  capacity  and  in 
tegrity  of  the  people,  and  a  lively  distrust  of  delegated  power  ; 
and  if  we  permit  ourselves  to  depart  from  the  letter  of  the  Con 
stitution  in  search  of  its  true  spirit  and  meaning,  we  should  keep 
steadily  in  view  this  great  popular  and  controlling  feature. 
But  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  further  the  abstract  right 


1818.]  THE    ACQUISITION    OF   TEKRITOKY.  241 

of  Congress  to  legislate  upon  this  subject.  Whatever  power 
may  or  may  not  rest  in  Congress  under  the  Constitution,  that 
instrument  could  not  take  from  the  people  of  the  Territories 
the  right  to  prescribe  their  own  domestic  policy ;  nor  has  it  at 
tempted  any  such  office.  The  principles  declared  by  this  reso 
lution  are  older  and  stronger  than  written  laws  and  paper  con 
stitutions — principles  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  free  insti 
tutions,  and  from  which  laws  and  constitutions  emanate— incul 
cating  the  doctrine  that  the  inherent,  original  power  of  self- 
government  was  derived  by  man  from  the  Sovereign  of  the 
Universe  ;  and  that  government  is  the  creature  of  man,  and  not 
man  the  creature  of  government. 

The  republican  theory  teaches  that  sovereignty  resides  with 
the  people  of  a  State,  and  not  with  its  political  organization; 
and  the  Declaration  of  Independence  recognizes  the  right  of 
the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  and  reconstruct  their  government. 
If  sovereignty  resides  with  the  people  and  not  with  the  organ 
ization,  it  rests  as  well  with  the  people  of  a  Territory,  in  all  that 
concerns  their  internal  condition,  as  with  the  people  of  an  or 
ganized  State.  And  if  it  is  the  right  of  the  people,  by  virtue 
of  their  innate  sovereignty,  to  "  alter  or  abolish,"  and  recon 
struct -their  government,  it  is  the  right  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Territories,  by  virtue  of  the  same  inborn  attribute,  in  all  that 
appertains  to  their  domestic  concerns,  to  fashion  one  suited  to 
their  condition.  And  if,  in  this  respect,  a  form  of  government 
is  proposed  to  them  by  the  federal  government,  and  adopted 
or  acquiesced  in  by  them,  they  may  afterwards  alter  or  abolish 
it  at  pleasure.  Although  the  government  of  a  Territory  has 
not  the  same  sovereign  power  as  the  government  of  a  State  in 
ks  political  relations,  the  people  of  a  Territory  have,  in  all  that 
appertains  to  their  internal  condition,  the  same  sovereign  rights 
as  the  people  of  a  State.  While  Congress  may  exercise  its 
legislation  over  territory  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  United  States,  the  legislation  of  the  people 
should  be  exercised  by  themselves  under  the  Constitution. 

The  mental  and  physical  organization  of  man  teaches  that 
he  is  better  fitted  for  self-government  than  for  the  government 
of  his  neighbor;  and  if  he  is  incapable  of  discharging  this  duty 
to  himself,  he  should  not  be  intrusted  with  the  destiny  of  others. 
The  system  of  government— whether  temporary  or  permanent,. 
16 


242 

whether  applied  to  States,  provinces,  or  territories — is  radical 
ly  wrong,  and  has  within  itself  all  the  elements  of  monarchical 
oppression,  which  permits  the  representatives  of  one  community 
to  legislate  for  the  domestic  regulation  of  another  to  which  they 
are  not  responsible ;  which  practically  allows  New  York  and 
Massachusetts,  and  other  Atlantic  States,  to  give  local  laws  to 
Oregon,  Minnesota,  and  Nebraska,  to  whom  and  to  whose  inter 
ests,  wishes,  and  condition,  they  are  strangers. 

Nor  is  this  objection  raised  here  for  the  first  time.  Promi 
nent  in  the  catalogue  of  grievances  alleged  by  our  fathers 
against  the  British  king  and  his  ministers,  was  one  "  for  sus 
pending  our  OAvn  legislatures,  and  declaring  themselves  invested 
with  power  to  legislate  for  us."  Whenever  or  wherever  a  com 
munity  of  individuals  have  been  subjected  to  the  dominion  of 
some  external  authority,  it  has  been  upon.the  plea  of  necessity 
— the  same  plea  by  which  tyrants  and  usurpers  have  justified 
their  enormities  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  and  this  was 
the  plea  of  the  British  king. 

The  genius  of  our  federative  system  is  self-government.  It 
is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  ark  of  our  political  safety 
rests.  Our  fathers  proclaimed,  that,  to  secure  the  inalienable 
rights  vouchsafed  to  man,  governments  were  instituted^  deriv 
ing  their  just  power  from  the  consent  of  the  governed;  that 
whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to 
institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  prin 
ciples,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall 
seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness. 

All  experience  has  indicated  man's  capacity  for  the  exercise 
of  this  exalted  attribute,  and  wherever  civilized  and  intelli 
gent  men  have  been  cast  together  without  the  benefit  of  con 
ventional  forms  of  government,  they  have  proceeded  to  enact 
them.  They  who  planted  the  germ  of  a  powerful  empire  upon 
the  Pilgrim's  rock,  before  landing  from  the  Mayflower,  drew  up 
and  signed  the  following  charter  of  liberty : 

"  Having  undertaken  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  advancement  of 
fne  Christian  faith,  and  the  honor  and  being  of  our  country,  a  voyage 
to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern  part  of  Virginia,  we  do  by  these 
presents,  solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  one 
another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil  body  pol- 


1848.]  THE    ACQUISITION    OF   TERRITORY.  243 

itic,  for  our  better  ordering,  and  preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the 
ends  aforesaid.  And  by  virtue  hereof,  do  enact,  constitute,  and  frame 
such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  officers, 
from  time  to  time,  as  shall  bethought  most  meet  and  convenient  for  the 
general  good  of  the  colony  ;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission 
and  obedience." 


And  the  inhabitants  of  Oregon,  three  thousand  miles  distant, 
in  the  absence  of  that  guardian  care  which  Congress  has  been 
wont  to  extend  to  other  Territories  nearer  the  political  centre, 
established  and  have  in  successful  operation  a  provisional  gov 
ernment,  in  which,  of  their  own  volition,  without  the  assist 
ance  of  "  ordinances,"  "  provisos,"  or  "  unalterable  fundamental 
articles,"  they  prohibited  domestic  slavery  throughout  the 
Territory. 

The  great  experiment  of  self-government  has  been  fairly- 
tried,  and  has  either  succeeded  or  failed.  If  it  has  taught  that, 
after  all,  man,  by  reason  of  inherent  defects  of  character,  is  in 
capable  of  its  successful  exercise  except  in  populous  communi 
ties  matured  by  age,  and  that  he  must  remain  in  pupilage  until 
that  season  has  arrived,  we  should  boast  no  more  that  the  mys 
terious  problem  of  human  government  lias  been  solved,  but 
read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  backwards,  and  cause  the 
clause  which  proclaims  that  gratifying  truth  to  be  expunged, 
or  amended  by  a  "  proviso."  We  should  acknowledge  the 
theory  of  free  government  to  be  a  fable ;  that  the  darkness  of 
the  human  intellect  has  been  found  to  predominate,  and  that 
the  gloomy  sophisms  of  the  timid,  and  the  malignant  specula 
tions  of  the  envious,  have  prevailed. 

I  have  already  shown  that  the  whole  structure  of  our  sys 
tem  favored  the  idea  of  domestic  government  by  the  people  of 
Territories ;  that  it  was  their  right,  and  the  question  is  fully 
presented,  whether,  in  view  of  their  capacity  for  its  judicious 
exercise,  it  is  expedient  to  leave  their  internal  policy  under  the 
Constitution  with  themselves.  Any  system,  which  denies  this 
in  theory  or  in  practice,  or  which  seeks  to  withhold  it  from  the 
primary  settlements  until  they  shall  become  populous  and  ma 
ture  States,  is  founded  in  the  same  spirit  of  popular  distrust, 
by  which  the  few  have,  from  the  earliest  history  of  man,  under 
the  plea  of  necessity,  been  endeavoring  to  restrict  the  many  in 


244- 

the  exercise  of  freedom.  It  inculcates  a  system  of  slavery  ten 
fold  more  abject  than  that  it  professes  to  discountenance.  It 
is  the  same  spirit  which  has  murmured  its  distrust  at  the  exten 
sion  of  our  territorial  boundaries,  and  trembled  for  the  perpetu 
ity  of  the  Union  on  the  admission  of  a  new  State ;  which  looks 
upon  free  suffrage  with  consternation,  and  with  holy  horror 
upon  the  naturalization  of  foreigners ;  which  would  itself  en 
slave  one  race,  lest  they  should  tolerate  a  system  which  holds 
in  bondage  another.  It  is  the  offspring  of  bigotry  and  intol 
erance,  and  should  have  fulfilled  its  mission  during  the  middle 
ages.  All  experience  has  shown,  that  tens  of  thousands  in  the 
sparse  settlements  are  as  competent  to  judge  of  their  own  con 
dition,  and  are  as  much  devoted  to  the  support  of  law  and 
order,  as  are  the  hundreds  of  thousands  in  populous  towns  and 
cities  ;  and  that  all  questions  concerning  their  domestic  policy 
may  be  safely  confided  to  them.  When  our  country  has  been 
disgraced  by  violence  and  disorder,  and  disegard  of  law,  it  has 
been  confined  to  the  populous  towns  and  cities,  and  has  not  ex 
tended  to  the  border  settlements.  Should  the  domestic  legisla 
tion  of  Territories  be  left  with  their  local  legislatures,  it  would 
transfer  from  the  halls  of  Congress  the  bootless  sectional  strug 
gles  which  have  created  bitterness  at  home,  and  served  to  de 
grade  our  institutions  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  It  would  leave 
local  communities,  Territories  as  well  as  States,  to  consult  their 
own  interests,  wishes,  and  sense  of  propriety,  and  to  erect  or 
prohibit,  continue  or  abolish,  such  institutions  as  may  not  be 
repugnant  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution.  It  would  leave 
the  federal  government  free  to  pursue  its  onward  course  un 
embarrassed  by  matters  of  sectional  moment,  over  which  its 
control  is  questionable,  and  must  be  partial  and  temporary. 
It  would  relieve  the  benevolent  statesman  from  the  strife  and 
irritation  which  now  beset  him,  and  allow  his  energies  to  be 
devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  nation,  and  the  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  man.  It  would  harmonize  with  the  genial 
spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and  uphold  its  symmetrical  frame 
work.  It  would  practically  acknowledge  man's  capacity  for 
self-government,  and  vindicate  the  integrity  of  his  race.  The 
same  spirit  by  which  freedom  is  nourished  would  be  nourished 
by  it,  and  society  be  bound  together  by  ties  of  amity  and 
interest. 


1S4S.]  THE    ACQUISITION    OF   TERRITORY.  245 

Then  would  our  territorial  soil  be  free — not  by  restrictions, 
provisions,  and  the  threatening  mandates  of  federal  legisla 
tion,  but  free  and  sacred  to  the  cause  of  freedom ;  free  for  its 
people  to  lay  the  foundations  of  its  government  on  such  prin 
ciples,  and  organize  its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them  shall 
seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness,  freedom 
of  opinion,  of  the  press,  of  religion,  of  education,  of  commer 
cial  intercourse.  Having  vindicated  for  the  people  of  the 
Territories  the  same  rights  of  self-government  enjoyed  by 
every  other  political  community,  I  forbear  to  speculate  whe 
ther  they  will  be  less  discreet  in  its  exercise  than  would  those 
who  desire  to  subject  them  to  the  influences  of  an  external 
government.  Let  those  who  fear  to  intrust  a  people  with  their 
own  domestic  concerns,  lest  they  should  prove  too  weak  or 
wicked  to  conduct  them  judiciously,  resort  to  the  mistaken 
and  mischievous  policy  of  restrictive  legislation — a  system 
founded  in  blind  and  selfish  conceits,  and  as  impotent  in  effect 
as  it  is  narrow  in  design.  Such  territory  as  we  acquire  will  be 
free,  and  thus  I  would  leave  its  people  and  its  domestic  gov 
ernment  ;  free  as  are  the  people  of  New  York  or  of  Virginia 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  their  government  on  such  principles 
and  organize  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem 
most  likely  to  effect  their  security,  prosperity,  and  happiness. 
If  they  shall  fail  to  do  this,  the  experiment  of  self-government 
will  fail  with  them. 

It  is  nought  to  me  how  various,  crude,  or  inconsistent  are 
the  speculations  upon  the  principles  which  these  resolutions 
contain,  and  what  would  be  their  effect  if  established.  They 
stand  upon  the  immutable  basis  of  self-government,  and  will 
ultimately  be  vindicated  and  sustained  by  the  American  peo 
ple  in  every  section  of  the  Union.  But  they  will  be  opposed 
on  grounds  as  various  as  the  motives  by  which  the  opposition 
is  induced.  This  is  already  evidenced  by  sections  of  the  pub 
lic  press  ;  which  I  notice,  not  as  newspaper  paragraphs  merely, 
but  for  the  interests  they  represent.  Already  the  Charleston 
Mercury  of  South  Carolina — a  paper  of  conceded  ability  and 
extensive  local  influence — declares  that  their  effect  would  be, 
to  prohibit  forever  slavery  in  the  acquired  territory,  and  there 
fore,  as  a  guardian  of  the  slave  interest,  calls  for  their  rejec 
tion  ;  and  papers  in  other  sections,  which  employ  the  slave 


246 

question  as  a  political  stalking-horse,  to  minister  to  the  appe 
tites  of  the  morbid  and  alarm  the  fears  of  the  timid,  discover 
in  them  not  only  the  effect  but  the  design  to  propagate  and 
extend  slavery.  But  I  leave  these  conflicting  theories  to  be 
adjusted  by  those  who  are  thus  enabled  to  penetrate  the  fu 
ture,  and  draw  opposite  results  from  the  same  premises  ;  I  leave 
the  practical  tests  Avith  those  who  shall  be  charged  with  the 
high  responsibilities  of  their  own  government,  under  our  glo 
rious  free  system,  under  the  Constitution  it  has  framed  and  the 
Providence  which  has  watched  over  it. 

It  would  doubtless  be  well  for  those  who  represent  these 
antagonisms,  who  feel  that  all  newly  acquired  territory  may 
be  pre-occupied  and  monopolized,  either  by  free  labor  on  the 
one  hand  or  by  slave  labor  on  the  other,  as  the  case  may  be, 
unless  their  favorite  ideas  are  indulged,  to  remember  that 
there  are  other  dangers,  either  real  or  imaginary,  to  which  it 
may  be  exposed  if  left  to  the  free  government  of  its  own  peo 
ple.  Our  institutions  invite  the  children  of  every  clime  to  sit 
down  under  the  wide-spreading  branches  of  the  tree  of  liberty, 
and  we  have  no  prohibitory  or  even  protective  impost  duties 
upon  social  manners  and  customs,  political  opinions,  or  reli 
gious  rites.  It  may  be  that  the  rugged  Russian,  allured  by  the 
gentle  breezes  of  Mexico,  may  fall  down  from  his  hyperborean 
regions  with  his  serfdom  and  his  military  rule  ;  or  the  Turk 
choose  to  regale  himself  there  with  his  pipes  and  mocha,  his 
Georgian  houris,  sensual  delights,  and  Mohammedan  divinity ; 
or,  what  is  equally  probable,  as  our  Pacific  possessions  place 
us  in  direct  communication  with  Asia,  that  the  plains  of  Mex 
ico  may  be  desecrated  by  the  trundling  of  the  car  of  Jugger 
naut  ;  or  the  subjects  of  the  Celestial  emperor — the  brother 
of  the  sun  and  moon — may  hurry  thither,  and  ruin  all  agricul 
tural  interests  by  converting  them  into  an  extensive  field  of 
hyson. 

But  let  those  who  entertain  them  dismiss  all  selfish  and  idle 
fears,  regard  others  as  wise,  and  as  virtuous,  and  as  capable 
of  their  own  government,  as  themselves,  and  all  will  be  well. 
The  spirit  of  freedom  will  enlarge  her  own  boundaries,  and 
people  the  area,  in  obedience  to  laws  stronger  than  the  laws  of 
Congress.  The  rich  heritage  we  enjoy  was  won  by  the  com 
mon  blood  and  treasure  of  the  North  and  South,  the  East  and 


1848.]  THE    ACQUISITION    OF    TERRITORY.  24:7 

the  West,  and  was  defended  and  vindicated  by  the  same,  in 
the  second  war  of  independence  ;  and  in  the  present  war  with 
a  reckless  and  semi-barbarous  foe,  the  brave  sons  of  every  sec 
tion  of  the  Union  have  fought  and  fallen  side  by  side ;  the 
parched  sands  of  Mexico  have  drunk  together  the  best  blood 
of  Xew  York  and  South  Carolina.  These  recollections  should 
renew  and  strengthen  the  ties  which  unite  the  members  of  the 
confederacy,  and  cause  them  to  spurn  all  attempts  at  provok 
ing  sectional  jealousies  and  irritations,  calculated  to  disturb 
the  harmony  and  shake  the  stability  of  the  Union.  In  the 
language  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  they  who  indulge  "this  treason 
against  human  hope  will  signalize  their  epoch  in  future  history 
as  the  counterpart  of  the  model  of  their  predecessors.-" 


SPEECH, 


ON     THE     BILL     TO     ESTABLISH     TERRITORIAL     GOVERNMENTS   IH 
OREGON,    CALIFORNIA,    AND   NEW    MEXICO, 

DELIVERED    IN    THE    SENATE    OF   THE  UNITED  STATES,  July  22,  July  28,  and 
August  13,  1848. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT — It  will  be  recollected  that  the  motion  to 
refer  this  subject  to  a  select  committee  was  made  by  the  hon 
orable  Senator  from  Delaware,*  after  an  irritating  debate  of 
many  days,  which  gave,  at  that  time,  no  promise  of  termina 
tion,  which  was  entirely  sectional  in  its  character,  and  was 
every  day  and  every  hour  making  the  breach  wider  and  the 
line  broader  which  separates  members  of  this  Union  from  each 
other  upon  the  question  of  domestic  slavery.  I  hailed  the  mo 
tion  to  refer  as  a  proposition  of  peace,  and  so  announced  at 
the  time  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  To  such  a  pitch,  indeed, 
had  the  feelings  of  some  become  excited,  that  upon  a  motion  to 
raise  this  committee,  with  a  view  to  some  satisfactory  disposi 
tion  of  the  question,  the  Senator  from  Connecticut  f  denounced 
all  action,  or  even  the  attempt  to  adjust  it,  in  advance ;  and  de 
clared,  in  substance,  that  Senators  who  should  vote  for  any 
compromise  of  this  question  would  be  burned  in  effigy  in  some 
sections  of  the  Union.  This,  sir,  had  very  little  influence 
upon  me  at  the  time ;  for  I  regard  it  as  a  very  suitable  pro 
ceeding,  that  those  who  have  no  better  reasons  or  arguments 
to  offer,  should  make  images,  as  heartless  and  worthless  as 
themselves,  upon  which  to  vent  their  brutal  fury.  Such 
threats,  or  even  their  execution,  have  no  terrors  for  me; — they 
did  not  influence  nor  control  my  action  at  the  time,  nor  will 
they. now  or  hereafter.  This  committee  was  raised  upon  the 

*  Ma.  CLAYTON  fMR.  NILES. 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL    GOVERNMENTS.  249 

x 

motion  of  an  experienced  Senator,  whose  vie^  s  upon  the  ques 
tion  which  so  much  disturbs  the  harmony  of  the  Union  are 
known  to  be  moderate  and  conciliatory.  It  was  raised  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  a  fair,  honorable  and  constitutional  ad 
justment,  and  of  giving  law  and  order  to  three  great  empires, 
now  destitute  of  either. 

\  The  vote  of  the  Senate  ordering  the  committee,  though 
strongly  resisted  by  those  who  desire  to  keep  the  question 
open,  was  about  three  to  one,  and  the  members  were  elected 
nearly  unanimously.  They  entered  upon  their  labors  with 
every  disposition  to  discharge  the  duties  cast  upon  them 
by  the  Senate,  with  the  strictest  fidelity.  They  saw 
Oregon — which  had  long  been  without  law,  except  such 
as  its  inhabitants,  without  legal  organization,  but  associated 
as  a  provisional  government,  had  furnished — the  prey  of  fero 
cious  tribes  of  savages,  who  were  murdering  its  defenceless 
people;  and  they  felt  deeply  the  necessity  of  extending  the 
protecting  gegis  of  our  laws  and  Constitution  over  it — of 
strengthening  its  hands,  and  placing  it  on  its  way  to  the 
Union ;  and  they  placed  the  Oregon  bill  in  a  form  to  which 
none,  as  it  seems  to  me,  can  object,  unless  such  objection  is 
taken  without  comprehending  its  provisions,  or  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  cavil.  They  saw  the  provinces  of  California  and 
New  Mexico  destitute  of  any  law  whatever,  except  such  as 
had  been  left  by  a  subjugated  people,  and  with  no  authority 
to  administer  even  that — all  military  authority  having  termi 
nated  with  the  treaty  of  peace.  They  found  the  subject  of  or 
ganizing  these. Territories — divided  in  opinion  as  they  were, 
and  as  they  knew  the  Senate  to  be — full  of  difficulty  ;  and,  af 
ter  much  labor  and  interchange  of  opinion,  presented  the  bill 
in  its  present  form,  as  the  best  and  most  acceptable  that  could 
be  presented  with  any  approach  to  unanimity  or  hope  of  suc 
cess  before  the  Senate. 

If  the  South  asked  too  much,  and  the  North  was  willing  to 
concede  too  little,  they  have  neither  given  to  the  one  nor  taken 
from  the  other.  They  have  not  encroached  upon  the  rights  of 
either.  They  have  left  the  question  of  slavery  where  they 
found  it — subject  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
I  States ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  have  placed  the  Territo 
ries  on  their  way  to  the  Union,  by  the  organization  of  pro- 


\' 


250  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

visional  governments,  which  are  restrained  from  any  legisla 
tion  that  can  embarrass  this  difficult  subject.  That  is  what 
has  been  done.  They  have  not  given  an  elective  legislature  to 
the  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  California,  for  the  reason 
that  but  few  of  the  people  are  there  who  are  to  control  their 
destiny.  But  they  have  extended  the  laws  and  Constitution 
over  them,  and  provided  for  the  appointment,  by  the  Presi 
dent  and  Senate,  of  officers  who  will  carry  them  into  execu 
tion.  They  have  also  provided  that  these  officers  may  make 
local  laws,  or  police  regulations,  as  they  may  be  more  proper 
ly  called,  restraining  them  from  acting  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  one  way  or  the  other,  whilst  all  their  laws  must  be 
brought  here  for  our  revision.  The  whole  matter  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  inquiry  :  "  Is  there  any  evil  to  be  appre 
hended  from  extending  the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the 
/  United  States  over  these  Territories,  and  enforcing  them 
,;  there,  until  the  people  are  in  a  condition  to  legislate  for  them 
selves?"  The  bill  does  not,  in  all  respects,  suit  my  personal 
views,  but  it  is  the  best  we  could  produce  by  agreement;  its 
duration  is  to  be  temporary,  and  I  support  it  cheerfully. 

Mr.  NILES  here  explained,  that  what  he  had  said  about  burn 
ing  in  effigy  related  to  what  had  taken  place  in  years  past.  He 
thought  Mr.  DICKINSON  did  not  truly  represent  the  sentiment 
in  his  State;  and,  in  approving  p_f, this  bill,  had  taken  ground 
inconsistent  with  his  speech  at  the  commencement  of  the  ses 
sion.  He  also  said  the  bill  was  skulking  and  cowardly. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  It  seems,  when  the  honorable  Senator  re 
ferred  to  Senators  beins:  burned  in  effigy,  that  he  alluded  to 

£?  O  »/  7 

what  had  been  done — that  he  made  the  reference  to  influence 
the  past,  and  not  the  present  nor  the  future.  It  struck  me  as  a 
most  extraordinary  remark  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and,  even  with  the  explanation  which  has  been  given,  I  do  not 
regard  it  in  any  other  light.  It  is  certainly  no  honor  to  be 
burned  in  effigy ;  but  as  that  proceeding  is  the  resort  only  of 
the  coward  and  the  ruffian,  it  inflicts  no  disgrace ;  neither 
shall  I  be  induced  to  alter  my  views  in  any  respect  by  such  a 
threat,  nor  by  the  allusion  to  the  fact,  that  a  portion  of  my 
constituents  have  other  views.  I  shall  be  my  own  judge  of 
what  are  the  wishes  of  my  constituents.  While  opposed 
to  slavery,  they  are  opposed  to  useless  and  mischie- 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL     GOVERNMENTS.  251 

vous  agitation,  tending  to  no  good,  but  calculated,  if  not  in 
tended,  to  create  sectional  jealousy  and  strife,  and  destroy  the 
harmony  of  the  Union;  and  they  will  frown  upon  those  who, 
for  any  purpose,  or  any  pretence,  shall  lend  themselves  to 
these  schemes  of  disturbance  and  agitation.  By  what  author 
ity  does  the  Senator  call  me  to  account  ?  Where  did  he  ob 
tain  his  warrant  ?  I  would  say  to  the  honorable  Senator,  in  the 
language  of  a  book  with  which  he  is  perhaps  familiar,  "  Who 
art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant  ?  to  his  own  mas 
ter  he  standeth  or  falleth."  But,  sir,  if  the  Senator  can  show 
that  I  am  responsible  to  him,  I  will  render  him  my  reasons  for 
my  course  with  pleasure.  And,  in  the  mean  time,  when  he 
shall  have  rendered  an  account  of  his  own  stewardship  to  his 
constituents  upon  all  the  great  questions  of  the  last  few  years, 
in  the  language  of  the  banker,  if  he  has  "  anything  over,"  and 
I  need  it,  I  will  draw  on  him. 

The  Senator  says  that  my  position  is  inconsistent  with  a 
speech  which  I  delivered  here  at  the  early  part  of  the  session. 
If  I  had,  on  reviewing  a  former  opinion,  believed  it  to  be  erro 
neous,  I  would  not,  for  the  mere  sake  of  seeming  to  be  con 
sistent,  refuse  to  become  wiser  on  the  subject.  But  my  pres 
ent  position  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  assumed  by  me  on 
the  occasion  to  which  the  honorable  Senator  has  alluded.  Al 
low  me  to  recall  his  attention  to  the  resolution  which  I  had 
the  honor  to  introduce.  It  was  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  in  organizing  a  territorial  government  for  territory 
belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  principles  of  self-government  upon 
which  our  federative  system  rests  will  be  best  promoted,  the  true  spirit 
and  meaning  of  the  Constitution  observed,  and  the  Confederacy 
strengthened,  by  leaving  all  questions  concerning  the  domestic  policy 
therein  to  the  legislature  chosen  by  the  people  thereof. 

This  is  the  resolution,  and  the  speech  embraced  the  same 
views  in  extenso. 

Now,  so  far  as  the  Oregon  bill  is  concerned,  it  recognizes 
to  the  very  letter  the  principle  of  that  resolution ;  and  I  would 
here  add,  as  I  feel  at  liberty  to  do,  that  in  committee  I  voted 
for  the  extension  of  it  to  New  Mexico  and  California ;  but  my 
brethren  of  the  committee  overruled  me,  and  I  do  not  say  that 
their  reasons  were  not  good — because  the  people  now  inhabit- 


252  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

ing  those  Territories,  many  of  them,  are  "but  half  civilized,  and 
are  perhaps  not  qualified  to  exercise  all  the  rights  of  govern 
ment,  and  it  was  deemed  best  for  the  present  to  give  them  a 
provisional  government  in  this  form.  These  Territories  have 
been  thus  placed  on  their  way  to  the  very  end  which  I  sug 
gested  ;  and  if  the  arrangement  does  not  fully  come  up  to  my 
resolution,  the  spirit  of  it  is  substantially  carried  out.  But 
whether  so  or  not,  is  perfectly  immaterial  to  my  purpose  or  to 
the  American  people.  I  have  no  purposes  to  serve  but  to  pro 
cure  the  organization  of  these  Territories  in  the  best  possible 
form.  And  this  is  no  skulking  bill,  as  asserted  by  the  Senator 
from  Connecticut,  unless  the  Constitution  is  a  coward,  and  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  skulk.  The  Constitution  and  laws 
are  extended  over  these  Territories  in  the  place  of  the  blud 
geon,  the  dagger,  and  the  rifle,  which  now  bear  rule  there.  The 
Senator  from  Connecticut  is  in  favor  of  leaving  these  as  the 
"  lords  paramount,"  in  order  that  they  may  be  free  !  I  mean 
to  establish  there  the  freedom  of  government,  and  not  the 
freedom  of  the  cut-throat.  I  would  extend  the  laws  there,  to 
preserve  life,  liberty,  and  property,  and  leave  them  as  free  as 
God  and  our  institutions  leave  them,  to  come  into  this  Union 
according  to  the  conditions  of  our  national  compact. 

I  did  not  rise  to  discuss  this  bill,  but  I  am  not  to  be  mis 
represented.  I  know  the  fevered  feeling  on  this  subject, 
and  I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  attempts  to  fan  it.  It  has  been 
said  that  this  is  a  bill  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  Sen 
ator  from  South  Carolina.  Suppose  it  is,  is  it  to  be  condemned 
for  that,  if  its  provisions  are  just  ?  Much  as  I  respect  that 
gentleman  and  his  great  experience,  I  do  not  think  the  bill  is 
better  or  worse  for  meeting  his  approbation,  although  it  is 
well  known,  that  in  all  respects,  it  does  not  fully  accord  with 
his  wishes.  But  why  did  the  Senator  from  Connecticut  speak 
of  the  bill  as  having  received  the  sanction  of  the  Senator  from 
South  Carolina,  unless  he  meant  the  people  of  the  North  to 
believe  that  it  must  be  a  little  worse  for  that  reason  ?  We 
all  know  that  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina  has  his  peculiar 
views,  but  I  will  do  him  the  justice  to  say,  that  upon  this  com 
mittee  he  exhibited  every  disposition  to  be  conciliatory,  and 
to  yield  as  far  as  he  consistently  could.  Such,  indeed,  was  the 
spirit  manifested  by  all  the  members  of  the  committee.  They 


1848.]  TEEKITOKIAL     GOVERNMENTS.  253 

brought  forward  the  best  project  which,  on  the  whole,  they 
could  present.  The  Senator  has  asked,  if  I  approve  the  bill  ? 
I  do  with  my  whole  heart.  For  one,  I  could  go  much  further. 
The  bill  does  not  meet  all  my  views  by  any  means ;  but  the 
Constitution  itself  was  made  up  of  compromises  on  this  sub 
ject,  and  our  action  in  regard  to  it  must  be  in  the  same  spirit. 


At  the  close  of  the  debate  on  the  morning  of  the  20th 
July,  1848— 

Mr.  DICKINSON  said  :  As  a  member  of  the  select  committee 
who  joined  in  reporting  the  bill  under  consideration,  Mr.  Pres 
ident,  I  have  listened  in  silence,  through  a  continuous  session 
of  twenty-one  hours,  to  the  recital  of  new  speeches  and  the 
repetition  of  old  ones,  some  of  which  were  both  calculated  and 
intended  to  consume  time  and  prevent  the  action  of  the  Senate 
upon  the  bill ;  and  now  at  day  dawn,  exhausted  as  I  am,  I 
deem  it  due  to  the  occasion  to  review  briefly  the  history  of 
this  matter,  and  to  say  a  few  words,  chiefly  in  vindication 
of  the  course  of  the  committee,  which  has  been  so  wantonly 
and  ungenerously  assailed.  But  I  know  how  severely  the  pa 
tience  and  endurance  of  the  Senate  have  been  tried,  and  if 
there  is  a  single  friend  of  the  bill  who  objects  to  my  proceed 
ing,  I  will  cheerfully  forego  my  intention,  that  the  vote  may 
at  once  be  taken.  [Cries  of  "  Go  on,  go  on,"  from  all  parts  of 
the  chamber.] 

The  duty  of  preparing  a  bill  upon  this  subject  was  devolv 
ed  upon  the  committee  by  an  order  of  the  Senate,  and  the 
members  selected  to  discharge  the  high  duty  were  chosen  by 
a  vote  nearly  unanimous.  None  sought  or  could  have  desired 
a  duty  so  delicate  and  responsible.  No  one  who  loved  his 
country  or  had  the  manhood  to  act  up  to  the  emergency,  was 
at  liberty  to  decline  it.  To  myself,  if  I  would  have  avoided 
responsibility,  was  the  task  peculiarly  thankless  and  irksome  ; 
for  it  is  well  known,  that  in  the  State  which  I  have  the  honor 
in  part  to  represent,  besides  the  usual  feeling  against  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  common  to  the  citizens  of  all  free  States — be 
sides  the  fevered  condition  of  the  public  mind,  stimulated  by 
every  artificial  means  that  can  be  invented,  and  the  Utopian 


idea  of  honest  fanaticism  that  this  and  all  the  other  ills  of  life 
can  be  cured  by  legislation,  there  is  a  political  organization 
founded  in  and  having  for  its  object  the  agitation  of  this  dan 
gerous  and  disturbing  element,  which  lives,  and  moves,  and 
has  its  vagrant  being,  in  creating  and  fostering  sectional  jeal 
ousy,  irritation,  and  strife.  Every  individual  who  refuses  to 
join  in  or  bow  down  to  this  unholy  and  ruthless  crusade  is 
marked  out  for  reprobation,  and  the  sluices  of  unmitigated 
calumny  and  detraction  are  opened  upon  his  head.  Every  one 
who  dares  to  breast  the  blind  fury  of  the  storm  is,  so  far  as 
power  is  vouchsafed  to  faction,  doomed  to  speedy  and  fearful 
destruction,  and  this  attempt  to  quiet  forever  the  excitement 
from  which  it  derives  its  aliment  has  opened  afresh  the  foun 
tains  of  its  bitterness,  and  made  it  more  fierce  and  revengeful 
than  a  bear  bereaved  of  her  whelps. 

But  called  upon  to  act  in  a  matter  so  pregnant  with  weal 
or  woe,  I  have  endeavored  to  discharge  the  duty,  regardless  of 
personal  considerations  ;  and  I  thank  heaven  that  it  has  fallen 
to  my  lot  to  play  an  humble  part  in  this  mission  of  peace.  It 
has  met  the  resistance  which  any  other  bill  calculated  to  settle 
the  question  upon  terms  just  and  honorable  to  all  sections  of 
the  Union  would  have  met  by  those  who,  for  political  ends, 
are  willing  to  traffic  in  the  harmony  and  integrity  of  the 
Union  through  the  presidential  campaign.  I  have  carefully 
watched  the  developments  of  this  yearling  benevolence  from 
its  lawless  conception  to  its  present  threatening  magnitude. 
I  know  well  the  insatiate  appetite  it  is  to  feed  and  the  revenge 
it  is  designed  to  glut.  I  have  opposed  the  desolating  progress 
of  its  fell  and  ferocious  spirit  over  this  fair  and  happy  land, 
and  was  long  since  pointed  out  as  the  victim  of  its  vengeance. 
But,  sir,  I  set  it  at  defiance.  I  have  discharged  my  duty  fear 
lessly,  and  now  let  it  do  its  worst.  "  My  head  is  uncovered, 
and  my  bosom  bare."  But  I  shall  not  act  merely  upon  the 
defensive.  I  shall  tear  the  veil  from  the  face  of  Mokanna,  and 
exhibit  to  the  gaze  of  an  insulted  and  indignant  people  the 
corrupt  materials  from  which  this  cry  of  spurious  philanthropy 
is  ascending.  I  shall  appeal  from  Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober 
—from  the  demagogues  who  direct  and  inflame  the  agitation 
to  the  intelligent  masses  of  the  people.  I  shall  arraign  for 
trial  both  the  masters  and  the  workmen,  as  well  those  who  set 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL     GOVERNMENTS.  255 

it  on  foot  eVe  where  as  those  who  speak  for  it  here  ;  nor  shall 
I  be  restrained  or  diverted,  or  permit  others  to  be  deceived, 
by  the  parrot-cry  of  "  free  soil,"  so  often  and  so  flippantly 
repeated. 

I  respect  with  a  feeling  akin  to  reverence  the  sentiment 
entertained  by  the  great  masses  of  those  I  represent,  upon  the 
subject  of  domestic  slavery.  I  know  how  deeply  its  existence 
is  deplored  by  the  true  philanthropist,  and  how  earnestly  has 
benevolence  endeavored  to  devise  means  to  mitigate  the  evil. 
"Nor  shall  I  call  in  question  those  who  differ  with  me  upon  the 
propriety  or  advantage  of  federal  legislation  upon  the  subject. 
I  entertain  the  same  respect  for  their  opinions  that  I  claim  for 
my  own.  But  from  whence  comes  so  suddenly  this  fervid  cry 
of  benevolence,  philanthropy,  and  "free  soil?"  Is  it  from 
those  who  have  been  distinguished  by  their  deeds  of  charity  ? 
— those  who  have  watched  by  the  bed  of  sickness,  who  have 
consoled  afflicted  humanity,  fed  the  hungry,  and  clothed  the 
naked  ?  No,  sir ;  no.  First  and  foremost  in  the  ranks,  and 
loudest  in  the  clamor,  is  the  mildewed  and  seedy  politician — 
the  heartless  demagogue — the  profligate  libertine,  and  the 
shameless  hypocrite,  mouthing  their  professions  of  superior 
sanctity,  and  giving  lessons  in  philanthropy  and  morals  to 
honest  men.  And  for  what  purpose,  and  to  what  end,  are  our 
ears  stunned  by  the  outcry  of  this  new-fledged  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  freedom  ?  That  the  dangerous  element  in  our  insti 
tutions,  which  required  all  the  wisdom  and  forbearance  of  the 
great  and  pure  spirits  of  the  Revolution  to  reconcile,  which 
has  once  since  shaken  the  Union  from  centre  to  circumference, 
and  now  disturbs  its  harmony  and  threatens  its  integrity,  may 
be  used  as  a  partisan  stock  in  trade  through  the  presidential 
campaign ;  that  the  repose  of  the  political  cemetery  may  be 
broken,  and  the  putrescent  remains  of  deceased  officials  ex 
humed,  and  restored  to  life  and  hope,  and  honors  and  emolu 
ments,  by  the  resurrecting  process  of  this  political  galvanism. 

This  great  family  of  States,  of  dissimilar  local  institutions 
and  diversified  interests,  agreed  to  associate  upon  terms  of 
mutual  concession  for  the  general  good.  The  question  then 
was,  and  still  is,  whether  we  should  have  a  Union  with  slavery, 
or  slavery  without  a  Union.  The  faith  in  which  they  became 
parties  to  the  compact  should  be  preserved  in  letter  and  spirit. 


256  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

In  domestic  controversies,  whether  of  individuals  or  States — • 
the  most  bitter  and  relentless  of  all  human  struggles — it  matters 
little  whether  one  party  or  the  other,  or  both,  is  in  the  wrong, 
they  are  characterized  by  the  same  undying  hate,  the  same 
fierce  passion,  and  the  same  destruction  of  all  that  is  happi 
ness  and  peace ;  and  he  who  contributes  to  stir  and  provoke 
the  sources  of  irritation,  however  carefully  he  may  disguise  it, 
will  be  held  in  the  sight  of  God  an  enemy  of  his  race. 

But  what  is  the  bill  to  which  so  many  objections,  inconsis 
tent  with  themselves  and  with  each  other,  have  been  taken, 
and  which  one  listening  to  the  wholesale  assertions  of  those 
who  oppose  it  would  suppose  both  abolished  slavery  wherever 
it  existed,  and  extended  it  throughout  Christendom.  Those 
who  oppose  it  from  the  North  declare  that  it  provides  for  the 
"extension  of  slavery"  throughout  the  Territories  through  all 
time.  Those  who  resist  it  from  the  South  insist,  with  equal 
confidence,  that  it  excludes  it  forever ;  while  those  who  read 
it  correctly,  and  understand  its  provisions,  will  see  that  it  does 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  but  leaves  that  question,  under 
the  constitution,  to  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country,  from 
which  it  cannot  and  ought  not  to  be  taken,  and  by  which  it 
must  finally  be  decided,  let  the  legislation  of  Congress  be 
what  it  may.  Congress  cannot,  if  it  would,  take  the  decision 
from  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country,  and  should  not  at. 
tempt  to.  If  the  Constitution  gives  the  right  of  the  master  to 
hold  his  slave  there  so  long  as  it  remains  a  Territory,  as  is  in 
sisted  on  one  hand  and  denied  on  the  other,  a  prohibitory  act 
of  Congress  could  not  prevent  it ;  and  we  have  left  it  in  the 
most  favorable  shape  to  be  fairly  tested. 

For  that  part  of  Oregon  which  was  not  given  to  Great 
Britain  by  the  votes  of  "free  soil"  Senators,  the  bill  gives  a 
delegate  in  Congress,  a  governor,  judges,  courts,  and  an  elec 
tive  territorial  legislature,  and  authorizes  these  to  enact  laws 
for  themselves  which  shall  be  valid  and  operative,  unless  dis 
approved  and  annulled  by  the  action  of  Congress.  It  provides 
that  the  present  provisional  laws  of  Oregon  shall  remain  in 
force  for  three  months  after  the  assembling  of  the  first  territo 
rial  legislature,  and  gives  the  legislature  power  to  re-enact  and 
continue  them,  or  any  portion  of  them,  or  not,  at  its  pleasure. 
And  this  is  called  "  abolishing  freedom !  " 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL     GOVERNMENTS.  257 

For  each  of  the  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  California, 
it  gives  a  governor,  judges,  secretary,  attorney,  marshal,  &c., 
to  be  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate.  It  organizes 
courts  of  justice,  and  authorizes  the  governor  and  judges  to 
act  as  a  legislative  council,  and  to  pass,  or  rather  to  propose, 
temporary  laws  for  the  government  of  the  people — such  pro 
posed  laws  not  to  take  effect  until  approved  by  Congress. 
But  the  governor  and  judges,  being  appointees  of  the  Presi 
dent,  and  not  elected  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  are  prohibit 
ed  from  passing  laws  respecting  slavery.  They  are  also  pro 
hibited  from  legislating  for  establishing  religion,  for  the 
primary  disposition  of  the  soil,  or  to  pledge  the  faith  of  the 
Territory  for  debt.  From  questions  arising  in  these  Territo 
ries,  and  decided  by  their  courts,  there  is  an  appeal  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  In  this  form,  substan 
tially,  were  most  of  the  early  territorial  governments  of  the 
United  States  organized.  The  government  is  designed  to  be 
merely  temporary — to  give  the  people  of  those  distant  provin 
ces,  and  those  who  may  desire  to  go  there,  the  protecting 
benefits  of  law,  while  it  leaves  the  rights  of  all,  whether  indi 
viduals,  States,  or  Territories,  whether  positive  or  relative, 
unprejudiced,  as  they  now  exist,  subject  to  and  upheld  by  all 
the  rights  and  guaranties  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  open  to  the  future  legislation  of  Con 
gress  when  the  population  there  shall  demand  or  justify  a 
more  popular  form  of  government,  and  a  more  auspicious  pe 
riod  shall  enable  Congress  to  act  under  less  embarrassment. 
And  this  is  denominated  the  "  extension  of  slavery." 

The  objections  which  are  urged  against  this  bill  by  the  par 
excellence  advocates  of  "  free  soil,"  are  as  puerile  and  far-fetch 
ed  as  they  are  captious  and  inconsistent.  They  object,  be 
cause  it  gives  the  people  of  Oregon  the  right  to  legislate  for 
themselves,  and  complain  that  it  does  not  give  that  privilege 
to  the  people  of  New  Mexico  and  California.  They  insist  that 
Congress  shall  legislate  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  Terri 
tories,  and  affect  to  tremble  because  the  territorial  laws  are 
subject  to  the  supervision  of  Congress,  lest  it  may,  perchance, 
"  abolish  freedom  !  "  They  profess  to  favor  popular  liberty, 
and  yet  insist  that  a  hasty  and  imperfect  code  of  laws,  design 
ed  to  suit  the  earliest  condition  of  the  people  of  Oregon,  and 
17 


258 

framed  under  the  influence  of  a  British  corporation,  whether 
good,  bad,  or  indifferent ;  whether  mischievous  or  useful  5 
whether  the  people  desire  to  retain  them,  or  wish  to  abolish 
them, — shall,  without  alteration,  or  change  of  section  or  sylla 
ble,  now  or  hereafter,  be  forced  upon  the  people  of  the  Terri 
tory  so  long  as  they  shall  remain  such,  and  go  down  from  one 
generation  to  another,  nolens  volens.  And  all  this  is  proposed 
in  the  name  of  freedom  !  A  baser  specimen  of  quack  legisla 
tion  never  disfigured  the  records  of  civilized  men  !  A  blacker 
decree  of  despotism,  in  principle,  was  never  fulminated  since 
the  edict  of  Nantes  !  And  has  it,  indeed,  come  to  this,  that 
the  sons  of  those  who  raised  the  standard  of  revolution,  be 
cause  they  were  denied  the  privilege  of  colonial  legislation 
by  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  George  the  Third,  now  seek 
to  deny  to  a  young  and  adventurous  people,  three  thousand 
miles  distant,  who  have  gone  out  from  amongst  us,  the  price 
less  boon  of  self-government,  subject,  too,  to  the  supervision 
of  Congress — lest,  perchance,  if  we  do  not  rivet  shackles  upon 
their  sturdy  limbs  forever  by  the  omnipotence  of  federal  legis 
lation,  they  may  have  less  regard  for  themselves  than  we  have 
for  them,  and,  in  the  cant  phrase  of  the  "free  soil"  vocabu 
lary,  "  abolish  freedom  ?  " 

They  have  consumed  reams  of  paper  in  proving  that  the  in 
habitants  of  New  Mexico  and  California  were  incapable  of  ap 
preciating  the  benefits  of  popular  government,  and  ought  not  to 
be  invested  with  its  powers  and  privileges  ;  and  yet  they  mur 
mur,  because,  in  the  proposed  temporary  provision,  they  are  not 
placed  upon  a  par  with  the  inhabitants  of  Oregon ;  and  they 
affect  to  see  in  this,  as  they  do  in  everything  else  that  proposes 
to  settle  this  disturbing  question,  a  foul  plot  for  the  "  extension 
of  slavery."  They  have  exhausted  the  sources  of  common  law 
from  the  days  of  Elizabeth ;  have  grouped  the  adjudged  cases 
from  all  the  courts,  Territorial,  State,  and  Federal,  and  have  read 
Congressional  history  out  of  countenance,  in  strengthening  their 
arguments  and  compilations,  to  prove  that  slavery  was  the 
creature  of  municipal  law,  and  could  not  go  to  these  Territories, 
unless  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  positive  legislation  by 
Congress ;  and  yet  they  stultify  themselves,  and  assert,  with  an 
assurance  which  is  a  tolerable  substitute  for  sincerity,  that  the 
bill  which  prohibits  all  legislation  upon  the  subject,  provides 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL    GOVERNMENTS.  259 

for  the  "  extension  of  slavery !  "  The  cause  must  be  desperate 
indeed,  and  reduced  to  necessities  most  pitiable  and  abject, 
which  requires  of  its  advocates  such  humiliating  service.  They 
assert  their  belief  that  the  slaveholder  will  rush  into  these  Ter 
ritories,  and  hold  his  slaves  there,  regardless  of  law ;  and  yet 
they  refuse  to  give  them  courts  of  justice,  and  withhold  that 
iirst  arid  last  and  only  guarantee  of  him  who  is  unlawfully  re 
strained  of  his  liberty — the  habeas  corpus.  They  are  willing 
and  anxious  that  these  Territories  should  be  left  without  the 
protection  of  law,  subject  to  the  aggressions  of  what  they  term 
the  "  slave  power,"  or  anything  else,  and  they  especially  re 
monstrate  against  placing  them  under  the  security  of  the  laws 
and  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  thus  protecting  life, 
liberty,  and  property,  because  that  would  be,  say  they,  an  "  ex 
tension  of  slavery  !  "  The  expression  of  the  Senator  from  Dela 
ware,*  that  the  conflicting  claims  would  be  adjusted  by  judicial 
decisions,  under  the  silent  operations  of  the  Constitution,  has 
been  particularly  excepted  to,  and  repeated  as  if  of  great  sig 
nificance. 

The  disposition  of  this  profitless  struggle  by  the  "  silent 
operations  of  the  Constitution,"  is  the  last  thing  agitators  de 
sire.  It  would  overthrow  their  Ephesian  goddess,  whose  great 
ness  they  will  proclaim  so  long  as  she  furnishes  them  profitable 
employment.  It  would  destroy  the  meat  upon  which  the 
Caesars  feed,  and  hope  to  grow  so  great  in  power  and  office. 
Well  may  they  cry  out  against  the  "  silent  operations  of  the 
Constitution,"  which  is  to  scatter  their  cherished  hopes  to  the 
winds,  by  taking  the  place  of  pretension,  and  turbulence,  and 
anarchy,  and  strife,  and  disunion.  They  tremble  at  the  mention 
of  law  and  courts  of  justice,  and  fly  from  the  "  silent  operations 
of  the  Constitution,"  as  the  Devil  is  said  to  flee  at  the  sight  of 
holy  water.  The  Constitution,  that  great  chart  laid  down  by 
the  fathers  of  the  Republic,  to  direct  us  in  moments  of  darkness 
and  peril,  is  distrusted  and  impeached ;  and  in  their  haste  to 
denounce  the  bill,  and  inflame  the  excitement,  with  "  free  soil " 
upon  their  lips,  and  forgetting  that  the  Constitution  cannot  be 
controlled  or  overrode  by  law,  they  declare  and  repeat,  that 
leaving  the  question  to  the  operations  of  the  Constitution  is  the 

*  MR.  CLAYTON. 


260 

"  extension  of  slavery  !  " — thus  conceding  away  the  whole  ground 
upon  which  Northern  men  profess  to  stand,  and  admitting  and 
insisting,  with  those  of  extreme  opinions  at  the  South,  without 
reserve  or  qualification,  that  the  Constitution  of  itself  authorizes 
the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories  where  it  did  not  exist 
before  ! — a  doctrine  which  has  never  before  been  asserted,  much 
less  advocated,  at  the  North,  and  upon  which  the  ablest  states 
men  and  lawyers  of  the  South  are  by  no  means  unanimous. 

But  again  :  the  bill  is  declared  by  my  honorable  colleague, 
and  the  Senator  from  Connecticut,  to  be  a  "  device  of  timidity," 
avoiding  responsibility,  and  settling  nothing.  The  charge  of 
timidity,  and  an  evasion  of  responsibility,  comes  with  an  ill 
grace,  indeed,  from  those  who,  for  the  last  six  weeks,  have  been 
shaking  in  their  shoes,  lest  they  should  be  compelled  to  meet 
this  question  openly,  and  take  one  side  or  the  other ;  who  have 
been  endeavoring,  by  oft-repeated  and  persevering  efforts,  by 
every  "  device  "  that  "  timidity  "  couid  suggest,  and  by  any  and 
every  combination  that  could  be  formed  upon  either  side  of  the 
Chamber,  to  procure  a  final  adjournment,  regardless  of  the  state 
of  the  public  business,  that  they  might  avoid  the  responsibility 
of  action,  that  the  question  might  not  be  settled,  and  that  it 
might  be  shuffled  over  the  next  election,  for  the  benefit  of  free- 
soil  agitators,  and  of  those  who  prefer  to  stand  before  the  coun 
try  as  favoring  both  sides.  If,  sir,  there  has  been  any  unmanly 
shirking,  any  attempt  to  avoid  responsibility,  any  exhibitions 
of  timidity  and  want  of  true  nerve,  it  does  not  rest  with  those 
who  have  fearlessly  met  this  great  emergency,  but  upon  those 
— and  I  charge  it  home  upon  them — who,  professing  other  ob 
jects  and  purposes,  would  adjourn  Congress,  and  deny  to  their 
fellow-beings  upon  the  borders  of  civilization,  the  protection  of 
our  Constitution  and  laws,  lest  the  paltry  schemes  of  a  disor 
ganizing  and  unprincipled  faction  should  be  overthrown,  and  its 
aliment  destroyed.  The  Senator  from  New  Hampshire  *  stands 
out  in  honorable  contrast  with  some  of  those  who  unite  with 
him  in  opposition  to  the  bill.  He  takes  the  responsibility  of  his 
independent  position  manfully,  and  does  not  attempt  to  accom 
plish  his  ends  under  cover  of  pretences  and  disguises.  He  puts 
forth  his  opinions,  and  avows  his  intentions  openly,  and  im- 

*  MR.  HALE. 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL     GOVERNMENTS.  261 

peaches  not  the  motives  of  those  who  oppose  him.  He  has  the 
frankness  to  declare  that  if  he  had  confidence  in  the  integrity 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  he  should  be  satisfied  with  the  constitu 
tional  disposition  proposed  by  the  bill ;  but  distrusting  its  in 
tegrity,  he  is  unwilling  to  leave  the  question  to  its  adjudica 
tion.  Although  he  will  find  few,  very  few,  I  trust,  to  concur 
with  him  in  the  opinion  he  entertains  of  that  high  tribunal,  he 
merits  our  respect  for  meeting  the  bill  with  an  objection  which 
is  neither  childish  nor  evasive,  nor  intended  to  misstate  the 
question  nor  deceive  the  people. 

But  other  Senators  (and  conspicuous  among  them  the  Sena 
tor  from  Connecticut,*  whose  sense  of  the  necessity  of  free  soil 
increases  as  the  political  campaign  progresses)  have,  in  lieu  of 
even  an  apology  for  arguments,  so  far  forgotten  what  was  due 
to  their  position,  if  not  to  themselves,  as  to  assail  the  committee 
in  a  tone  and  in  language  which  should  have  been  left  to  dema 
gogues  out  of  doors.  Sir,  that  committee  were,  like  every  other 
committee,  entitled  to  respect,  whether  their  report  was  wise 
or  unwise — whether  it  met  the  views  of  the  Senate,  or  the  views 
of  individual  Senators  only.  To  say  nothing  of  its  junior  mem 
bers  in  official  life,  it  numbered  men  whose  advanced  age  and 
whose  long  public  service  should  have  shielded  them  from  at 
tacks  so  wanton  and  ruthless — men,  with  some  of  whom  I  have 
never  acted  politically,  but  who,  I  take  pleasure  in  saying,  have 
long  been  looked  to  by  the  country  as  the  great  landmarks  of 
the  Constitution.  There  was  the  Senator  from  South  Carolina, f 
the  Senator  from  Delaware,!  and  the  Senator  from  Vermont,§ 
who  may  well  look  down  and  laugh  to  scorn  the  assaults  of 
those  who  are  engaged  in  playing  a  desperate  political  game, 
for  purposes  too  well  understood.  Could  those  who  have  been 
so  furiously  censorious  have  seen  that  committee  associated — 
have  witnessed  their  days  of  toil  and  nights  of  study — their 
deep  solicitude  over  the  matter  that  had  been  confided  to  them 
— and,  above  all,  witnessed  how  patriotism  can  rise  above  the 
miserable  schemes  of  party  agitation,  and  look  difficulty  and 
danger  full  in  the  face,  they  would  have  returned  from  the  con 
templation  wiser  if  not  with  a  more  just  spirit. 

Sir,  do  we  not  all  see  and  know  that  the  longer  this  question 

*  MR.  NILES.        t  MR.  CALUOUN.         \  MR.  CLAYTON.        §  MR.  PHELPS. 


262  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

is  postponed,  the  more  difficult  the  adjustment  ?  Is  it  not  ap 
parent  to  all,  that  this,  in  substance,  is  the  only  mode  by  which 
we  can  hope  to  give  these  Territories  governments  ?  Does  any 
one  expect  to  procure  the  insertion  of  that  political  catholicon, 
the  "  ordinance  of  1787  ?  "  And  if  he  does,  does  he  not  know 
that  it  is  not  stronger  than  the  Constitution  ;  and  that  it  must 
still  be  left  to  the  courts  to  say  whether  slavery  is  justified 
there,  or  whether  it  is  not  ?  "  To  this  complexion  it  must  come 
at  last ; "  and  let  the  action  of  Congress  be  one  way  or  the 
other,  its  final  disposition  was  given  by  the  Constitution  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  there  it  must  rest. 

Sir,  I  remember,  from  the  lips  of  those  who  wrought  out 
this  glorious  heritage  of  hope,  the  blood,  and  tears,  arid  anguish 
its  purchase  cost ;  and  shall  it  now  be  placed  in  jeopardy  ?  I 
see  this  great  and  beautiful  fabric  made  the  sport  of  those  who 
would  raze  it  to  its  foundation,  and  leave  it  a  shapeless  pile  of 
ruins,  to  carry  out  an  abstraction — to  feed  a  revengeful  craving, 
and  minister  to  selfish  ends.  I  see  abroad  a  spirit  which  would 
cause  this  fair  and  fertile  plain  to  be  despoiled  by  the  plough 
share  of  ruin,  and  covered  over  with  ashes  and  desolation.  I 
see  the  blear-eyed  demon  of  destruction  let  loose  like  Satan  to 
blast  and  wither  all  that  is  bright  and  beautiful — to  set  man 
against  his  brother  in  strife  and  contention,  until  hungry  hounds 
shall  dispute  over  the  carcasses  of  those  who  have  last  been 
murdered.  Sir,  I  arraign  these  architects  of  ruin  in  the  name 
of  the  liberty  they  invoke,  for  treason  against  mankind,  and 
present  them  for  trial  and  judgment  before  the  people  they 
would  betray,  and  the  institutions  they  would  destroy.  There 
let  them  stand,  pale  and  trembling,  until  the  final  verdict  of 
condemnation  which  awaits  them. 


On  the  13th  of  August,  1848,  at  the  close  of  the  debate  upon 
the  bill  to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  in  Oregon,  and 
for  other  purposes — 

Mr.  DICKINSON  said :  I  have,  from  the  commencement  of  the 
session,  devoted  the  best  energies  of  my  mind  to  establish  gov 
ernments  in  the  Territories  of  Oregon,  New  Mexico,  and  Cali 
fornia.  For  that  purpose,  upon  the  Select  Committee  of  eight 
which  presented  the  "  compromise  bill,"  I  yielded  individual 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL     GOVERNMENTS.  263 

wishes  and  opinions  to  secure  unanimity.  On  the  consideration 
of  that  bill  in  the  Senate,  I  voted  to  retain  portions  of  it  which 
I  did  not  personally  approve,  and  to  reject  amendments  which, 
under  other  circumstances,  I  would  have  favored,  that  the  bill 
might  be  as" acceptable  as  possible  to  a  large  majority  in  its 
principal  features,  and  the  great  and  necessary  objects  sought 
foy  it — the  organization  of  the  several  territorial  governments, 
and  the  settlement  of  the  vexed  and  profitless  question  of 
slavery  in  the  Territories  attained.  So  far  as  the  Senate  was 
concerned,  my  objects  and  expectations  were  answered,  and  the 
bill  was  passed  by  a  decided  majority.  It  was  sent  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  was  there,  in  an  unheard-of  and 
extraordinary  manner,  hastily,  without  reading,  printing,  refer 
ring,  considering,  or  obtaining  a  general  knowledge  of  its  pro 
visions,  without  any  effort  or  opportunity  to  adopt  such  parts 
as  were  acceptable,  or  to  amend  or  reject  such  portions  as  were 
not,  laid  upon  the  table  for  the  remainder  of  the  session.  I  have 
neither  the  right  nor  the  disposition  to  characterize  the  action 
of  the  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  nor  to  speak 
of  the  motives  which  influenced  their  action.  They  are,  like 
ourselves,  responsible  to  the  country ;  and  those  entitled  to 
judge  will  not  fail  to  pass  in  review  both  the  wisdom  and  in 
tegrity  of  their  conduct  in  the  premises.  The  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  afterwards  sent  us  a  bill  for  the  organization  of  the 
Territorial  Government  of  Oregon  alone.  The  bill  was  courte 
ously  referred  to  our  Territorial  Committee — as  all  bills  should 
be,  going  from  one  House  to  the  other — and  that  committee, 
through  its  chairman,*  reported  in  favor  of  its  passage,  with  an 
amendment  extending  the  Missouri  compromise  line — the  parallel 
of  36°  30'  north  latitude — to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  For  this  amend 
ment  I  voted — not  that  I  favor,  as  a  principle,  the  Missouri  com 
promise,  or  other  arbitrary  legislation  over  domestic  questions 
in  the  Territories  by  Congress  ;  my  favorite  principle  being  well 
~* known  to  be  that  of  non-interference  by  the  federal  govern- 
\  ment,  and  leaving  the  whole  subject  to  the  people  who  are 
\  finally  to  compose  the  State,  to  judge  of  the  question  for  them- 
\  selves  ;  but  I  voted  for  this  line — not  regarding  it  with  a  tithe 
\  of  the  favor  I  did  the  constitutional  compromise  bill  of  the 

*  Mn.  DOUGLAS. 


264 

Select  Committee — because  it  was  recommended  by  the  Com 
mittee  on  Territories  as  being  most  likely  to  obtain  support  for 
the  bill,  and  as  presenting  the  last  hope  of  organizing  all  the 
Territories,  and  of  settling  the  miserable  struggles  over  domestic 
slavery,  after  all  other  expectations  have  failed.  I*  voted  for  it, 
believing  it  would  do  little  harm  and  little  good,  practically, 
and  have,  like  all  federal  legislation  on  the  subject,  little  in 
fluence  ;  while  it  would  tend  to  allay  the  sectional  jealousies 
which  embarrass  us,  and  enable  us  to  organize  the  three  Terri 
tories  in  some  form,  which  I  deem  of  far  greater  importance 
than  I  do  the  particular  manner  in  which  it  is  done.  I  did  not 
then  see,  nor  do  I  now  see,  that  this  line  has  any  positive  appli 
cation  to  Oregon ;  for  it  falls  five  and  a  half  degrees  below  its 
southern  boundary ;  but  I  saw  that  if  this  amendment  should 
be  accepted  by  the  House,  there  would  be  no  further  objection 
to  the  organization  of  governments  for  New  Mexico  and  Cali 
fornia  ;  and  I  had  bills  prepared,  and  have  them  now  in  my 
desk,  organizing  governments  there,  upon  terms  to  which  none 
can  reasonably  object,  were  this  line  established ;  and  I  intended 
to  offer  them  to  the  Senate,  and  ask  for  their  immediate  pas 
sage,  if  the  House  should  concur  in  this  amendment.  But  the 
House  has  refused  to  concur.  This  is  the  last  day  but  one  of 
the  session — perhaps  there  will  be  no  quorum  after  the  present 
meeting — and  the  last  hope  there  is  left  to  settle  the  question 
upon  any  terms  this  year,  and  to  erect  governments  in  New 
Mexico  and  California,  rests  in  a  Committee  of  Conference  be 
tween  the  Houses.  When  the  bill  was  taken  up  yesterday 
morning,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  *  moved  for  such  com- 
/  mittee ;  and  I  would  gladly  have  voted  for  it.  It  could  have 
done  no  harm  ;  for  we  could  then  have  receded  if  there  had 
been  no  agreement,  and  it  might  have  resulted  in  arranging  the 
whole  question  satisfactorily.  The  Senator  from  Missouri,!  how 
ever,  moved  to  recede  from  our  amendment  at  once ;  which 
motion,  we  all  know,  takes  priority  over  that  of  a  motion  for  a 

\Committee  of  Conference  ;  and  it  is  now  too  late  to  raise  such 
committee.  All  hope  of  disposing  of  the  general  question,  and 
of  organizing  governments  for  New  Mexico  and  California,  is 
gone  for  the  session.  The  people  there  must  go  without  the 

*  MR.  DOUGLAS.  t  MR.  BENTON. 


1848.]  TERRITORIAL    GOVERNMENTS.  265 

protection  of  a  government  of  laws,  and  endure,  as  best  they 
may,  the  innumerable  evil  consequences  and  demoralizing  in 
fluences  which  must  ensue.  The  responsibility  will  rest  where 
it  belongs ;  and  let  those  who  have  contributed  to  produce  it 
prepare  to  settle  an  account  of  no  ordinary  magnitude. 

But  we  yet  have  it  in  our  power  to  organize  a  government 
in  Oregon  ;  and  though  this  Territory  needs  an  organization  by 
Congress  the  least  of  the  three,  we  should  not  withhold  it,  even 
though  the  provisions  of  the  bill  may  be  in  some  respects  objec 
tionable.  I  have  endeavored  from  the  beginning  to  secure  a 
government  to  all.  That  hope  is  gone,  I  repeat,  and  I  will  now 
endeavor,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  to  secure  it  to  one,  and 
shall  act  accordingly.  The  compromise  line,  so  far  as  relates 
to  this  Territory  alone,  since  the  others  are  beyond  hope,  is  an 
abstract  question,  and  has  no  practical  application  to  the  bill. 
Some  Senators  who  resist  the  motion  to  recede,  speak  of  it,  I 
regret  to  say,  as  a  sectional  question,  and  as  though  it  was  to 
be  a  test  between  the  northern  and  southern  States.  This  I  say, 
with  all  due  respect,  cannot  be  so.  In  all  the  discussions  and 
questions  relating  to  territorial  governments  which  have  en 
gaged  the  attention  of  the  Senate  during  this  session — while  a 
decided  majority  of  those  from  the  North  have  acted  together, 
and  so  of  the  South — fortunately  there  has  not  been  a  single 
vote  entirely  sectional.  The  Missouri  line  was  inserted  against 
the  votes  of  southern  Senators  ;  and  the  very  motion  to  recede, 
now  under  consideration,  is  made  and  insisted  on,  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  a  motion  for  a  Committee  of  Conference,  by  a  southern 
Senator  ;  and  his  motion  has  been  urged,  and  is  evidently  to  be 
voted  for,  by  others  from  the  same  section. 

I  beg  all  those  who  indulge  in  gloomy  forebodings  over  re 
sults  which  they  apprehend  from  the  mere  abstract  action  of 
Congress,  or  its  neglect  to  act  upon  this  troublesome  element,  to 
calm,  if  they  cannot  dismiss,  their  fears.  The  abolition  feeling 
of  the  North  is  far  less  rife  and  mischievous  than  it  was  in 
1835  ;  and  the  tone  of  opinion  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
upon  the  subject  is  sound  and  healthy.  The  influence  of  federal 
legislation  upon  it  is  vastly  overrated,  both  for  good  and  for 
evil,  as  will  be  seen  and  acknowledged  by  any  one  who  will 
subject  the  laws  which  govern  it  to  the  analysis  of  careful 
examination.  It  may  have  a  partial  and  temporary  influence, 


266 

but  the  question,  in  its  leading  features,  is  controlled  by  laws 
stronger  than  the  laws  of  Congress.  These  Territories  will 
soon  be  sovereign  States,  and,  upon  this  disturbing  question,  be 
entitled  to  speak  for  themselves  ;  and  will  perchance  be  as  wise, 
as  patriotic  and  discreet,  as  their  senior  sisters.  It  has  been 
my  fortune  to  be  intimately  associated  with  the  various  efforts 
to  organize  these  territorial  governments.  The  subject  has  been 
beset  with  embarrassment,  and  our  efforts  have  been  nearly  un 
successful.  I  have  carefully  reviewed  the  positions  I  have  taken, 
and  would  not  essentially  change  them,  were  the  efforts  to  be 
repeated.  I  have  the  gratification  of  believing,  that,  when  the 
storm  has  blown  over,  my  course  will  be  approved  by  all  honest 
men.  I  ask  not  the  approbation  of  others  ;  and  I  appeal  for  the 
rectitude  of  my  intentions  to  the  records  of  that  tribunal  above, 
where  the  hearts  and  the  motives  are  fully  laid  open  to  view. 


SPEECH 

UPON     THE     ISSUES     AND     CANDIDATES     OF      THE      PRESIDENTIAL 

CAMPAIGN. 

DELIVERED  IN  TAMMANY  HALL,  NEW  YORK,  August  19,  1848. 

I  THANK  you,  fellow-citizens,  for  this  cordial  and  flattering 
reception,  and  am  grateful  for  this  opportunity  to  address  you 
and  to  render  an  account  of  my  stewardship.  I  have  been, 
for  the  last  nine  months,  acting  as  one  of  the  agents  of  our 
State  in  transacting  the  business  of  the  general  government ; 
and  having  discharged  my  duties  under  a  due  sense  of  a 
republican  legislator's  responsibility  to  his  constituents,  I  am 
now,  as  always,  ready  to  stand  or  fall  by  their  judgment.  I 
am  proud  to  believe  that  my  course  has  been  open  and  direct, 
and  I  would  say  in  regard  to  ifc,  as  a  distinguished  Senator  said 
of  his  public  career,  "There  it  is;— judge  of  it  for  your- 
selves."  But  I  came  not  here  to  discourse  of  myself.  I  have 
a  higher  and  more  grateful  duty  to  perform— to  explain, 
inculcate,  and  defend  democratic  principles,  and  the  course^ 
position,  and  purposes  of  the  Democratic  party. 

The  political  history  of  the  country  proves  that  the  great 
leading  feature^  of  the  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  has 
been,  to  establish  and  maintain  equality  in  the  government 
between  the  States,  as  also  to  secure  it  to  every  citizen.  It 
has^  struggled  to  cause  the  burdens  and  the  blessings  of  the  ' 
Union  to  fall,  like  the  dews  of  heaven,  upon  all  alike.  By 
the  labors  and  wise  care  of  the  noble  spirits  who  achieved  our 
independence,  the  foundations  of  our  national  edifice  were  laid 
broad  and  deep  in  the  principles  of  Democratic  liberty ;  and 
under  the  guidance  of  Jeflerson,  Madison,  Jackson,  the  sages 
and  exemplars  of  the  Democratic  faith,  the  temple  has  risen°in 


268 

beauty  and  strength  to  its  present  stately  and  admirable  pro* 
portions, 

But  in  all  the  efforts  of  all  these  years,  the  friends  of  Dem 
ocratic  principles  have  been  opposed  by  a  wily  and  powerful 
antagonist.  At  the  very  outset,  Federalism,  deriving  its  ideas 
of  the  political  and  social  fabric  from  the  hereditary  aristocra 
cies  of  the  old  world,  looked  with  longing  eyes  toward  a  gov 
ernment  recognizing  class  privileges ;  and  the  same  spirit,  in 
later  times,  sought  the  same  end  through  the  various  forms  of 
monopoly,  and  governmental  protection  of  special  interests, 
by  which  the  labor  of  the  many  should  be  made  subservient 
and  tributary  to  the  capital  of  the  few,  and  a  system  of 
inequality,  in  hostility  to  the  theory  of  the  government  and 
the  best  interests  of  the  people,  be  practically  established. 

But  all  these  schemes,  whether  in  the  shape  of  national 
banks  of  overshadowing  dimensions,  high  protective  tariff 
combinations,  or  in  whatever  form  they  have  appeared,  have 
been  met  and  overthrown  by  the  Democracy  of  the  Union, 
whose  triumphs  number  the  popular  condemnation  and 
abrogation  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws ;  the  vindication  of 
the  national  honor,  character,  and  interests,  in  the  war  of  1812  ; 
the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  Florida,  Texas,  California,  adding 
thereby,  incalculably,  to  our  resources  and  our  geographical 
and  national  importance ;  the  overthrow  of  the  United  States 
Bank,  and  the  establishment  of  a  constitutional  plan  of  gov 
ernmental  finance,  including  a  system  of  duties  upon  imports 
upon  a  revenue  basis,  and  many  others.  Nor  is  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  because  opposed  to  monopoly,  the  foe,  as  has 
been  charged,  of  capital.  Associated  wealth  has,  in  numerous 
instances,  been  of  great  public  service,  in  furnishing  profitable 
employment  to  labor ;  in  constructing  works  of  internal  im 
provement  of  immense  national  and  individual  advantage,  and 
in  aiding  enterprise  in  numberless  ways  in  developing  the 
resources  of  the  country ;  and  that  it  has  had  its  due  share  of 
the  protection  of  a  Democratic  government,  the  success  which 
has  rewarded  its  employment  in  all  the  avenues  of  business 
bears  ample  testimony.  Acting  upon  the  maxim  that  "  power 
always  inclines  to  steal  from  the  many  to  the  few,"  the  De 
mocracy  have  striven  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  people  at 
large  from  the  tendencies  of  aggregated  wealth  to  encroach 


1848.]  PRESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGN.  269 

upon  the  rights  of  the  masses ;  to  keep  labor  and  capital 
independent  of  each  other,  giving  to  each  the  equal  protection 
of  the  government,  by  which  means  the  country  could  best 
reap  the  benefits  that  should  grow  from  the  proper  application 
of  these  great  agents  of  American  progress. 

To  see  that  the  Democratic  principle,  which  has  so  essen 
tially  prevailed  in  the  conduct  of  our  national  affairs,  is  not 
merely  a  high-sounding  theory, — that  the  mission  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  to  which  the  American  people  have  so  constantly 
committed  their  destinies,  has  not  been  fruitless,  look  abroad 
upon  our  country ; — contrast  its  present  position  with  its 
beginnings ;  follow  its  history  year  by  year,  and  you  will  see 
such  progress  in  wealth,  in  population,  in  extent  of  territory, 
in  means  of  education,  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  improved 
facilities  of  communication  and  carriage,  and,  in  short,  in  all 
that  goes  to  make  up  advancement  in  civilization,  as  never 
before  attended  the  career  of  any  people.  And  while  merely 
intent  upon  the  pursuits  of  peace,  we  have  gained  a  prominent 
rank  among  the  leading  powers  of  the  earth,  among  those 
which  have  attained  their  standing  as  such  only  after  hundreds 
of  wars.  All  this  we  can  justly  claim  as  the  triumph  of 
Democratic  principles  developed  in  Democratic  practice. 

In  selecting  its  candidates  for  the  approaching  Presidential 
election,  the  Democratic  party  has  still  kept  in  view  its  great 
purpose,  only  to  be  accomplished  by  perpetuating  its  doctrines 
and  policy  in  the  administration  of  the  government ;  and  to 
that  end  has  chosen  for  its  standard  bearers,  LEWIS  CASS  of 
Michigan  and  WILLIAM  O.  BUTLER  of  Kentucky;  —  names 
synonymous  with  Democracy  and  inscribed  high  on  the  scroll 
of  the  nation's  honor.  Lewis  Cass,  the  soldier,  the  statesman, 
the  diplomatist,  the  American  in  heart,  in  feeling,  and  in 
action;  who  stood  forth  and  asserted  his  country's  rights, 
dignity,  and  honor,  alike  on  the  foughten  field  and  in  the  face 
of  European  diplomacy,  with  equal  credit  to  himself  and 
advantage  to  the  cause  he  so  ably  served;  whose  career  is  but 
an  epitome  of  the  country's  history,  and  his  character  and 
position  an  examplification  of  the  principles  of  free  govern 
ment  and  popular  institutions ;  who  to  years  of  laborious 
service  on  the  frontier,  in  the  pacification  and  organization  of 
the  great  Northwest,  preparing  it  for  the  occupancy  of  civili- 


270  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

zation,  has  been  called  to  devote  the  ripe  judgment  of  his 
mature  years  to  the  high  executive  and  legislative  councils  of 
the  nation ; — and  William  O.  Butler,  scarcely  less  prominent 
in  patriotic  services;  who  in  1812  entered  the  army  as  a  vol 
unteer  private,  fought  under  Jackson  at  Pensacola  and  New 
Orleans,  and  was  several  times  promoted  for  gallant  conduct 
on  the  field  ;  who  in  the  late  Mexican  war  attained  the  rank  of 
Major- General,  in  which  conspicuous  position  he  led  the 
charge  at  Monterey,  where  he  was  severely  wounded,  but  still 
remained  at  his  post,  received  the  thanks  of  Congress  and  tlie 
presentation  of  a  sword  to  mark  the  appreciation  in  which  the 
legislative  department  held  his  conduct,  and  succeeded  the 
veteran  Scott  in  the  command  of  the  army  in  the  field ;  and 
whose  able  services  in  Congress  and  in  various  civil  capacities 
in  his  native  State,  equally  with  his  military  career,  point  to 
him  as  one  to  whom  the  high  responsibilities  of  the  Vice- 
Presidency  may  be  safely  confided.  These  are  our  candidates. 
The  wisdom  and  propriety  of  their  selection  are  shown  in 
their  eminent  qualifications  of  character  and  capacity,  and 
their  life-long  identification  with  the  Democratic  cause.  These 
also  give  amp^  assurance  of  deserved  success. 

But  how  is  it  with  our  opponents  ?  Have  they  selected 
their  candidates  with  reference  to  their  known  opinions  and 
principles  ?  Do  they  avow  boldly  and  clearly  their  party 
creed  and  a  distinct  line  of  administrative  policy,  by  which 
they  propose  to  stand  and  are  willing  to  be  judged  ?  In  the 
early  days  of  Federalism,  when  the  opponents  of  Democratic 
principles  were  first  embodied  as  a  politicaJ  party,  they  dis 
tinctly  announced  their  principles  and  purposes,  and  strove 
manfully  for  success  in  their  true  character ;  but  their  doc 
trines  and  aims  were  so  odious  to  a  people  who  had  just  per 
illed  everything  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  equality,  that  the 
verdict  of  popular  condemnation  they  encountered  taught 
them  a  lesson  of  policy  long  to  be  remembered,  but  unhappily 
at  the  expense  of  their  political  honesty  ;  and  they  have  ever 
since  been  seeking  to  gain  by  disguises  and  indirection  what 
they  could  never  achieve  under  their  true  colors.  The  once 
honored  name  of  Whig,  their  latest  device,  has  been  worn 
till  threadbare  and  tattered,  and  their  politics.*  deformity 
shows  broadly  through  its  "looped  and  windowed  ragged- 


1848.]  PRESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGN.  271 

ness."  They  long  since  wore  out  the  principles  they  professed 
and  discarded  the  policy  they  advocated  when  they  put  it  on ; 
others  succeeded,  to  be  used,  repudiated,  and  replaced  in  turn, 
like  the  dissolving  views  of  a  phantasmagoria.  Where  reposes 
now  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  their  once  all-necessary  United 
States  Bank,  without  which,  we  had  their  assurance,  neither 
the  people  could  prosper  nor  the  government  be  carried  on  ? 
Why  has  died  upon  our  ears  their  clamor  for  "  protection  " 
and  the  advancement  of  "  home  industry  "  by  the  process  of 
taxing  the  consuming  many  for  the  benefit  of  the  manufac 
turing  few  ?  The  inquiry  might  be  almost  indefinitely 
extended.  At  each  election  they  bring  out  a  new  set  of  prin 
ciples,  and  though  they  cannot  be  said  to  be  popular  caterers 
for  the  appetite  of  the  political  public,  none  can  deny  that 
they  have  been  persistent. 

In  the  present  campaign,  though  unfortunate  in  the  extent 
of  the  demands  made  upon  them,  they  have  shown  themselves 
equal  to  the  emergency,  and  instead  of  one  fictitious  creed 
their  fruitful  policy  has  suggested  a  different  one  for  every 
section  of  the  Union.  What  would  serve  them  in  the  man 
ufacturing  East  would  jeopard  their  success  in  the  agricultural 
West ;  and  what  would  suit  their  abolition  contingents  in  the 
North,  could  not  be  safely  promulgated  in  the  slaveholding 
South ;  but  with  an  assurance  absolutely  wonderful  they  have 
undertaken  to  meet  all  contingencies  of  opinion,  and,  with  a 
versatility  equal  to  that  of  the  chiefest  of  the  Apostles,  to 
make  themselves  "  all  things  to  all  men  ;  "  and  hence  we  find 
their  candidates  supported  upon  entirely  different  and  incon 
sistent  grounds  in  different  quarters.  While  the  Democracy 
nominate  their  champions  to  carry  out  their  principles,  their 
opponents  assume  their  principles  to  carry  in  their  men. 
Like  the  Vermont  clergyman  in  the  early  time,  they  can  ac 
commodate  their  doctrines  to  the  tastes  of  those  to  whom 
they  are  addressed,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  their  main 
object,  party  success.  This  discreet  parson  was  employed  to 
preach  a  year  to  a  certain  society  for  a  prescribed  quantity  of 
rye ;  the  arrangement  being  subject  to  the  condition  that  his 
doctrines  should  give  satisfaction.  After  preaching  one  or 
two  sermons  he  called  upon  his  congregation  to  say  whether 
they  were  satisfied  with  the  doctrines  forthwith ;  "  for,"  said 


272  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

he,  "  if  you  are  not,  I  can  readily  change  them,  but  the  rye  1 
must  have" 

They  have  selected  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency  upon 
the  same  plan.  From  the  storehouse  of  his  unknown  political 
principles,  they  can  draw  at  pleasure  to  suit  all  shades  of 
opinion.  Of  all  the  great  doctrines  and  questions  of  policy, 
which  have  divided  parties  and  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
country,  it  is  not  known  which  General  Taylor  approves  and 
which  he  condemns.  It  is  said,  and  probably  truly,  that  he 
has  never  cast  a  vote.  He  is  a  soldier  by  trade,  having  spent 
the  last  forty  years  in  camps  and  taken  no  part  in  civil  life  ; 
and  was  but  yesterday  denounced  by  them  as  the  chief  throat- 
cutter  in  an  unconstitutional  and  unrighteous  war.  I  do  not 
thus  present  General  Taylor  in  the  light  in  which  I  myself 
regard  him,  for  I  would  give  due  credit  to  his  admitted  per 
sonal  virtues  and  military  public  services.  I  but  refer  to  these 
recent  denunciations  of  the  commander  of  the  "Army  of 
Occupation,"  to  show  the  complete  mendacity  and  want  of 
principle  of  those  who  uttered  them,  but  who  now  bring  him 
forward  as  their  candidate  for  this  high  position,  because  they 
can  claim  for  him  views  to  suit  all  persons  and  all  occasions, 
and  they  hope  to  trade  successfully  upon  the  capital  of  his 
military  reputation.  They  opposed  the  war ;  they  refused  to 
vote  supplies  to  our  brave  soldiers  to  enable  them  to  prosecute 
it  to  a  victorious  and  honorable  conclusion  ;  they  wished  them 
only  "  hospitable  graves  "  in  a  foreign  soil ;  but  now  they 
choose  one  of  these  same  soldiers,  almost  unknown  to  the 
country  except  through  his  success  as  a  commander  in  this 
very  war,  as  their  candidate  for  the  highest  elective  office  in 
the  world.  This  sudden  change  of  front  does  more  credit  to 
their  sagacity  than  to  their  sincerity  and  consistency.  It  is  a 
mere  desperate  "  catch  "  to  enable  them  to  clutch  the  spoils  of 
office  and  the  power  and  patronage  of  place,  which  they  so 
profoundly  covet. 

It  cannot  be  forgotten  with  what  affected  horror  this  same 
party  regarded  the  nomination  of  Andrew  Jackson  for  the 
presidency ;  what  dangers  they  foresaw  in  the  elevation  of  a 
"military  chieftain;"  with  what  emphasis  they  condemned 
the  popular  enthusiasm  that  kindled  at  his  heroic  name  and 
services,  as  a  blind  passion  for  military  rule.  But  General 


1848.]  PRESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN.  273 

Jackson,  when  lie  was  made  the  Democratic  candidate  was 
something  more  than  a  military  chieftain.  To  his  unsurpassed 
military  achievements  he  added  eminent  capacity  as  a  states 
man  and  jurist,  tested  by  years  of  distinguished  civil  service 
in  the  highest  legislative  and  judicial  positions  of  his  State 
and  of  the  Union. 

But  let  us  not  do  our  hereditary  opponents  injustice.  With 
all  their  longing  for  spoils  and  place  and  patronage  and  power, 
the  enjoyment  of  these  is  not  the  boundary  they  set  to  their 
desires; — is  but  a  portion  of  the  object  they  have  in  view.  If 
it  were  so,  it  might  be  but  a  reasonable  act  of  charity  to 
indulge  them  once  in  a  generation  ;  but  they  look  through 
these  means  to  more  important  ends.  Their  zeal  and  hope 
and  perseverance  are  kept  alive  by  the  expectation  that, 
besides  the  feast  of  fat  things  for  which  they  hunger,  they 
shall  be  enabled  to  restore  the  old  Federal  landmarks,  and  in 
troduce  again  the  odious  policy  of  legislating  and  administer 
ing  the  government  for  the  benefit  of  favored  classes  at  the 
expense  of  the  people  at  large.  In  short,  the  ultimate  object 
for  which  they  labor  is  the  achievement  of  monopolies. 

But  the  Democratic  organization  is  not  assailed  and  its 
prosperity  threatened  alone  by  these  descendants  of  ancient 
Federalism.  The  disciples  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson  find  new 
elements  of  antagonism  combined  and  other  opponents  stand 
ing  in  hostile  array  against  them,  who,  especially  in  this  State, 
seek  their  overthrow  with  a  zeal  peculiar  to  adventurers  in  a 
new  cause,  and  a  spirit  bitter  in  proportion  to  its  want  of  any 
just  animating  motive,  either  in  the  principles  or  the  practice 
of  the  Democratic  party.  Arrogating  an  extra  morality,  an 
extra  philanthropy,  an  extra  humanity,  an  extra  Democracy,, 
they  reject  the  wholesome  teachings  of  the  fathers  and  the 
whole  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and,  without  one  expectation 
of  success  in  aught  else,  hope  to  accomplish  the  defeat  of  the 
Democracy  and  their  honored  and  worthy  candidates. 

Opposition  to  the  possible  extension  of  slavery  to  the  Ter 
ritories  is  the  pretext  for  this  experiment  upon  the  integrity 
of  the  Democratic  party  and  the  attachment  of  the  American 
people  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  ;  but  it  has  its  real 
origin  in  disappointed  personal  ambition  and  desire  for  revenge,, 
those  most  insatiable  of  the  bad  passions  of  human  nature,  and 
18 


274 

is  destined  to  meet  deserved  overthrow  and  retribution.  The 
true  Democracy  of  the  North  have  sought  to  leave  the  subject 
of  slavery  where  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  left  it,  with 
the  people  of  the  several  States  where  it  exists,  to  be  controlled 
by  them,  and  its  responsibilities,  in  common  with  those  of  their 
other  domestic  and  local  matters,  borne  by  them  in  their  capa 
city  as  States.  They  believe  that  the  Union,  with  slavery,  is 
far  preferable  to  slavery  without  the  Union  ;  and  as  under  the 
Constitution  they  can  have  no  power  over  the  subject  in  its 
relation  to  the  other  States,  without  regard  to  their  abstract 
opinions  they  have  abstained  from  its  agitation,  as  rife  with 
elements  of  danger  and  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  re 
ciprocal  good  faith.  They  have  never,  therefore,  like  their 
Federal  opponents,  courted  the  aid  of  abolitionism  to  gain  local 
party  strength.  But  this  new  party,  or  organization  of  hostile 
elements,  which  has  sprung  up  like  Jonah's  gourd,  proclaims 
as  its  means  and  object  a  crusade  of  sectional  agitation ;  and 
it  becomes  formidable  and  dangerous  from  the  effort  of  unscru 
pulous  factions  to  use  its  nominal  principles  for  their  own  self 
ish  ends.  The  "  free  soil "  leaders,  the  cunning  contrivers  of 
the  scheme,  have  their  revenge  to  gratify  upon  the  Democratic 
party  ;  the  Whigs,  who  have  lent  a  large  detachment  to  co-ope 
rate  in  the  preliminary  movements,  look  to  their  own  party 
success,  the  possession  of  the  spoils  and  the  triumph  of  Federal 
principles ;  the  one-idea  Abolitionists,  by  constant  gazing  upon 
the  molehill  in  their  imaginations,  see  shadowy  Alps  on  Alps  in 
the  distance  against  which  they  fancy  it  is  their  mission  to  ful 
minate  a  wordy  warfare.  The  plans  and  motives  of  all  these 
have  combined  and  culminated  in  the  Buffalo  Convention. 

If  it  were  possible  for  such  elements,  with  such  avowed 
principles,  and  such  palpable  purposes,  to  attain  positive  suc 
cess,  we  might  well  tremble  for  the  fate  of  the  Union  which 
was  the  result  of  so  much  anxious  solicitude,  so  much  of  con 
cession  and  compromise,  so  much  of  faith  and  hope  in  its  future, 
and  whose  fruition  has  been  so  replete  with  individual  happi 
ness  and  prosperity  and  national  honor  and  advancement.  The 
design  of  the  motley  array  was,  by  adopting  former  Democratic 
leaders,  by  shouting  adroitly  contrived  catch-words  and  by 
great  pretences  of  regard  for  freedom,  to  deceive  and  draw 
away  members  of  the  Democratic  party,  and,  by  dividing,  to 


1848.]  PRESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGN.  275 

defeat  it  in  both  its  candidates  and  principles;  and  the  question 
now  comes  home  to  every  Democrat  whether  he  will  exchange 
the  faith  of  the  founders  and  leaders  of  the  Democracy  and  give 
up  their  creed,  the  embodiment  of  the  principles  of  the  Consti 
tution,  for  the  doctrines  of  the  Buffalo  Convention,  combined 
of  Federalism  and  Abolitionism  ?  And  I  now  ask,  in  view  of  an 
attempt  of  such  sinister  design,  who  will  become  a  participant 
and  minister  to  its  success ;  who  of  all  that  hear  me  within  these 
walls  will  consent  that  time-honored  Tammany  shall  be  turned 
into  an  Abolition  sweat-pit ;  and,  more  especially  with  the  view 
to  subserve  the  personal  ends  of  disaffected  leaders,  Avho  of  all 
men  at  the  North  have  been  most  subservient  to  the  South  as 
long  as  by  so  doing  they  could  promote  their  own  objects  ? 

That  Convention  professed  to  be  in  favor  of  "  free  speech  ; " 
and  yet  took  for  its  candidate  for  the  second  office  one  to  whom 
the  principles  of  the  sedition  law  came  as  an  ancestral  inherit 
ance.  It  professed  to  be  in  favor  of"  free  soil ; "  but  it  claimed 
for  a  temporary,  perhaps  accidental  majority  in  Congress  the 
power  to  legislate  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  Territories. 
It  professed  to  be  in  favor  of  "  free  men  ; "  yet  it  maintained 
that  the  federal  legislature  might  determine  and  dispose  of  the 
domestic  and  local  institutions  of  communities  not  represented 
in  it,  and  to  which  it  is  in  no  sense  responsible.  And  profess 
ing  the  sentiments  and  principles  of  Abolitionism,  the  whole 
drift  and  scope  and  only  possible  result  of  their  endeavor  is, 
in  the  name  of  freedom,  to  place  in  the  Presidential  chair  a 
Southern  slaveholder ! 

When  the  work  was  accomplished  at  Buffalo,  and  the  lead 
ing  spirits  of  the  motley  gathering  joined  in  congratulations, 
it  must  have  been  a  picture  for  a  painter  to  study.  The  scene 
between  the  Abolition  and  the  free  soil  leaders,  as  it  has  been 
described,  reminds  me  of  the  meeting  of  Lucifer  and  the  Arch 
angel  in  Byron's  Vision  of  Judgment.  (I  beg  pardon  of  any 
of  the  parties  who  may  think  liberties  are  taken  to  their  disad 
vantage.)  Each  wore  in  his  countenance  a  curious  conscious 
ness  of  their  former  position  and  present  relations — "of  what 
they  were  and  late  had  been."  Their  looks  were  eloquent 
though  their  tongues  were  mute  ; — 

"  But  still  between  his  darkness  and  Ins  brightness, 
There  passed  a  mutual  glance  of  great  politeness." 


276 

We  must  also  join  in  congratulations  with  our  Abolition 
friends,  that  they  have  sold  themselves  and  the  cause  of  "human 
freedom  "  to  their  life-long  opponents,  to  become  the  ministers 
of  their  designs  upon  the  Democratic  party ;  and  like  Mr.  Bum 
ble,  "  dog  cheap  "  at  that ;— with  the  "  free  soil "  wing  of  the 
concern  that  they  had  such  eminent  success  in  erecting  a  plank 
from  which  their  candidates  will  swing  in  November ;  and  we 
may  congratulate  ourselves  and  the  Democratic  party  that  they 
failed  most  signally  in  the  effort  to  conceal  from  the  people  the 
true  character  of  the  issue  upon  which  the  Buffalo  Convention 
took  its  stand. 

The  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  disunion  agitators  which 
forms  the  staple  of  the  creed  put  forth  at  Buffalo,  that  Con 
gress  ought  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories,  is  utterly  re 
pugnant  to  all  the  ideas  of  republican  liberty  and  constitution 
al  obligation  in  which  the  American  people  have  been  educat 
ed  and  to  which  Democrats  will  adhere.  The  claim  of  the 
right  thus  to  legislate  for  the  people  of  the  Territories  is  iden 
tical  with  that  of  the  British  government  to  pass  laws  binding 
upon  the  colonies,  against  which  our  fathers  took  up  arms.  It 
asserts  in  effect  that  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey  may,  without  their  consent  or  participation,  fix  and 
determine  the  condition  of  the  people  of  New  Mexico  and  Cal 
ifornia,  by  prescribing  their  domestic  institutions  in  advance  of 
their  convenience  and  wishes — a  grave  and  palpable  infringe 
ment  of  the  first  principle  of  free  government  and  of  constitu 
tional  equality  among  the  States,  which  form  the  very  founda 
tion  of  our  system.  The  country  should  be  warned,  that  if 
this  policy  is  adopted  or  adhered  to,  our  sons,  who  are  to  in 
habit  those  distant  countries,  may,  in  time,  be  forced  to  have 
their  Boston  tea-party. 

The  question  is  one  of  constitutional  construction,  which 
belongs  to  the  courts,  where  it  must  eventually  be  determined. 
If,  under  the  Constitution,  the  citizens  of  the  slave  States  have 
the  right  to  settle,  with  their  slaves,  in  the  Territories,  a  mere 
act  of  Congress  would  be  powerless  to  restrain  them,  and 
therefore  useless,  except  for  the  bad  purpose  of  stirring  up  sec 
tional  bitterness  and  animosity.  And  even  if  it  were  clear  that 
Congress  had  the  power,  it  would  be  manifestly  unwise  and 
impolitic  to  assert  it, for  the  reason  already  alluded  to;  and  fur- 


184:8.]  PEESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGN.  277 

tlier,  that  the  chance  of  slavery  being  carried  to  the  Territo 
ries — where,  for  the  most  part,  the  soil  and  climate  are  unsuited 
to  its  profitable  employment,  and  it  would  lack  the  essentials 
of  security,  so  necessary  to  it — would  be  small  indeed ;  and  in 
any  event,  Congress  would  have  authority  to  enforce  its  views 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territories  by  legislation  for  a 
very  short  time  only,  for  whenever  they  should  become  States 
their  coequal  sovereignty  could  not  be  denied  them. 

Is  this  then  a  question  upon  which  to  stir  up  agitation  and 
strife  between  this  family  of  States,  joined  in  a  Union  where 
the  rights  of  each  should  be  scrupulously  respected  by  every 
other?  Is  it  a  question  over  which  the  Democratic  party, 
which  has  ever  upheld  the  Union  in  its  purity,  the  Constitu 
tion  in  its  strength,  and  the  rights  of  the  States  in  letter  and 
spirit,  should  be  betrayed,  divided,  and  destroyed  ?  Those 
who  would  have  it  so  are  not  Democrats; — they  are  original 
enemies/  or  if  they  ever  named  the  Democratic  name,  have  be 
come  false  and  recreant  disciples  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson. 
They  would  risk  all  that  the  Democratic  party  has  achieved  ; 
all  that  the  Union  has  accomplished,  for  a  will-o'-the-wisp,  an 
intangibility,  a  theory  threatening  evil  but  impracticable  for 
good.  Their  disinclination  to  trust  the  people  of  the  Territo 
ries  to  fashion  their  own  local  institutions  to  suit  themselves, 
is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  principles  and  practice  of  the 
Federal  party  from  the  origin  of  the  government  to  the  pres 
ent  time.  Have  they  not  struggled  against  every  proposition 
to  leave  in  the  hands  of  the  people  the  power  belonging  to 
them,  or  to  enlarge  or  restore  their  rights  and  privileges, 
maintaining  that  their  " rulers"  as  they  love  to  call  the  official 
agents  of  the  people,  are  more  competent  to  decide  what  would 
be  best  for  their  interests  than  themselves  ? 

The  certain  tendency  of  the  efforts  of  the  supporters  of  the 
Buffalo  Convention  to  interfere  with  and  infringe  upon  what 
the  people  of  the  South  believe  to  be  their  plain  constitutional 
rights,  must  be  to  weaken  the  bonds  of  the  Union  between  the 
States,  which  should  be  like  that  of  man  and  wife  in  its  com 
munity  of  interest  and  mutual  confidence  and  regard,  to  insure 
a  continuance  of  our  present  national  happiness  and  prosperity. 
It  is  an  agitation,  in  its  present  aspects,  dangerous  in  every 
sense  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  It  makes  the  meat 


2Y8 

it  feeds  on, — and  having  become  the  capital  of  demagogues, 
its  progress  and  results  may  well  be  watched  with  the  great 
est  apprehension.  The  South  regards  it  as  an  attempt  to  shut 
her  out  from  the  benefits  of  the  national  acquisitions ;  to  deny 
her  participation  in  the  common  territories,  acquired  in  part  by 
her  own  sacrifices ;  to  clog  and  hinder  her  in  what  should  be 
an  amicable  rivalry  between  the  States  in  the  great  race  of  im 
provement  ;  to  depreciate  her  means  and  damage,  if  not  destroy, 
her  system  of  labor.  She  already  sees  herself  in  prospect 
hemmed  about  and  confined  to  a  comparatively  small  terri 
tory;  her  slaves  accumulating  in  dangerous  proportion  to  her 
white  population,  their  labor  of  little  value ;  while  some  of  the 
Northern  States  refuse  to  admit  negroes,  even  if  freed,  to  settle 
within  their  limits,  and  all  deny  them  the  position  of  equals  in 
social  condition  and  political  rights.  Her  people  see  in  all 
this,  in  the  not  very  distant  future,  for  themselves  or  their 
children,  it  may  be,  a  war  of  races,  which  must  be  one  of  ex 
termination  and  untold  horrors.  They  regard  the  question 
as  vital  to  their  interests ;  to  their  equality  of  rights  ;  as  pos 
sibly  fraught  with  the  issue  of  their  very  existence,  but 
to  us  as  measurably  theoretical  and  speculative.  Under  all 
the  aspects  of  the  case,  and  in  full  consideration  of  the  respon 
sibilities  involved,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  take  ground  against 
this  agitation,  regardless  of  consequences  personal  to  myself. 
I  have  believed  that  if  all  that  is  professed  to  be  feared  should 
happen  without  it,  and  if  all  that  is  hoped  to  be  attained  could 
surely  be  reached  by  it,  it  would  but  poorly  compensate  for 
the  estrangement,  animosity,  and  loss  of  confidence  and  regard 
between  sections  which  even  now,  in  its  commencement,  it  is 
creating,  and  the  danger  thereby  to  the  perpetuity  of  at  least 
the  spirit  of  the  Union ;  and  I  have  not  heeded  and  shall  not 
in  future  heed  whatever  of  abuse  may  be  showered  upon  me 
for  defending  the  Democratic  principle  and  policy  of  permit 
ting  the  people  of  the  Territories  to  decide  the  question,  which 
is  chiefly  of  interest  to  themselves. 

If,  by  possibility,  under  this  doctrine  of  non-interference  by 
Congress,  slaves  should  be  carried  to  any  of  the  Territories,  they 
must  for  that  purpose  be  taken  from  some  of  the  States  ; — the 
aggregate  would  not  thereby  be  increased,  and  possibly  in  fresh 
fields  and  under  new  auspices  their  condition  and  prospects 


1848.]  PRESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGN.  279 

might  be  improved.  To  the  same  extent  that  New  Mexico  or 
California  might  become  slaveholding,  Maryland,  Virginia,  or 
Kentucky  would  be  made  non-slaveholding,  and  be  accelerated 
on  the  march  to  freedom,  which  in  the  course  of  events  must  be 
their  destiny.  Where  then  is  the  boasted  philanthropy  of  those 
who  can  see  no  cause  worthy  of  their  fine  sensibilities  but  the 
problematical  removal  of  persons  held  in  bondage  from  the 
States  where  the  right  to  so  hold  them  is  fenced  about  by  laws 
of  long  continuance,  and  is  recognized  by  all  as  existing  under 
the  Constitution,  free  from  Congressional  interference,  to  the 
Territories  where  laws  are  yet  to  be  formed,  where  the  opera 
tion  of  the  Constitution  upon  the  question  is  yet  to  be  deter 
mined  by  the  courts — where,  in  short,  none  of  the  guaranties  of 
security  exist.  Their  benevolence  is  of  a  quality  that  overlooks 
the  objects  that  crowd  their  every-day  walks  for  the  contem 
plation  of  the  distant  and  the  speculative.  The  very  statement 
of  the  case  shows  its  hypocrisy.  They  would  risk  the  destruc 
tion  of  this  Union  to  prevent  the  doubtful  prospect  of  a  few 
slaves  being  carried  from  the  northern  slave  States  to  California, 
and  that  by  means  that  have  no  adequacy  but  to  produce  agita 
tion.  The  effort  is  being  essayed  solely  to  furnish  a  hobby  for 
demagogues  to  ride.  As  a  cause,  in  its  professions  and  its 
possibilities  of  accomplishment,  it  is  wholly  unworthy  of  a 
true  republican.  They  the  friends  of  the  slave  indeed  !  Did  they 
not,  almost  unanimously,  refuse  the  few  among  them  the  right 
to  political  equality  ?  And  why  did  they,  and  especially  the 
original  professors  of  the  abolition  faith  among  them,  fail  to 
seek  the  abolishment  of  slavery  in  Connecticut  ?  There  it  had  a 
constitutional  existence  until  within  a  very  few  years  past ;  and 
there  the  institution  was  not  made  the  subject  of  constitutional 
reform  until  after  every  slave  within  the  State  had  become 
worse  than  useless  to  its  owner  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  the  rapt 
gaze  of  these  ardent  philanthropists  was  fixed  upon  slavery  in 
the  distance,  and  their  efforts  devoted  to  beating  the  air  in  in 
coherent  but  hurtful  and  disturbing  agitation  on  its  account. 

I  am  not  in  favor  of  slavery  nor  of  its  extension ; — I  would 
leave  to  those  who  claim  them  in  a  constitutional  way  the  rights 
the  Constitution  gives  them  in  that  respect,  fairly  and  without  a 
constant  war  of  words  to  evince  my  superior  humanity;  but  I 
am  opposed  to  this  miserable  hypocrisy  of  those  who  are,  of  a 
sudden,  so  moved  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  that  they  are  enact- 


280  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

ing  over  the  "  Sorrows  of  Werter,"  and  whining  with  all  the 
pathos  of  the  sentimental  lady's  sonnet  to  the  dying  frog,  in  the 
hope  of  cheating  unsuspecting  people  into  prostituting  their 
privileges  as  electors  to  their  purposes.  But,  my  friends,  this 
detestable  conspiracy  against  the  Democratic  party  and  the 
supremacy  for  its  principles  is  destined  to  fail,  beyond  a  doubt. 
One  subject  of  great  and  grave  objection  to  the  Democratic 
party  I  must  notice  before  I  close ;  it  is  the  acquisition  of  terri 
tory.  It  is  common  ground  to  both  the  opposing  parties  ; — to 
our  opponents  of  the  whole  blood  and  of  the  half  blood, — of  the 
lineal  and  of  the  collateral  descent.  They  make  grave  com 
plaints  against  us  because  the  war  commenced  against  the 
United  States  by  Mexico  ended  in  an  arrangement  which  ex 
tended  materially  our  territorial  boundaries.  It  is  perhaps  not 
wonderful  that  men  who  cannot  understand  the  principles  and 
structure  of  our  system  of  government,  or  who  have  not  the 
honesty  to  give  it  practical  operation,  should  esteem  its  price 
less  benefits  so  lightly  as  to  consider  its  extension  a  great  evil. 
If  Federalism  had  been  strong  enough,  the  old  thirteen  colonies 
would  have  been  walled  in,  and  constituted  the  United  States 
of  to-day,  if  indeed  they  had  survived  the  system  of  tight  lacing 
and  Chinese  shoes  they  sought  to  apply.  The  Democrats,  ac 
cording  to  their  recorded  opinions,  ruined  the  country  by  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana ;  they  ruined  it  again  by  the  acquisition 
of  Florida,  and  again  by  the  annexation  of  Texas  ;  and  now  it 
has  been  ruined  once  more  by  the  wicked  Democrats,  by  accept 
ing  indemnity  in  territory  from  belligerent  and  beaten  Mexico. 
The  howl  of  the  Buffalo-platform  men  conies  in  towards  the 
last  of  these  successive  ruins.  They  helped  to  enact  the  former 
part  of  the  series,  even  professing  to  support  Col.  Polk  in  1844, 
who  run  and  was  elected  on  the  Texas  annexation  issue,  and 
only  just  now  mysteriously  found  out  how  wrong  they  had 
been  acting.  The  country  has  been  very  patient  and  very  pros 
perous  under  this  great  amount  of  ruin,  and  the  Democratic 
party  can  patiently  bear  the  charge  of  its  infliction.  It  is  true. 
Whatever  of  ruin  has  come  of  these  acquisitions,  it  has  all  been 
the  work  of  the  Democratic  party.  Look  out  upon  the  wide 
spread  map  of  the  nation.  See  what  it  was  and  what  it  is. 
Mark  well  the  difference.  This  is  the  ruin  the  Democracy  has 
wrought.  Ask  the  great  Northwest  if  it  would  be  content  to 
restore  to  a  foreign  power  the  lower  half  of  its  magnificent  river 


1848.]  PRESIDENTIAL    CAMPAIGN.  281 

highway, — if  it  would  surrender  to  foreign  keeping  the  key  to 
the  Gulf,  its  rivers,  harbors,  and  teeming  shores.    Ask  this  com 
mercial  emporium,  yes,  ask  the  whole  American  people,  what 
price  would  tempt  them  to  give  up  their  coast,  which  looks  out 
towards  the  setting  sun  upon  the  great  Pacific, — the  broad 
Columbia,  the  Golden  Gate,  with  their  interior  routes  of  com 
munication  spanning  the  continent,  through  which  we  shall  ere 
long  command  the  commerce  of  Asia,  the  prize  for  which  the 
nations  of  Europe  have  so  long  struggled ;  and  I  venture  the 
assertion  that  not  a  single  man,  woman,  or  child,  outside  of  the 
lunatic  asylums,  would  consent,  on  any  terms,  to  take  one  step 
backwards.     The  American  people  are  not  plunderers  nor  even 
propagandists.     They  will  deal  justly,  uprightly  and  in  good 
faith  with  their  neighbors  and  all  other  nations ;  in  the  lan 
guage  of  one  of  the  late  revered  leaders  of  the  Democracy, 
"  asking  nothing  that  is  not  right,  and  submitting  to  nothing 
wrong ;  "  and  in  the  fulfilment  of  their  mission,  under   Provi 
dence,  they  will  not  hesitate  to  make  such  acquisitions  of  terri 
tory  as  may  be  necessary  for  their  security  and  strength  and 
which  can  be  justly  obtained.   This  has  been  their  rule  of  action 
in  the  past,  and  if  occasion  and  opportunity  for  further  acquisi 
tions  should  arise,  will  be  in  the  future.     Those  who  distress 
themselves  over  the  dangers  of  expanded  territory,  will,  I  pre 
dict,  be  speedily  comforted  by  results.     Our  system  is  better 
adapted  than  all  others  to  extended  empire.     While  the  great 
leading  purposes,  such  as  foreign  relations  and  intercourse,  com 
merce  arid  the  national  defences  are  committed  to  the  general 
government,  the  local  affairs  of  the  people  remain  in  the  im 
mediate  care  of  their  respective  State  governments  ;  so  that  the 
laws  of  the  several  States  may  be  ever  so  diverse,  according  to 
the  tastes,  wants,  and  condition  of  their  people,  and  no  necessity 
or  right  exist  for  the  people  of  one  State  to  interfere  with  the 
laws  of  another.     As  citizens  of  New  York,  the  only  legal  in 
terest  we  have  in  the  people  of  Louisiana  is  that  they  fulfil  their 
duties  and  discharge  their  obligations  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  under  the  common  bond  of  Union,  the  constitution.    No 
consolidated  government,  of  whatever  form,  could  so  adapt  the 
laws  which  regulate  the  immediate  and  every-day  affairs  of  the 
people,  to  varying  local  circumstances.   I  fear  no  evil  to  flow  from 
permitting  the  people  of  far-off  Oregon  to  share,  equally  with 
us,  in  the  government  of  the  United  States.     The  addition  of 


282  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

pillars  only  serves  to  strengthen  the  edifice,  which,  with  New 
York  on  the  Atlantic,  and  California  on  the  Pacific,  will  be  far 
more  powerful  and  less  subject  to  danger  from  domestic  dissen 
sions,  than  if  the  jurisdiction  of  this  government  had  been  con 
fined  to  the  limits  of  the  original  thirteen  States. 

The  Democracy  of  the  Union  are  again  called  by  every  con 
sideration  dear  to  their  party  and  their  principles  to  put  forth 
their  best  efforts  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  one  and  give 
continued  ascendency  to  the  other,  and  thus  promote  the  peace, 
harmony,  and  welfare  of  the  country.  If  this  is  done,  in  the  old 
spirit  of  the  Jacksonian  Democracy,  our  success  in  the  contest 
is  assured  ;  and  that  it  will  be,  the  indications  here  present,  and 
the  movement  of  the  Democratic  masses  throughout  the  land, 
give  cheering  assurance.  The  signs  of  the  times  are  bright  writh 
hopeful  auguries.  The  adroit  plans  of  our  opponents  to  divide, 
weaken,  and  overcome  the  party  of  the  Constitution  will  signally 
fail.  The  Democratic  column  will  move  forward  with  united 
front  and  purpose  to  accustomed  victory.  What  northern  Dem 
ocrat,  worthy  of  the  name,  will  be  deceived  by  the  cry  of  "  Van 
Buren  and  free  soil,"  into  giving  his  support  to  a  candidate  who 
stands  not  the  slightest  chance  of  receiving  a  single  electoral 
vote,  and  thus  contributing  to  the  success  of  the  Federal  nomi 
nee  ?  The  Democracy  of  the  South  will  spurn  the  attempt  to 
cheat  them  into  the  abandonment  of  their  principles  and  their 
party  by  presenting  for  their  suffrages  a  slaveholder  and  appeal 
ing  to  their  admiration  of  successful  military  leadership.  They 
will  now  as  heretofore  stand  firmly  for  the  cause  of  republic 
anism,  and  give  their  undivided  support  to  the  defender  of 
American  rights  and  interests,  the  veteran  leader  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  To  the  Democracy  of  New  York  is  committed 
the  double  duty  of  vindicating  themselves  and  their  party  arid 
rebuking  treason  and  base  ingratitude  to  both.  To  this  end  we 
must  labor  as  men  should  who  are  surrounded  by  detestable 
and  wicked  treachery  within,  and  confronted  without  by  a  life 
long  and  oft-beaten  foe,  now  hopeful  in  the  plots  arranged  for 
our  destruction.  With  efforts  worthy  of  the  occasion  and  the 
inspiration  of  the  causer,  success  is  within  our  reach.  Such 
efforts  I  invoke  in  the  name  of  the  Democracy  of  the  Union ; 
and  with  the  assurance  that  they  will  be  put  forth  I  have  an 
abiding  faith  that  the  State  will  be  saved  to  be  still  the  brightest 
star  in  the  galaxy  of  a  Democratic  Union. 


SPEECH 

ON  ESTABLISHING  A  GOVERNMENT  FOE  CALIFORNIA  AND  NEW 
MEXICO,  AND  IN  REPLY  TO  MR.  DIX  ON  THE  "  WILMOT 
PROVISO." 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  February  28,  1849. 

[The  question  before  the  Senate  was  upon  the  amendment  of  Mr. 
"Walker,  of  Wisconsin,  to  the  Civil  and  Diplomatic  Appropriation  Bill, 
to  extend  the  laws  of  the  United  States  over  the  territories  acquired 
from  Mexico.] 

I  DO  not  forget,  Mr.  President,  nor  do  I  intend  the  country 
shall  forget,  that  more  than  six  months  have  elapsed  since  the 
Senate,  after  mature  deliberation  and  full  debate,  passed  a  bill 
to  establish  efficient  civil  governments  in  the  Territories  of 
New  Mexico  and  California,  and  sent  it  to  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  for  concurrence,  where  it  still  reposes  unacted 
upon  ;  though,  by  the  joint  rules  of  the  two  houses,  it  has  vi 
tality  at  this  as  it  had  at  the  last  session,  and  needs  only  the 
concurrence  of  that  branch  and  the  signature  of  the  President 
to  become  a  law.  Under  these  circumstances,  had  I  been  left 
to  consult  my  own  wishes,  I  would  have  taken  no  further 
steps  until  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people  should, 
in  their  wisdom,  so  far  sympathize  with  the  necessitous  condi 
tions  of  the  Territories  in  question,  and  the  demands  of  the 
people  throughout  the  Union,  as  to  act  upon  this  bill  which  we 
sent  them,  and  either  pass  it  as  it  is,  or  with  amendments,  or 
reject  it  altogether.  The  responsibility  of  leaving  these  Ter 
ritories  without  government  has  heretofore  rested  with  the 
popular  branch,  and  there  I  would  have  left  it ;  for  I  am  con 
fident  nothing  will  pass  there,  unless  it  contains  some  element 
of  discord  which  cannot  and  ought  not  to  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  Senate.  But  other  Senators,  whose  hopes  are  more  san- 


284  DICKINSON'S  SPEECH KS. 

gnine  than  my  own,  in  view  of  the  peculiar  and  alarming  cir 
cumstances,  have  thought  proper  to  make  further  efforts,  and 
•  to  that  end  have  brought  forward  various  propositions  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Senate ;  some  proposing  a  temporary, 
and  some  a  more  permanent,  government  for  the  Territories, 
and  among  them  that  of  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin,*  now 
under  consideration.  It  is  now  at  the  close  of  the  session,  and 
the  last  hope  of  providing  a  government  rests  in  this  amend 
ment  ;  for,  if  it  is  not  adopted,  nothing  else  on  this  subject  will 
be.  It  well  came  as  an  offering  of  peace  from  that  young  and 
cherished  State  which  has  just  been  admitted  to  the  Union  ; 
and  her  Senator  who  offers  it,  for  his  patriotic  effort,  is  entitled 
not  only  to  the  thanks  of  his  constituents,  but  to  the  grateful 
acknowledgments  of  the  whole  people  of  the  Union. 

These  Territories,  with  the  inhabitants  residing  therein,  I 
need  not  say,  were  recently  transferred  by  a  foreign  govern 
ment  to  the  United  States,  under  a  treaty  of  peace.  We  have 
taken  them  from  their  former  government,  if  government  it 
can  be  called,  to  our  protecting  arms ;  and  since  it  is  our  prac 
tice  to  fashion  governments  for  our  Territories,  we  are  admon 
ished  by  every  consideration  that  can  influence  human  action, 
to  extend  to  them  that  security  of  life,  liberty,  and  property, 
which  our  Constitution  guarantees  to  the  humblest  American 
citizen.  The  amendment  under  consideration  attains  this  end  ; 
and,  although  I  would  have  preferred  it  in  another  place  and 
In  another  form,  it  being  this  or  nothing,  I  have  cheerfully 
yielded  all  objection  either  to  form  or  substance,  and  shall  vote 
hereafter,  as  I  have  before,  with  a  view  to  enact  it  into  a  law- 
And  I  crave  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  for  a  few  moments 
while  I  state  the  reasons  which  influence  me — an  indulgence  I 
would  not  have  sought  but  for  the  extraordinary,  and,  as  I 
think,  inconsistent  grounds  taken  in  opposition  to  it  by  my 
honorable  colleague.f 

The  leading  objection  urged  in  this  regard  is,  that  it  con 
fers  too  much  power  upon  the  executive ;  and,  although  my 
colleague  professes  to  repose  high  confidence  in  the  distin 
guished  individual  who  is  soon  to  be  invested  with  the  respon 
sibility  of  the  executive  functions,  he  declares  he  will  commit 

*  MR.  WALKER.  t  MR.  Dix. 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  285 

to  the  hands  of  no  chief  magistrate  powers  so  extensive  and 
plenary.  At  the  last  session  a  bill  was  under  consideration 
conferring  no  unusual  power  on  the  executive,  and  that,  too, 
my  colleague  opposed  and  voted  against  for  other  reasons. 
Under  other  and  ordinary  circumstances  I  should  regard  a 
proposition  of  this  kind  with  disfavor ;  but  a  peculiar  emer 
gency  has  arisen  in  our  history,  demanding  prompt  and  decis 
ive  measures,  and  for  one  I  am  prepared  to  meet  it  with  corre 
sponding  action.  I  have  no  honeyed  phrases  for  the  ear  of 
the  incoming  President.  It  is  enough  for  me  that  I  have  done 
him  no  injustice  in  thought,  word,  or  deed.  If  he  is  interested 
to  know  my  sentiments  concerning  him,  he  will  best  learn 
them  by  the  manner  in  which  I  discharge  the  relations  in 
which  we  are  soon  to  be  placed,  and  I  shall  judge  of  him  by 
his  public  and  official  conduct.  For  all  the  purposes  of  this 
question,  I  will  not  inquire  upon  what  name  is  cast  the  execu 
tive  powers  and  responsibilities,  nor  by  what  portion  of  the 
people  elected.  I  shall  regard  him  only  as  the  great  and  hon 
ored  agent  of  the  American  people ;  upon  him  as  such  I  shall 
seek  to  devolve  the  duties,  and  in  him  as  such  I  shall  confide 
for  their  discreet  and  judicious  exercise ;  holding  him,  at  all 
times,  as  those  whose  servant  he  is  will  hold  him,  to  a  rigid 
and  severe  accountability.  He  is  clothed  by  the  Constitution 
with  the  whole  power  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United 
States,  of  which  he  is  commander-in-chief,  and  in  that  capacity 
will  wield  for  the  preservation  of  order  in  these  Territories  all 
that  is  arbitrary  and  despotic  in  our  institutions ;  and  I  fear 
not  to  mitigate  the  rigor  of  this  martial  code  by  substituting 
the  Constitution  for  the  sword,  the  minister  of  justice  for  the 
bayoneted  soldier,  and  the  rectifying  influences  of  the  common 
law  for  military  rule.  It  is  merely  permitting  the  President 
temporarily,  through  legal  and  "constitutional  agencies,  and 
until  Congress  shall  make  further  provisions,  to  extend  to  the 
people  civil  instead  of  military  government,  for  the  purpose 
of  enforcing  the  performance  of  contracts,  of  punishing  crime, 
and  for  the  preservation  of  social  order.  And  when  its  pro 
priety  is  rendered  obvious  by  circumstances  of  such  extreme 
urgency,  I  shall  favor  it  with  my  whole  heart,  let  who  will,  and 
for  whatever  reasons,  oppose  it.  Nor  can  those  consistently 
resist  it,  who  believe  that  a  government  of  opinion  and  law  is 


286  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

superior  in  its  moral  influences  to  a  government  of  force 
Without  descending  to  details,  as  tedious  as  they  arc  profit 
less,  it  is  sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  say,  that  the  amendment 
under  consideration  is  the  same  in  substance  as  the  laws  by 
which  Florida  and  Louisiana  were  successfully  governed  for  a 
number  of  years  after  their  acquisition,  respectively,  by  the 
United  States.  They  were  acquired,  as  were  New  Mexico 
and  California,  with  a  foreign  population.  Under  this  execu 
tive  form  of  government,  prosperity  attended  them  ;  they  were 
admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  other 
members,  and  no  detriment  came  to  either  government  or 
people.  It  is  far  easier  to  cavil  over  and  multiply  objections 
against  any  and  every  proposition  which  can  be  suggested 
than  to  procure  the  passage  of  some  reasonable  measure  which 
will  give  law  and  protection  to  those  which  have  neither. 

But  my  colleague,  in  detailing  his  reasons  for  opposing  this 
amendment,  has  employed  some  of  the  strongest  arguments  in 
its  favor ;  reasons  which  doubtless  induced  its  introduction,  in 
this  form,  by  the  Senator  who  moved  it.  He  reminds  us  that 
the  inhabitants  residing  there  on  the  ratification  of  the  treaty 
were  a  semi-barbarous  race,  who  could  neither  read,  write, 
speak,  nor  understand  our  language ;  that  they  are  utterly  un 
acquainted  with  the  character  of  our  institutions,  and  have 
none  of  the  essential  qualifications  of  freemen;  that  the  tempo 
rary  inhabitants  and  those  who  have  migrated  there  are  many 
of  them  deserters  from  the  army  and  navy — outcasts  and  ad 
venturers  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  of  the  most  desperate  and 
abandoned  character,  attracted  there  by  a  spirit  of  avarice,  with 
out  the  moral  restraints  which  uphold  civilized  communities ; 
and  that  the  bonds  of  society  are  virtually  dissolved.  And  yet, 
when  this  is  the  last  hope  of  extending  them  any  protection, 
in  the  same  breath  he  inveighs  against  giving  them  a  temporary 
government  peculiarly  suited  to  their  anomalous  condition, 
and  strong  enough  to  hold  in  check  the  violence  and  anarchy 
which  so  alarmingly  prevail  there,  lest  it  may  not  be,  word  for 
word  and  letter  for  letter,  as  some  other  territorial  government, 
at  some  other  time  and  under  some  other  circumstances,  has 
been  ;  and  lest,  too,  more  power  may  be  temporarily  confided 
to  the  President  than  ordinarily  would  be  prudent  or  desirable. 
He  tells  us  this  people  must  pass  through  the  process  offer- 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA  AND  NEW   MEXICO.  287 

mentation,  to  employ  his  own  term,  before  they  will  be  quali 
fied  to  discharge  the  duties  of  citizens  ;  and  he  proposes  to  en 
courage  that  process  by  administering  to  them  the  ordinance 
of  1787.  This,  he  seems  to  suppose,  would  at  once  put  their 
fermental  qualities  in  motion,  and  carry  off  all  physical,  moral, 
and  political  impurities,  and  leave  them  fitted  to  discharge  un- 
derstandingly  many,  if  not  all,  the  high  functions  of  self-gov 
ernment.  They  are  now  depressed  and  degraded,  is  the  argu 
ment,  and  they  must  be  raised^  by  the  leaven  of  this  celebrated 
ordinance,  from  vice  and  barbarism  and  ignorance  to  the  highest 
privileges  of  freemen.  By  its  magic  influences  all  shall  then 
read,  write,  speak,  and  understand  our  language,  and  compre 
hend  the  spirit  of  our  institutions ;  and  the  avaricious  aspira 
tions  of  the  worshippers  of  mammon,  who  are  struggling  with 
unchastened  greed  for  sudden  wealth  upon  the  shores  of 
Sacramento,  shall  be  toned  to  the  temper  and  quiet  of  the  most 
self-denying  and  orderly.  Empirics  in  medicine  usually  have 
some  one  infallible  remedy  for  all  manner  of  diseases  which 
afflict  our  nature,  whether  chronic  or  acute,  whether  of  body  or 
of  mind,  or  however  originating  or  tending ;  and  I  say  it  with 
becoming  respect,  disclaiming  all  application  of  the  remark  ex 
cept  to  a  political  organization  or  class,  the  ordinance  of  1787 
is  by  some  prescribed  at  all  times  and  upon  all  occasions,  as  a 
catholicon  for  all  political  ills  or  embarrassments  to  which 
society  is  heir. 

Amongst  other  propositions  submitted  to  the  Senate,  have 
been  those  providing  for  the  admission  of  California  as  a  State. 
One  of  these  has  been  before  us  for  action.  It  was  ably  dis 
cussed  and  fully  considered,  and  was  rejected,  receiving  only 
four  votes  in  its  favor ;  and,  although  a  duplicate  is  yet  upon 
our  orders,  no  one  proposes  to  revive  it,  or  to  attempt  the  hope 
less  task  of  breathing  into  it  life.  My  colleague  has,  however, 
thought  proper,  for  reasons  to  me  utterly  incomprehensible,  to 
exhume  the  remains,  and  subject  them  in  detail  to  a, post  mortem 
examination — a  process  evidently  distasteful  to  himself,  and 
certainly  unnecessary  for  the  dead  or  living.  The  proposition 
is  not  before  us  in  form  or  substance,  in  whole  or  in  part,  and 
is  not  to  be.  Whenever  it  or  a  like  project  is,  it  will  be  soon 
enough  for  me  to  discuss  it.  It  will  be  in  season  for  me  to 
justify  it  whenever  I  propose  to  vote  for  it  or  sustain  it ;  but  in- 


288 

the  mean  time  I  shall  leave  it  to  its  repose,  and  shall  not  permit 
objections  to  that  bill  to  be  urged  against,  argued  into,  or  in 
terwoven  with,  the  provision  under  consideration,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  raising  a  prejudice  against  it,  when  the  two  are  as  unlike 
as  they  could  well  be,  framed  in  the  same  language.  Accus 
tomed  to  discuss  the  question  before  us,  I  cannot  consent  to 
depart  from  my  usual  course.  I  concede  the  victory  over  the 
dead  bill,  under  the  circumstances,  to  be  complete  and  triumph 
ant,  and  as  easy  withal  as  was  that  of  a  distinguished  warrior 
over  his  celebrated  knights  in  buckram. 

He  further  informs  us  that  he  will  not  consent  to  the  dis 
memberment  of  California  or  to  play  towards  New  Mexico  the 
part  of  Russia  and  other  Powers  towards  Poland !  Nor  will 
I !  Nor  will  I  ever  consent  to  play  towards  our  Territories  the 
part  of  Great  Britain  to  the  American  colonies  !  And  does  he 
inform  us  who  will  do  what  he  disclams  ?  Why,  I  inquire, 
this  declaration  here  ?  Is  it  pretended  that  this  amendment 
proposes  any  merger  of  the  one  or  dismemberment  of  the  other, 
or  anything  of  the  kind  ?  Certainly  not ;  for  it  merely  provides 
for  the  administration  of  law  and  the  preservation  of  order  in 
the  whole  territory  acquired  by  the  treaty,  until  Congress  shall 
make  further  and  more  ample  provisions.  If  it  is  intended  to 
insinuate  that  those  who  favor  this  amendment  would  either 
merge  or  dismember,  the  remark  is  unjust.  If  a  mere  abstract 
declaration  of  patriotism,  it  is  quite  well,  but  at  least  gratuitous. 

But,  sir,  the  real  objection  against  providing  this  temporary 
government  has  finally  had  development,  where  I  supposed  it 
would,  in  the  agitation  of  the  question  of  slavery.  I  listened 
with  unfeigned  pleasure  to  the  startling  appeals  against  the 
danger  of  Executive  power  and  patronage  which  this  amend 
ment  proposed  to  confer,  and  to  other  criticisms  of  that  class, 
well  calculated  to  interest  the  Senate,  and  edify  the  public.  I 
experienced  a  momentary  gratification  that  some  other  bugbear 
than  the  extension  of  slavery  had  been  brought  out,  and  that 
some  other  dish  than  black  broth  was  to  be  served  up,  and  was 
ready  to  exclaim  with  Macbeth,  "take  any  shape  but  that." 
It  soon,  however,  degenerated  to  the  same  old  cry,  which, 
without  having  accomplished  one  good  or  humane  purpose, 
has  for  the  last  few  years  arrested  the  legislation  of  Congress, 
and  served  to  array  one  section  of  the  Union  in  strife  and  bit- 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW  MEXICO.  289 

terness  against  the  other.  Upon  this  miserable  question,  which 
is  all  that  has  heretofore  prevented,  and  now  prevents,  the  or 
ganization  of  these  Territories,  I  propose  a  few  general  consid 
erations  ;  and  that  we  may  properly  appreciate  the  present,  and 
have  due  regard  for  the  future,  we  should  not  be  unmindful  of 
the  history  of  the  past. 

When  a  portion  of  these  States  were  colonies  of  Great 
Britain,  that  government  insisted  upon  abolishing  the  Colonial 
Legislatures,  and  subjecting  our  people,  in  matters  that  con 
cerned  their  domestic  condition,  to  the  legislation  of  Parlia 
ment  ;  and  the  controversy  which  arose  over  this  question, 
more  than  any  other,  produced  that  revolution  which  resulted 
in  declaring  the  colonies  to  be  free  and  independent  States.  Not 
only  were  they  free  and  independent  of  other  governments,  but 
as  independent  of  each  other  as  they  were  of  the  gigantic  Power 
whose  acknowledgment  of  independence  they  had  conquered. 
Although  they  had  successfully  struggled  for  liberty,  by  a  united 
effort  in  a  common  cause,  and  were  bound  together  by  a  feeling 
of  sympathy  and  of  interest,  they  were  united  by  no  political 
bonds  whatever,  and  no  single  State  nor  any  number  had  the 
right,  in  either  a  moral  or  political  sense,  to  interfere  with  or 
question  the  institutions  of  any  other.  Slavery  then  existed  in 
all  the  States,  and  it  was  easily  seen  that  while  it  would  speed 
ily  be  abolished  in  some,  from  natural  causes,  it  would  long 
continue  in  others,  whether  or  not  a  union  of  the  States  was 
formed  ;  it  was  therefore  wisely  deemed  better  to  have  a  Union 
with  slavery,  than  slavery  without  a  Union.  Its  existence  was 
then,  as  now,  deplored,  but  then,  not  as  now,  the  spirit  of  patri 
otism  rose  above  the  spirit  of  a  sickly  philanthropy  and  local 
benevolence,  and  the  patriots  of  that  day,  with  the  spirit  of  the 
revolution  upon  them,  saw  that  the  triumph  which,  under  the 
blessing  of  Heaven,  they  had  achieved,  would  be  best  secured, 
and  the  general  welfare  of  the  States  and  of  the  people  best  pro 
moted,  by  uniting  together  in  one  great  confederacy  for  pur 
poses  specially  defined.  And,  animated  by  the  influences  which 
impelled  them  onward,  the  Constitution,  which  binds  together 
this  family  of  sovereign  States,  and  secures  by  abundant  guaran 
tees  the  rights  and  interests  of  each  and  all,  was  formed  and 
adopted,  and  still  each  State,  in  all  that  concerns  its  domestic 
condition,  in  every  power  and  attribute  not  expressly  conferred 
19 


290 

upon  the  general  government,  is  as  sovereign  and  independent 
as  it  was  before.  And  how,  from  that  auspicious  moment,  has 
our  progress  been  upward  and  onward  !  From  three  we  have 
advanced  to  twenty  millions  of  people — from  thirteen  to  thirty 
sovereign  States,  with  almost  boundless  territorial  possessions. 
Peace  and  prosperity  attend  us  ;  industry  is  amply  rewarded ; 
labor  is  not  burdened  ;  want  and  famine  are  unknown  ;  we  are 
respected  among  the  great  nations  of  the  earth ;  and,  so  far  as 
has  been  vouchsafed  to  fallen  man,  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness  are  secured  to  all.  Haman  could  not  enjoy  the 
honors  and  blessings  with  which  he  was  laden,  because  Mor- 
decai,  the  Jew,  was  permitted  to  sit  at  the  king's  gate ;  and, 
like  that  envious  and  malignant  demon,  there  tire  those  amongst 
us  to  whom  all  these  blessings  avail  nothing,  so  long  as  a  por 
tion  of  the  States  continue,  under  the  guarantees  of  the  Consti 
tution,  that  which  existed  in  all  at  the  time  the  Constitution 
was  formed  ;  and  they  openly  demand  and  deliberately  petition 
that  the  Union  be  dissolved  for  this  cause  alone.  I  am  aware 
it  will  be  said  that  this  extreme  and  frantic  outcry  proceeds 
only  from  a  few  madmen  and  fanatics,  and  is  the  joint  effort  of 
the  weak  and  the  demented,  and  that  those  who  are  now  in  the 
incipient  stages  of  the  same  disease  do  not  propose  to  follow 
them,  and  only  oppose  the  further  extension  of  slavery.  But 
it  was  only  yesterday,  as  it  were,  that  many  of  those  who  now 
cry  loudest  and  go  furthest  were  where  others  have  just  now 
commenced ;  and  again,  to-morrow,  those  who  have  just  taken 
their  first  lessons  will  find  themselves  advanced  where  others 
who  have  travelled  in  the  same  direction  have  gone  before  them. 
It  has  been  unfortunately  discovered  that  "  the  ambitious  youth 
who  fired  the  Ephesian  dome  survived  in  fame  the  pious  fool 
who  reared  it,"  and  a  thirst  for  notoriety  has  become  the  order 
of  the  day.  For  three  years  we  have  been  unable  to  organize  a 
Territory,  to  pass  a  bill  of  appropriation,  to  declare  war,  to  feed 
and  clothe  a  famishing  army,  or  to  ratify  a  treaty  of  peace, 
without  encountering  in  our  pathway  the  hideous  and  hag-like 
shadow  of  slavery  agitation.  Even  this  attempt  to  give  to  an 
unprotected  people  the  temporary  benefits  of  law  and  order  is 
resisted  in  the  same  quarters  and  by  the  same  arguments  and 
influences  that  others  have  been,  and  even  my  colleague  tells  us 
he  can  vote  for  no  bill  unless  it  contains  the  provisions  of  the 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA  AND    NEW  MEXICO.  291 

ordinance  of  1787.  This,  with  him,  like  the  voracious  rod  of 
Aaron,  swallows  up  all  other  considerations.  By  way,  doubt 
less,  of  investing  it  with  additional  consideration,  he  has  given 
us  the  benefit  of  its  history,  and  shown  that  Mr.  Jefferson  pro 
posed  one  of  a  similar  character  in  ]  784,  which  was  not  adopted. 
I  will  spend  no  time  in  commenting  upon  the  historical  truisms 
with  which  it  is  sought  to  surround  and  magnify  this  provision 
and  the  proceedings  in  which  it  originated  ;  for  it  has,  in  my 
judgment,  no  more  application  to  our  present  condition,  as 
mere  authority,  than  an  extract  of  equal  length  from  the  Koran 
of  Mahomet. 

The  ordinance  prepared  by  Mr.  Jefierson  in  1784,  which  was 
rejected,  and  that  which  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Dane,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  others,  and  adopted  in  1787,  were,  it  will  be 
seen,  proposed  before  the  States  were  united  under  a  Constitu 
tion,  and  while  our  fathers  were  groping,  by  the  dim  lights 
which  the  history  of  that  period  afforded,  for  some  plan  of  con 
federacy  by  which  the  territory  in  question,  ceded  or  to  be 
ceded  by  particular  States,  for  the  benefit  of  all,  should  be  re 
ceived  and  managed.  There  was  then  no  Constitution  creating 
the  federal  government  and  defining  and  limiting  its  powers, 
and  it  was  competent  for  individual  States  ceding  their  terri 
tory  to  prescribe  such  terms  and  provisions  as  they  should 
choose,  and  for  the  States  generally,  by  such  special  agreement 
or  compact  as  they  could  unite  upon,  to  specify  the  terms  and 
conditions  on  which  the  ceded  territory  should  be  governed.  It 
was  a  contract  entered  into  by  all  the  parties  interested,  and  as 
such  derived  all  its  character  and  force.  And  now,  because  a 
certain  agreement  was  made  by  the  parties,  interested  for  the 
government  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  ceded  by  particular 
States  for  the  benefit  of  all,  before  we  had  a  Constitution  to 
guide  us,  it  is  insisted  that,  under  the  Constitution,  from  which 
Congress  derives  all  its  authority,  and  in  which  no  such  power 
is  specified,  we  shall  do  to  the  common  property,  as  a  matter 
of  right,  in  defiance  of  the  protest  of  a  portion  of  the  States, 
that  which  was  done  by  the  consent  of  all,  including  the  sole 
owner,  before  the  Constitution  was  adopted.  The  difference, 
when  properly  illustrated,  being  simply  this  :  Three  individuals 
enter  into  an  agreement  for  their  mutual  benefit  and  advantage, 
and  abide  by  its  provisions.  Three  others  of  equal  rights, 


292  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

under  other  circumstances,  not  being  able  to  agree  satisfactorily, 
two  of  them,  finding  that  an  agreement  had  once  been  volun 
tarily  made  by  three,  insist  that  the  precedent  ought  to  be  fol 
lowed,  and  seek  to  compel  the  third  by  force  to  submit  to  their 
terms.  Besides,  if  there  is  any  particular  charm  belonging  to 
this  ordinance  which  enitles  it  to  be  adopted,  whether  appli 
cable  or  not  to  our  condition,  it  should  be  taken  as  a  whole — in 
all  its  parts  and  with  all  its  provisions.  One  of  these  is  as  fol 
lows,  and  its  perusal  will  show  the  utter  absurdity  of  its  appli 
cation  to  our  present  condition  : 

"  That  both  the  temporary  and  permanent  governments  shall  be  es 
tablished  on  these  principles  as  their  basis  ;  that  they  shall  be  subject 
to  pay  a  part  of  the  Federal  debts,  contracted  or  to  be  contracted,  to 
be  apportioned  on  them  by  Congress  according  to  the  same  common 
rule  and  measure  by  which  apportionments  thereof  shall  be  made  on 
the  other  States." 

A  proposal  at  this  time  to  impose  upon  the  temporary  gov 
ernment  of  a  Territory  a  portion  of  the  Federal  debts,  contracted 
or  to  be  contracted,  would  be  universally  received  throughout 
the  Union  with  derision  and  indignation  ;  and  yet  it  may  be  as 
fairly  insisted  upon  as  a  valuable  precedent  of  binding  authority 
as  any  other  provision  of  the  ordinance.  We  must  not  go  for 
ward,  but  all  legislation  must  be  arrested  until  the  burial-field 
of  deceased  documents  can  be  ransacked,  and  the  marrowless 
bones  of  the  ordinance  of  '87  be  clothed  anew  with  flesh  and 
sinews,  that  it  may  perform,  regardless  of  the  Constitution,  an 
office  it  was  designed  to  discharge  without  one.  We  must  be 
dragged  back  from  a  perfect  Union  to  a  patched-up  confed 
eracy,  and  our  mature  manhood  of  this  century  be  cramped  and 
fettered  by  the  swaddling  habiliments  of  the  infant  of  a  past 
one.  Anarchy  must  reign,  and  bloodshed  and  crime  and  dis 
order  triumph  in  the  Territories,  until  we  can  demonstrate  a 
political  problem  from  some  musty  precedent,  and,  instead  of 
acting  for  ourselves,  as  the  occasion  requires,  we  must  try  to 
ascertain  how  others  have  acted  at  some  other  time,  upon  some 
other  occasion,  that  we  may  act  like  them. 

But  it  seems  that  the  cognomen  by  which  this  ordinance  has 
recently  been  known,  and  under  which  it  has  transacted  a  some 
what  extensive  business,  is  no  longer  deemed  desirable,  and 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA  AND   NEW    MEXICO.  293 

that  a  change,  which  is  seldom  sought  for  slight  or  transient 
causes,  has  been  thought  prudent,  if  not  necessary.  My  honor 
able  colleague,  feel  nig  an  interest  in  the  success  and  welfare  of 
this  deceased  paper,  not  only  burst  its  cerements  and  brought 
it  up  again  to  revisit  earth,  but  himself  led  it  to  the  political 
font,  and  performed  the  priestly  ritual  of  christening  it  the 
"  Jefferson  proviso  !  "  If  the  illustrious  and  venerated  states 
man,  whose  impress  rests  upon  all  that  is  enduring  and  beauti 
ful  in  our  political  system,  could  so  far  participate  in  the  affairs 
of  the  living  as  to  see  his  acts  for  good  perverted  to  pernicious 
purposes ;  hear  his  memory  desecrated  by  associating  his  his 
tory  with  this  causeless  agitation ;  his  authority  invoked  for 
casting  amongst  us  this  apple  of  bitterness  and  discord ;  and, 
finally,  hear  those  who  would  still  fan  the  fires  of  disunion,  dis 
turb  his  repose  by  calling  upon  his  great  and  spotless  name,  he 
would  exclaim,  as  did  the  prophet,  raised  by  the  incantations  of 
the  familiar  spirit,  when  the  guilty  Saul  would  have  escaped 
from  the  consequences  of  his  perfidious  career,  "  Why  hast  thou 
disquieted  me  to  bring  me  up  ?  "  My  colleague  is  proverbial 
for  his  strong  sense  of  justice,  and  his  scrupulous  regard  for  the 
rights  of  property,  and  yet  he  has,  quite  unconsciously,  I  am 
sure,  proposed  to  do  an  act  which  must  be  a  violation  of  both — 
an  act  which  his  generous  instincts  will  prompt  him  to  correct 
the  first  moment  he  sees  the  consequences  which  must  ensue. 
He  must  be  well  aware  how  much  a  distinguished  individual 
gave  up  that  the  "  proviso  "  might  bear  his  name  ;  and  yet  he 
coolly  proposes  to  transfer  this  name,  with  all  its  accumulated 
honors  and  invaluable  advantages,  to  another.  Sir,  in  the  name 
of  common  justice,  I  most  solemnly  protest  against  this  marked 
and  wanton  violation  of  private  and  individual  right.  Call  it 
the  "  Jefferson  proviso  !  "  Should  this  be  attempted,  the  per 
son  by  whose  name  it  has  been  known  might  cry  out  somewhat 
in  the  language  of  lago — 

"  Who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash  ;  'tis  something,  nothing ; 
'Twas  mine,  'tis  his  ;  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands. 
But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  proviso, 
Hobs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 
And  makes  me  poor  indeed" 

My  colleague,  notwithstanding  the  degraded  and  disorderly 


294 

condition  and  unfit  character  for  self-government  which  he  at 
tributes  to  the  people  of  these  Territories,  would  give  them  a 
full  territorial  government  if  it  could  contain  his  favorite  clause 
of  restriction.  Now,  a  full  territorial  government,  as  heretofore 
given,  authorizes  the  election  by  the  people  of  a  territorial  leg 
islature,  and  the  passage  by  such  legislature  of  their  municipal 
laws ;  usually,  but  not  always,  subject  to  the  supervision  of 
Congress ;  and  in  these  relations  it  will  be  seen  that  they  are 
called  upon  to  exercise  some  of  the  highest  privileges  of  free 
men.  If,  then,  they  are  so  ignorant,  degraded,  and  barbarous 
as  to  be  unfit  for  any  of  the  duties  of  self-government,  why  pro 
pose  to  require  them  at  their  hands  ;  or  object  to  the  preserva 
tion  of  order  in  a  more  summary  form,  until  they  shall  be  better 
qualified  ?  But,  in  arguing  the  justice  and  propriety  of  apply 
ing  the  restriction  to  the  organization  of  a  territorial  govern 
ment,  he  states  that  Congress  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  the 
people  of  a  Territory  that  the  State  legislatures  do  to  the  peo 
ple  of  a  State.  From  this  doctrine  I  respectfully  but  most  un 
qualifiedly  dissent,  and  insist  that  the  relations  are  entirely  dis 
similar.  The  State  legislatures  are  the  creations  of  the  people 
of  the  respective  States.  The  members  of  the  State  legislature 
are  elected  by  the  people  of  the  State,  and  are  their  represen 
tatives  and  servants ;  but  no  such  relation  exists,  or  has  ever 
existed,  between  Congress  and  the  people  of  a  Territory.  Con 
gress  is  not  created  by  the  people  of  the  Territory.  They  have 
no  vote  in  it ;  its  members  are  not  elected  by,  nor  are  they,  the 
servants  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  Territories, 
or  in  the  remotest  degree  answerable  to  them.  Congress  holds 
the  same  relation  to  the  people  of  the  Territories  that  the 
British  Parliament  held  to  the  American  colonies  ;  and  the  doc 
trines  sought  to  be  enforced  by  those  who  advocate  the  restric 
tive  policy  are  the  old  exploded  theories  of  George  III. — against 
which  our  forefathers  rebelled — dressed  up  in  new  clothes,  that 
the  imposition  may  be  the  more  successful.  The  principle  that 
a  distant  people,  in  the  formation  of  a  government,  need  a  mas 
ter  to  administer  restrictions  to  preserve  them  from  running 
headlong  to  ruin  in  their  policy,  is  founded  in  a  distrust  of  pop 
ular  intelligence  and  virtue ;  and,  whether  emanating  from  an 
Eastern  despotism,  the  British  Parliament,  or  the  American 
Congress,  violates  the  first  principles  of  free  government,  and 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  295 

seeks  to  rule  a  people  rather  than  permit  them  to  rule  them 
selves.  The  American  people,  when  colonies,  being  no  further 
from  the  mother  country  than  our  Pacific  possessions  are  from 
us,  insisted,  to  revolution  and  blood,  upon  the  right  to  legislate 
for  themselves  ;  and  now,  should  they  seek  to  enforce  the  same 
doctrine  upon  the  people  of  their  own  Territories,  they  would 
be  like  him  who,  after  his  own  debt  was  forgiven  him,  took  his 
fellow-servant  by  the  throat  that  he  might  enforce  the  payment 
of  a  two-penny  demand. 

I  have  urged,  for  the  government  of  the  Territories,  when  a 
sufficient  number  of  American  citizens  or  others  who  can  ap 
preciate  the  obligations  of  freemen  shall  be  there,  free  Terri 
torial  governments — not  that  kind  of  freedom  which,  with  lib 
erty  on  its  lips,  distrusts  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-govern 
ment,  and  seeks  to  hedge  him  about  with  provisos  and  restric 
tions  ;  nor  that  freedom  which  must  be  kept  in  leading-strings, 
held  by  some  master  power  three  thousand  miles  distant,  lest 
man  should  care  less  for  himself  than  his  distant  fellows  might 
care  for  him,  and  be  less  wise  in  governing  himself  than  others 
in  acting  as  his  governors ;  but  that  freedom  which  springs 
from  the  best  instincts  of  the  heart,  and  believes  that  man  is 
better  qualified  to  rule  himself  than  to  govern  his  neighbor. 
The  Constitution  has  given  no  authority  to  Congress  to  legis 
late  for  the  people  of  a  Territory,  and  consequently  it  has  no 
such  right ;  and  Mr.  Madison  has  pronounced  any  such  attempt 
to  be  without  the  shadow  of  constitutional  law.  But,  in  legis 
lating  for  the  property  of  Territories,  which  Congress  may  do, 
and  in  aiding  the  infant  settlements  to  erect  their  governments, 
Congress  has  prescribed  general  enactments,  serving  as  tem 
porary  constitutions  for  the  people  of  the  Territory  rather  than 
laws,  and  has  sent  out  officers  to  aid  in  enforcing  them.  This 
course  has  in  all  cases  been  received  with  favor  by  the  people 
of  the  Territories ;  they  have  adopted  as  their  own  what  Con 
gress  has  been  pleased  to  send  them,  and  have  framed  their 
local  laws,  from  time  to  time,  in  accordance  with  the  legislation 
of  Congress.  The  whole  doctrine  of  a  just  government,  accord 
ing  to  the  republican  theory,  consists  in  the  consent  of  the  gov 
erned  ;  and  any  other,  no  matter  by  what  name  it  is  known,  is 
despotism  and  slavery.  And  it  is  from  the  consent  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  Territory,  and  the  acquiescence  of  the  States,  that 


296 

this  usage  has  derived  all  its  force.  But  those  who  advocate 
restriction,  seek  to  repudiate  this  principle  of  self-government, 
and  then  proclaim  it  too  feeble  for  the  sphere  of  its  duties.  I 
do  not  contend  that  the  people  of  a  Territory  have  sovereign 
power  as  a  government,  because  the  sovereignty  of  a  govern 
ment  as  such  is  a  creation  of  man.  But,  as  a  man  derives  his 
sovereignty  from  his  Maker,  I  insist  that  the  people  of  a  Terri 
tory  are  as  much  sovereign  there  as  in  a  State  (unless,  which 
will  not  be  contended,  they  may  lose  their  birthright  by  resid 
ing  in  a  Territory) ;  and,  in  all  that  concerns  or  relates  to  their 
domestic  condition,  should,  in  conformity  with  our  federative 
system  and  the  principle  of  self-government,  be  permitted  to 
make  their  own  temporary  regulations  of  domestic  policy — of 
course  in  harmony  with  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  rights  of  the  States.  This  would  give  to  the  people  of  the 
Territories  the  rights  that  belong  to  them ;  would  turn  the 
vexatious  and  agitating  question  of  slavery  out  of  Congress, 
where  it  has  no  business,  and  should  never  have  entered,  and 
leave  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States  upon  this  question 
to  be  decided  by  the  judicial  tribunals,  wThen  any  one  shall  see 
fit  to  raise  it.  To  this  complexion  it  must  come ;  for,  if  the 
Constitution  confers  the  right  to  carry  slaves  to  a  Territory,  all 
the  acts  which  Congress  can  pass  cannot  take  away  the  right, 
nor  transfer  the  question  to  other  tribunals.  It  is  a  judicial 
question,  and  must  be  disposed  of  as  the  Constitution  has  pro 
vided. 

In  further  proceeding  with  his  argument  in  favor  of  the  re 
strictive  principle,  my  colleague  describes  slavery  as  amongst 
the  greatest  evils  that  can  afflict  and  debase  a  people ;  and 
yet  he  will  not  trust  our  brethren,  friends  and  neighbors,  who 
are  emigrating  to  the  Territories  in  thousands  from  the  North 
ern  States,  who  will  shape  the  destinies  of  the  country,  and 
control  the  course  of  its  legislation,  and  are  as  well  qualified  to 
legislate  as  the  people  of  the  States  whom  they  have  left  be 
hind  them,  lest  they  may,  against  their  own  interests,  wishes, 
and  convenience,  erect  slavery  there  in  spite  of  themselves. 
Does  he  not  fear  the  people  of  New  York  will  re-establish  it  ? 
There  is  no  proviso  to  prevent  them  from  doing  so  whenever 
they  please  ;  and  perchance  our  friends,  when  they  reach  Cali 
fornia,  and  will  be  no  further  from  us  than  we  from  them,  may 


184:9.]  CALIFORNIA  AND   NEW   MEXICO.  297 

have  fears  about  equally  just  that  slavery  may  be  again  au 
thorized  in  the  Northern  States.  Besides,  while  seeking  to 
protect  them  from  themselves  against  this  great  and  over 
shadowing  evil,  if  they  are  indeed  incapable  of  self-govern 
ment  and  self-preservation,  there  are  some  of  minor  moment  to 
which  they  must  stand  exposed  ;  and  I  would  suggest  to  those 
who  believe  in  governing  other  communities  that  they  should 
be  exempted  by  law  from  drowning  by  the  waters  of  the  Pa 
cific,  and  from  destruction  by  fire ;  or,  as  the  poet  expresses 
it,  from  "  sinking  in  the  devouring  flood,  or  more  devouring 
flame." 

We  have  been  told  in  this  debate,  what  I  have  often  heard 
before,  that  those  who  are  constantly  agitating  this  question 
have  no  intention  of  interfering  with  slavery  in  the  States. 
Oh,  no  !  as  though  a  forbearance  so  generous  was  entitled  to 
great  commendation.  And  what  merit,  pray  tell  me,  is  claimed 
for  this  ?  Would  any  one  take  to  himself  credit  because  he 
did  not  enter  the  jurisdiction  of  a  sovereign  State  and  trample 
upon  its  laws,  and  subject  himself  to  a  charge  of  felony,  and 
set  himself  up  to  regulate  the  standard  of  its  political  and  so 
cial  morals,  and  claim  the  right  to  overthrow  that  which  he 
disliked,  and  help  himself  to  whatever  he  should  desire  ?  He 
certainly  would  not ;  and  yet  he  would  have  as  good  a  right 
to  do  all  this,  in  a  moral  or  political  sense,  as  he  would  to  in 
terfere  with  this  institution  in  the  States  where  it  exists  by 
law.  Why  are  we  not  also  told,  if  there  is  merit  in  abstaining 
from  matters  in  which  we  have  no  concern,  that  there  is  no 
intention  to  interfere  with  the  manufacturing  system  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  or  the  banking  of  Indiana,  or  the  rights  of  primo- 
gefriture  in  England,  or  the  republican  government  in  France  ? 
We  have  as  much  right  to  do  either  as  we  have  to  interfere  in 
any  respect  with  any  of  the  domestic  affairs  of  a  sovereign 
State. 

The  great  mass  of  the  Northern  people,  and  I  speak  es 
pecially  of  the  people  of  New  York,  are  less  excited  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery  than  would  appear  from  the  declarations  of 
those  who  claim  the  right  to  speak  for  them.  They  regard 
slavery  as  an  evil,  but  they  know  that  it  is  not  now,  and  was 
not  at  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  an  original  question; 
but  was,  as  my  colleague  has  stated,  planted  here  while  we  were 


298 

subjects  of  the  British  Crown,  against  the  wishes  and  without 
the  consent  of  her  colonies.  New  York  abolished  slavery  her 
self  when  it  suited  her  own  sense  of  propriety  and  her  interest, 
wishes,  and  convenience,  without  the  gratuitous  and  imperti 
nent  interference  of  other  States,  or  the  officious  dictation  of 
Congress.  And  the  mass  of  her  people  are  willing  other 
States  should  follow  her  example,  when  in  like  manner  it 
shall  seem  to  them  best ;  and  they  believe  such  States  to  be 
the  most  proper  judges  in  the  premises.  They  have  no  doubt 
emancipation  has  been  retarded  in  a  number  by  the  ill-timed 
proceedings  and  intermeddlings  of  fanaticism  and  bigotry. 
They  believe  that  the  advantages  and  burdens,  the  good  and 
the  evil,  the  responsibility  here  and  the  responsibility  here 
after,  belong  to  the  States  where  it  exists  and  not  to  them; 
that  they  are  not  entitled  to  reap  the  fruits  of  its  labor,  nor  re 
quired  to  care  for  its  endless  vexations,  nor  to  answer  for  its 
sins.  Having  abolished  it  themselves,  they  do  not,  like  the 
Pharisee,  thank  God  that  they  are  not  as  other  men  ;  but  they 
believe  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  as  intelligent  and 
virtuous  as  themselves,  and  as  regardful  of  the  principles  of 
sound  morality,  just  law,  and  pure  religion.  They  see  that 
this  great  matter  cannot  be  hastily  disposed  of;  that  the  mere 
question  whether  the  slaves  shall  be  emancipated  or  longer 
held  in  servitude,  is  but  a  single  verse  in  the  dark  and  difficult 
chapter  of  its  history ;  and  that  it  is  wiser  to  leave  it  to  the 
guidance  of  those  whose  institution  and  property  it  is,  and 
who  have  a  right  to  control  it,  under  the  benificent  care  of  that 

" — Divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Bough  hew  them  how  we  will." 

Nor  have  the  great  mass  of  the  Northern  people  any  desire  to 
interfere  with  this  institution,  under  some  plausible  pretence, 
for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  by  circuity  and  indirection 
that  which  they  have  not  the  manliness  to  attempt  openly ; 
and  hence  they  will  not,  under  the  plea  of  preventing  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery,  set  on  foot  and  prosecute  a  bootless  guer 
rilla  warfare  of  irritation  against  their  sister  States  by  agitat 
ing  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  or  in  the  arsenals,  navy  yards,  and  other  places 


1SJ-9.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  299 

where  Congress  has  jurisdiction.  They  read,  too,  in  the  Con 
stitution  that  fugitives  held  to  service  by  the  laws  of  one 
State,  escaping  into  another,  are  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  ju 
risdiction  from  whence  they  fled,  not  to  be  enslaved,  if  they 
are  freemen,  as  is  the  cant  phrase  of  the  times,  but  to  have 
their  rights  adjudicated  by  the  laws  of  the  State  where  the 
service  is  claimed.  These  provisions  are  clearly  written  in  our 
fundamental  law,  and  he  who  violates  them  or  either  of  them, 
under  the  shallow  justification  that  they  are  of  no  moral  force, 
violates  the  primary  duties  of  citizenship  and  commits  treason 
against  his  government.  They  see  and  know  that  they  can 
not  elevate  this  unfortunate  race,  either  as  individuals  or  as  a 
people,  by  the  angry  agitation  of  the  question,  or  by  harbor 
ing  and  secreting  a  few  fugitive  slaves ;  and  that  the  only 
fruits  produced  by  it  will  be  to  multiply  wretched  outcasts 
and  swell  the  volume  of  misery,  pauperism,  and  crime — to  add 
physical  want  and  suffering  to  moral  and  mental  depression, 
increase  the  number  of  vagabonds,  and  literally  degrade  deg 
radation.  The  North,  as  a  people,  want  not  this  race' among 
them,  as  is  suggested  by  this  bastard  philanthropy.  They 
want  not  the  sick,  the  decrepit,  and  the  infirm  to  be  supported 
in  their  poor-houses ;  nor  the  vicious  and  immoral  for  their 
prisons  ;  nor  the  few  whose  integrity  and  health  shall  survive 
a  transition  from  a  genial  to  a  rigorous  clime — from  a  long 
state  of  tutelage  to  one  of  self-preservation  and  self-depen 
dence — to  come  among  them  without  social  or  political  recog 
nition,  degrade  the  white  laborers  of  the  North  by  mingling 
with  them  and  competing  for  their  employment.  They  see 
that  two  races  of  men  so  dissimilar  in  physical  development, 
whether  as  slaves  or  freemen,  cannot  exist  together  upon  terms 
of  equality  without  detriment  to  both.  Heaven  has  so  or 
dained  and  man  cannot  subvert  the  decree — one  will  not  be 
elevated  while  the  other  will  be  degraded.  A  woe  has  been 
pronounced  upon  him  who  shall  sever  what  God  hath  joined, 
and  a  like  one  should  1be  proclaimed  against  him  who  would 
join  that  which  Heaven  by  such  marked  physical  laws  has 
.sundered.  Let  not  the  great  mass  of  the  Northen  people  be 
held  responsible  for  the  slavery  agitation  which  is  carried  on 
in  their  name — originating  in  the  mistaken  benevolence  or  sin 
ister  designs  of  a  few,  and  yielded  to  and  fostered  by  timid 


300 

and  time-serving  politicians,  who  hold  the  people  as  weak  and 
irrational  as  themselves,  and  believe  them  capable  of  hazard 
ing  the  integrity  of  the  Union  lest,  against  existing  legal  and 
physical  impediments,  there  should  perchance  be  one  dark  skin 
less  in  Maryland  and  one  more  in  California. 

I  am  too  well  aware  that  all  who  advocate  the  doctrine  of 
non-interference — who  stand  up  for  the  sovereign  rights  of  the 
States  and  the  guaranties  of  the  Constitution — must  breast 
the  blind  fury  of  a  fearful  storm,  and  be  covered  over  with 
epithets  of  bitterness  and  opprobium.  He  is,  say  they,  a 
friend  to  the  extension  of  slavery ;  he  is  sold  to  the  South ; 
he  is  the  apologist  of  slavery  aggression,  and  wishes  to  degrade 
free  labor  and  abolish  freedom !  But,  sir,  while  I  can  look 
with  becoming  pity  upon  ignorance  and  weakness,  I  hurl  from 
me  with  hissing  and  contempt,  alike  the  whine  of  the  hyp 
ocrite  and  the  bluster  of  the  demagogue.  I  see  spread  out 
before  us  a  great  and  happy  country,  with  such  institutions  as 
Heaven  has  never  before  vouchsafed  to  fallen  man ;  and  I  see, 
too,  that  when  once  they  are  riven  and  uprooted,  the  night  of 
despotism,  in  which  the  genius  of  evil  and  violence  and 
anarchy  will  hold  her  awful  court,  will  be  long  and  gloomy. 
O,  may  our  glorious  tree  of  liberty  sink  its  roots  deeper  in  the 
soil  of  freedom,  and  extend  its  branches  until  all  the  oppressed 
and  stricken  of  earth  may  find  beneath  it  shelter  and  repose  ! 
This  is  the  chosen  asylum  of  the  genius  of  liberty  on  earth, 
and  when  it  shall  be  banished  hence,  after  coursing  over  the 
world's  desolate  waste  and  finding  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  its 
foot,  will  it  not  return,  fluttering  for  admission  like  the  dove 
at  the  window  of  the  ark,  to  the  "  bosom  of  its  father  and  its 
God  ?  " 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  assume  to  be  wiser  or  more 
benevolent  than  were  the  fathers  of  the  Constitution.  They 
did  not  tremble  and  quake  because  slavery  had  existence,  but 
they  rose  above  the  influences  of  a  spurious  philanthropy,  and 
a  more  spurious  philosophy,  and  formed  a  confederacy  of  sov 
ereign  equals.  They  listened  not  to  that  fearful  and  ominous 
cry  which  falls  harshly  on  the  ear,  the  North !  the  North ! 
the  South  !  the  South !  but  taught  us  alone  the  magic  words, 
fk  THE  UNION."  I  do  not  fear  soon  its  dissolution  in  form,  but 
I  fear  far  more  its  dissolution  in  spirit.  That  union  ordained 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  301 

of  Heaven,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  society,  and  up 
holds  and  adorns  all  that  is  sacred  and  beautiful  in  our  social 
system,  displays  not  its  value  or  its  moral  beauty,  because 
man  and  woman  are  bound  together  in  the  bonds  of  legalized 
matrimony,  but  because  they  fulfil  the  relations  which  a  wise 
Providence  ordained,  and  mutually  heighten  the  joys  and 
alleviate  the  sorrows  which  attend  us  through  the  chequered 
scenes  of  this  eventful  pilgrimage.  In  like  manner  the  value 
of  our  political  Union  does  not  consist  in  the  binding  together 
of  thirty  Sovereign  States  with  hooks  of  steel  and  chains  of 
adamant,  but  because  they  stand  united  for  beneficent  pur 
poses,  forming  one  great  and  shining  light — a  beacon  to  the 
weary  and  tempest-tossed — a  terror  to  tyranny  and  usurpation 
— and  each  still  an  independent  star  in  the  constellation  of 
political  hope.  But,  if  they  must  stand  arrayed  against  each 
other,  or  section  against  section — if,  instead  of  kind  offices 
and  friendly  relations,  they  are  to  exchange  angry  reproaches 
and  threatening  menaces,  that  moral  beauty  which  has  hitherto 
attended  them  has  departed — the  life  and  spirit  which  gave 
birth  to  the  Union  has  ceased  to  animate  it,  and  one  fatal  step 
has  been  taken  upon  the  road  to  dissolution. 

Nothing  can  subvert  this  happy  Union  but  the  formation 
of  sectional  parties  ;  and  that,  if  successful,  will.  It  is  but  an 
institution  of  man,  and  cannot  and  ought  not  to  survive  the 
successful  organization  of  factions.  This  attempt  to  create 
sectional  parties  is  the  evil  tendency  of  the  times,  and  he  who 
seeks  to  foster  it,  be  his  purpose  what  it  may — whether  to 
minister  to  the  cravings  of  a  mean  ambition  or  to  gratify  a 
fiendish  lingering  revenge;  whether  he  has  been  laden  with 
the  honors  of  the  people,  and  pampered  at  their  treasury,  or 
be  the  incendiary,  whose  price  of  purchase  is  less  than  thirty 
pieces  of  silver — the  taint  of  treason  and  perfidy  will  cling  to 
him  in  after  times  like  the  poisoned  tunic  of  mythology ;  a 
mark  shall  be  set  upon  him,  that  all  shall  know  him ;  but  it 
shall  not  be  for  safety,  and  society  will  hunt  him  from  its 
abodes  like  a  ferocious  and  venomous  beast.  He  will  not  be 
saved  by  the  counterfeited  cry  that  he  is  merely  opposing  the 
extension  of  slavery  /  but,  like  the  murderous  captain  of  the 
host,  the  vengeance  of  an  indignant  people  will  slay  him  at 
the  very  horns  of  the  altar. 


302 

My  colleague,  in  justifying  his  course,  tells  us  that  he  is  not 
fully  a  free  agent,  having  been  instructed,  although  the  instruc 
tions  accord  with  his  judgment.  Therein  he  differs  widely  from 
me,  for  I  am  a  free  agent  in  every  sense,  and  cannot  consent  to 
stand  here  otherwise  ;  for  I  belong  to  the  school  of  a  statesman, 
venerated  by  every  friend  of  liberty,  who  believed  in  "  taking 
the  responsibility"  I  arn  a  free  agent  to  do  as  duty  may  re 
quire,  and  am  ready  to  count  personal  consequences  afterwards. 
I  understand  where  I  am  speaking  far  too  well  to  enter  upon 
matters  belonging  to  my  State  here  ;  for  neither  this  body,  nor 
any  of  its  members,  have  a  right  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  me. 
I  shall  enter  into  no  explanations,  claim  no  merit,  and  accord 
none,  so  far  as  supposed  instructions  are  concerned ;  nor  shall  I 
permit  myself  here  to  inquire  whether  they  emanate  from  a 
majority  or  minority  of  the  people  ;  whether  they  seek  to  vio 
late  the  spirit  of  the  compact,  or  whether  they  come  from  those 
who  believe  in  and  practise  the  doctrine  they  seek  to  enforce  ; 
but,  at  the  proper  time  and  upon  the  proper  occasion,  before 
those  whose  servant  I  am,  I  tender  the  gauntlet  to  him  who 
shall  choose  to  take  it  up,  and  I  hold  myself  in  readiness  to 
justify  my  action  before  the  only  pure  and  true  source  of 
power.  I  intend  to  know  whether  one  can  resist  this  mischiev 
ous  and  licentious  spirit  of  sectional  agitation,  and  those  who 
serve  as  sappers  and  miners  of  the  Constitution,  and  survive. 
I  have  no  fear  that  I  shall  not  be  most  triumphantly  sustained, 
when  the  storm  has  swept  by.  ISTor  would  I  change  a  course  so 
clearly  demanded  by  considerations  of  duty,  if  I  knew  I  was  to 
be  overwhelmed.  It  is  better  that  an  humble  individual  should 
perish,  if  in  his  struggle  he  should  arouse  the  attention  of  the 
people  to  the  dangers  which  threaten  them.  Sir,  I  stand  upon 
the  watch-tower  of  liberty,  where  my  fathers  stood  before  me, 
and  I  invoke  the  spirit  of  my  country's  Constitution.  Like 
Burke,  when  speaking  of  the  controversy  of  the  American  colo 
nies,  I  stand  not  here  to  demonstrate  points  of  law,  but  to  quiet 
agitation.  Let  the  storm  howl  on — let  the  battlements  rock  if 
they  will — let  faction  toss  and  roar  and  hurl  her  impotent  ar 
rows  of  detraction,  and  I  will  laugh  them  to  scorn,  for  I  did  not 
take  up  my  position  without  counting  the  cost.  If  I  had  counted 
momentary  elevation  or  personal  eclat,  I  might  have  cried  loud 
est  among  slavery  agitators,  and  rode  high  upon  the  whirl  wind. 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  303 

if  I  could  not  have  directed  the  storm.  But  I  have  chosen  to 
do  my  duty  and  to  meet  the  responsibilities  incident  to  my  po 
sition  ;  and  in  my  hours  of  retirement  I  shall  feel  that  gratifica 
tion  which  a  consciousness  of  rectitude  and  a  firm  discharge  of 
duty  alone  can  give,  and  which  the  world  cannot  take  away,  I 
have  never  favored  the  institution  of  slavery  nor  its  extension, 
either  immediately  or  remotely,  and  whoever  charges  and  in 
sinuates  the  reverse,  originates  a  base  and  deliberate,  and,  un 
less  he  is  ignorant  of  my  sentiments,  a  wilful  calumny.  Equally 
untrue  is  it  that  any  one  has  proposed  to  legislate  for  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery.  It  has  often  been  asserted,  with  knowledge 
of  its  falsity,  and  is  persisted  in,  doubtless  under  that  question 
able  axiom  in  morals,  that  a  falsehood  persevered  in  is  equiva 
lent  to  the  truth.  My  habits,  thoughts,  feelings,  education,  in 
stinct,  nay,  my  very  prejudices,  are  against  slavery ;  but  I 
would  not  interfere  in  what  is  no  concern  of  mine,  to  obtain  a 
greater  evil  and  no  good.  The  South  have  simply  asked  that 
they  may  be  left  to  their  sovereign  rights  as  States,  and  to 
such  rights  in  the  Territory  as  the  legal  tribunals  may  decide 
are  theirs  under  the  Constitution.  They  do  not  ask  any  legis 
lation  in  favor  of  slavery,  or  its  extension  or  diffusion,  but  pro 
test  against  its  agitation  in  the  federal  government,  or  any  leg 
islation  by  Congress  upon  the  subject ;  and  in  this  the  South 
are  right,  and  I  for  one  shall  stand  by  them  and  sustain  them, 
let  who  will  cry  and  clamor,  or  come  what  may,  so  long  as  they 
stand  upon  a  ground  so  clearly  reasonable  and  constitutional  as 
this.  It  is  urged  by  my  colleague  as  another  reason  for  legis 
lating  against  slavery  in  this  Territory,  that,  unless  we  do,  it 
may  shock  the  tender  susceptibilities  of  Mexico.  I  certainly 
shall  not  call  in  question  the  force  of  this  very  singular  argu 
ment  ;  but,  not  proposing  to  draw  lessons  of  political  economy 
or  public  morals  from  that  nation  just  now,  I  will  simply  sug 
gest  that  if  she  has  any  surplus  benevolence  she  had  better  in 
vest  it  in  the  elevation  of  her  own  semi-barbarous  people  and 
her  cruel  and  degrading  system  of  peonage.  Let  her  pluck  out 
the  beam  in  her  own  eye  before  she  discourses  concerning  the 
mote  in  ours.  "  Merry  England,"  too,  with  her  starving  people 
perishing  for  bread,  will  doubtless  bewail  it.  An  eminent 
British  poet  has  exultingly  sung  that  "  slaves  cannot  breathe  in 
England ; "  and  if  he  had  added  that  millions  of  her  own  mis- 


304 

called  freemen,  to  say  nothing  of  groaning  and  oppressed  Ire 
land,  found  the  process  of  respiration  difficult,  by  reason  of  her 
system  of  murderous  inequality,  he  would  have  given  us  a  prac 
tical  and  interesting  but  melancholy  truth  at  the  expense  of 
poetic  beauty. 

But  why  press,  at  all  times  and  upon  all  occasions,  this  pro 
cess  of  restriction  ?  My  colleague  admits  that  the  laws  of  the 
territory,  as  it  came  to  us,  prohibited  slavery ;  which  he  says 
was  abolished  by  the  decree  of  her  President,  again  by  an  act 
of  Congress,  and  yet  again  by  the  Constitution.  Most  lawyers 
in  the  free  and  many  in  the  slave  States  hold  that  the  laws  pro 
hibiting  slavery  remain  the  law  of  the  land  until  changed  by 
competent  legislation,  and  my  colleague  has  often  so  argued  and 
insisted.  I  have  already  shown  that  there  is  no  intention  or 
desire  to  legislate  for  their  change,  even  by  the  South.  Besides, 
he  admits  that  slave  labor  is  not  demanded  there,  nor  white  labor 
excluded,  either  by  climate,  soil,  or  productions ;  and  yet  he, 
and  those  who  act  with  him,  will  consent  to  the  passage  of  no 
bill,  unless  it  excludes  slavery  over  again,  which  they  argue  is 
excluded  by  three  laws  of  man,  and  three  of  Heaven ;  and  they 
insist,  too,  which  is  the  fact,  that  the  people  there,  so  far  as  they 
have  spoken,  are  opposed  to  having  the  institution  among  them. 
Was  ever  absurdity  carried  further,  or  more  pertinaciously  ad 
hered  to  ?  But  I  am  asked,  if  slavery  is  already  excluded  by 
law,  and  prohibited  by  natural  impediments,  why  object  to  the 
restriction  ?  I  object  to  it  because  one-half  of  the  States  of  this 
Union  have  solemnly  protested  against  it,  and  believe  it  will  be 
a  sentence  of  condemnation  against  them ;  and  I  have  sufficient 
regard  for  their  wishes  to  abstain  from  an  act  so  offensive  to 
them  bringing  no  practical  good.  I  object  too  because  the  true 
principles  of  self-government  forbid  that  one  community  should 
legislate  for  another. 

But  do  we  not  all  see  that  it  is  better  to  meet  this  agitation 
now  than  hereafter — "  at  the  door-sill  than  the  hearth-stone  ?  " 
Sir,  I  understand  too  well  the  purposes  for  which  this  agitation 
originated  and  is  prosecuted,  and  the  law  which  governs  all 
kindred  questions,  to  give  heed  to  the  professions,  however 
often  expressed,  that  it  is  merely  an  endeavor  to  prevent  by  law 
the  further  extension  of  slavery,  though  I  admit  that  many  who 
act  in  it  are  sincere  in  their  professions,  and  by  no  means  include 
them  in  the  remarks  I  extend  to  others.  I  would  meet  it  before 


1849.]  CALIFORNIA   AND   NEW   MEXICO.  305 

its  poisonous  roots  have  sunk  deeper  in  the  soil  of  liberty,  or  its 
upas  branches  spread  wider.  You  may  this  day  organize  every 
inch  of  territory  held  by  the  United  States,  and  engraft  upon  it 
the  restriction ;  to-morrow  the  leaders  in  this  same  interest  will 
clamor  on  as  they  have  already  commenced  for  abolition  in  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  and,  this  being  accomplished,  they  will 
openly  and  directly  assail  the  rights  of  sovereign  States,  which 
they  have  heretofore  done  by  indirection,  and  their  innocent 
dupes  will  be  borne  along  with  them.  Who  ever  knew  the 
ferocity  of  a  tiger  tamed  by  a  taste  of  blood,  or  a  fanatic  or  a 
demagogue  or  a  hypocrite  satisfied  by  yielding  to  his  demand  ? 
And,  although  there  are  many  who  have  no  intention  of  pro 
ceeding  to  such  extremities,  they  will  be  subject  to  the  laws 
which  control  such  questions,  and  be  swept  along  with  the 
general  current.  But  a  few  years  since  this  disturbing  spirit 
of  political  abolitionism  reared  its  hydra-head  in  the  halls  of 
our  National  Legislature,  but  it  was  met  by  manly  resistance 
and  put  down.  Again,  restless  as  the  unclean  spirit  of  old,  it 
returns  with  others  more  wicked  than  itself  to  render,  unless 
speedily  put  to  flight,  our  last  state  worse  than  the  first. 

My  colleague  has  told  us,  in  conclusion,  as  he  has  often  be 
fore,  what  New  York  will  do  concerning  this  question — that 
she  will  not  consent  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  that  by  no 
act  of  hers  can  it  be  done.  While  I  acknowledge  his  right  to 
his  opinions  and  speculations  upon  the  subject  of  what  will  be 
the  course  of  New  York,  I  shall  claim  at  least  an  equal  privilege 
of  expressing  my  own  of  what  she  will  not  do  also.  The  gift 
of  prophecy  is  not  mine,  and  I  can  only  judge  of  the  future  by 
the  past  and  the  present,  and  the  general  laws  which  control 
human  agencies ;  and,  however  much  the  reverse  may  be  desired 
by  designing  politicians,  in  my  judgment  New  York,  though 
occasionally  swayed  from  her  great  purposes  by  the  mutations 
of  political  parties  and  the  efforts  of  combined  factions,  will 
content  herself  with  that  which  belongs  to  her,  and  treat  with 
becoming  respect  the  rights  of  her  sister  States.  She  has  abun 
dant  elements  within  herself  to  employ  her  choicest  energies,, 
and  she  will  devote  them  to  the  still  higher  improvement  of  her 
own  internal  condition,  and  to  elevate  yet  more  her  three  mil 
lions  of  happy  people.  Though  the  sun  of  her  political  pros 
perity  may  occasionally  pass  beneath  a  cloud,  the  obscuration 
will  be  but  momentary,  and  the  eclipse  not  total.  She  will  soon 
20 


306 

shine  forth  in  her  meridian  splendor,  diffusing  among  her  sister 
States,  from  her  lofty  eminence,  her  genial  influences  of  light, 
hope,  and  joy — the  proudest  star  in  the  constellation  of  political 
glory.  She  will  leave  all  puerile  sectional  agitations  to  the  mach 
inations  of  those  who  traffic  in  the  disturbance  of  the  public 
peace.  Her  sons  will  stand  again,  as  they  stood  in  the  dark 
days  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  in  the  second  war  of  inde 
pendence,  and  again  in  the  war  with  a  .neighboring  nation,  by 
the  side  of  the  brave  spirits  of  the  South,  as  when  they  shed 
their  choicest  blood  in  defence  of  her  own  frontier ;  and,  as 
then,  she  will  scorn  to  inquire  whether  their  domestic  policy  is 
more  or  less  wise  than  her  own.  She  will  stand  by  the  prin 
ciples  of  non-interference  and  the  Constitution,  and  will  spurn 
all  attempts  at  sectional  policy  and  disunion.  She  will  blot  no 
stars  from  the  constellation.  Her  pride  will  reach  throughout 
the  Union,  and  her  Republic  be  ocean-bound. 

What  motive  have  I  to  disregard  her  wishes,  or  disobey  her 
mandate  ?  What  have  I  to  ask  of  the  South  but  the  merest 
justice  ?  What  else  can  she  have  in  store  for  me  ?  Whatever 
I  have  of  public  character  or  station,  is  the  generous  gift  of  my 
own  great  State.  From  early  childhood  I  have  been  nursed  in 
her  lap,  and  in  manhood  she  led  me  from  humble  private  avo 
cations,  through  various  honors,  to  the  highest  station  her  sov 
ereignty  could  confer.  There,  next  to  Heaven,  are  my  choicest 
offerings  due  ;  there  shall  ruy  first  vows  be  paid.  My  destiny 
is  in  her  keeping  ;  there  my  best  affections  cluster  ;  there  arise 
my  liveliest  aspirations ;  there  all  my  hopes  are  concentred ; 
there  have  I  lived ;  there  repose  the  remains  of  my  beloved 
dead,  and  when  it  shall  please  Heaven  to  call  me  hence,  I  would 
rest  from  the  agitations  of  life  in  her  peaceful  bosom.  Her  very 
name  is  dear  to  me.  Her  character  and  her  institutions  dearer 
still.  Her  political  escutcheon  is  yet  unstained  and  spotless. 
Although  she  has  nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and  they 
have  rebelled  against  her,  her  degradation  has  not  been  com 
pleted.  The  cup  which  has  been  drugged  for  her  humiliation, 
by  a  paricidal  hand,  in  mercy  was  permitted  to  pass,  and  she  has 
not  been  left  to  sanction  by  her  own  sovereign  voice  the  attempt 
to  desecrate  the  Presidential  office  by  pandering  to  the  bad  pas 
sions  of  sectionalism.  That  she  may  long  be  spared  from  this  base 
infliction,  I  invoke  the  universal  prayer  of  our  common  country. 


SPEECH 


KOME,     N.    Y.,    O3T    THE    15TII,    16TH,    AND     1TTH     DAYS     OF 
AUGUST,    1849. 

[The  Rome  Convention  of  1849  added  a  conspicuous  chapter  to  the 
history  of  the  "  Free  Soil "  schism  in  the  State.  The  division  com 
menced  in  1847,  and  culminated  in  1848  in  the  defeat  of  the  Demo 
cratic  candidates,  State  and  national.  Soon  after,  the  subject  of  re 
union,  for  the  sake  of  party  success,  began  to  be  agitated,  and  in  1849 
separate  conventions  of  the  Democrats  and  of  the  Free  Soil,  Free,  or 
Radical  Democrats,  as  they  were  variously  designated,  were  called,  and 
held  at  Rome,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  a  plan  of  union.  Both 
were  numerously  attended.  Governor  Marcy  presided  over  the  Demo 
cratic  convention,  and  among  its  members  were  Chancellor  Walworth, 
Chief-Justice  Beardsley,  Thomas  A.  Osborn  of  Chautauque,  Robert 
Monell  of  Chenango,  Joseph  D.  Monell  of  Columbia,  Samuel  S.  Bowne 
of  Monroe,  Thomas  B.  Mitchell  of  Montgomery,  Francis  B.  Cutting 
and  Lorenzo  B.  Shepard  of  New  York,  Nathan  Dayton  of  Niagara, 
Thomas  G:  Alvord  and  Samuel  L.  Edwards  of  Onondaga,  Levi  S.  Chat- 
field  of  Otsego,  Samuel  Birdsall  of  Seneca,  Aaron  Ward  of  Westches- 
ter,  and  many  others  of  the  leading  and  influential  Democrats  of  the 
State.  The  president  of  the  Free  Soil  Convention  was  Hon.  Win.  B. 
Taylor  of  Onondaga,  and  among  its  leading  members  were  Dudley  Bur- 
well  of  Albany,  Martin  Grover  of  Alleghany,  John  P.  Beekman  of 
Columbia,  Stephen  C.  Johnson  of  Delaware,  Arphaxad  Loomis  of  Her- 
kimer,  B.  F.  Angell  of  Livingston,  James  TV.  Nye  of  Madison,  John 
Van  Buren  and  John  Cochrane  of  New  York,  Robert  Campbell  of 
Steuben,  Henry  B.  Stanton  of  Seneca,  John  Van  Bureu  of  Ulster, 
Preston  King  of  St.  Lawrence,  E.  Van  Buren  of  Yates,  &c.  Martin 
Van  Buren  was  elected  a  delegate  from  Columbia,  but  did  not  attend. 
The  sitting  continued  three  days,  and  various  negotiations  between  the 
conventions  took  place,  but  were  not  successfully  concluded ;  the  Free 
Soil  Convention  insisting  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  or  its  equivalent,  and 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  put  it  in  force,  as  the  basis  of  union.  The 
Democratic  Convention,  in  response,  passed  resolutions,  moved  by  Mr. 


308 

Chatfield  of  Otsego,  declaring  the  Democratic  party  to  be  opposed  to 
the  extension  of  slavery  to  the  free  territory  of  the  United  States,  but 
that  it  did  not  regard  the  slavery  question  or  any  opinion  in  relation 
thereto  as  a  test  of  political  faith  or  rule  of  party  action.  That  the 
power  of  Congress  over  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  the  particular 
modes  of  legislation  thereunder,  were  among  Democrats  controverted 
questions,  and  it  conceded  to  every  one  in  relation  thereto  the  undis 
puted  right  of  opinion.  The  Free  Soil  Convention  declined  to  accept 
this  as  satisfactory  ;  re-affirmed  their  declaration  as  to  the  power  and 
duty  of  Congress  touching  slavery  in  the  Territories,  but  proposed,  by 
resolutions  moved  by  John  Van  Buren  of  New  York,  that,  letting  the 
disagreement  stand  unreconciled,  the  two  conventions  should  go  into  a 
joint  meeting,  form  a  single  organization  for  the  Democratic  party  of 
the  State,  and  recommend  to  the  electors  a  single  State  ticket.  The 
Democratic  Convention  declined  by  a  unanimous  vote  to  accept  the 
proposition,  and  the  conventions  adjourned. 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  stating  his  position  and  what  he  con 
ceived  to  be  the  position  and  policy  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
opposition  to  any  union  except  such  as  should  be  made  upon  principle, 
was  made  on  the  third  day  of  the  sitting,  and  pending  the  resolutions 
of  Mr.  Chatfield.] 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  now  thirteen  years  since  I  have  met 
with  my  Democratic  friends  in  State  convention.  I  have  come 
here  now  from  the  county  which  I  have  the  honor  to  repre 
sent,  to  give  expression  to  the  sentiments  of  my  constituents 
there,  with  no  expectation  or  desire  to  influence  the  opinions  of 
others,  but  simply  to  commune  with  my  fellow-Democrats  here 
on  the  subject  that  agitates  the  country.  I  believe  it  is  due  to 
myself,  that  it  is  due  to  the  convention,  and  to  our  common  con 
stituents,  that  I  should  speak  my  sentiments  plainly  on  this  sub 
ject.  I  shall  not  detain  the  convention  longer  than  is  necessary. 
I  am  not  peculiarly  sensitive  to  misrepresentation  ;  but  I  think 
it  proper  that  I  should  state  clearly  and  explicitly  the  position  I 
occupy  and  the  reasons  which  govern  me.  They  are  satisfac 
tory  to  myself,  if  not  to  others  ;  but  I  believe  they  will  be  in  the 
main  satisfactory  to  all  true  Democrats. 

For  present  purposes,  I  waive  everything  that  transpired 
prior  to  '47.  Up  to  that  time  there  had  been  no  creation  of 
parties  on  the  slavery  question.  No  sectional  organization  had 
taken  place ;  but  every  one  entertained  and  enjoyed  his  own 
opinion  on  the  subject,  in  its  moral  as  well  as  constitutional 


1849.]  FREE   SOILISM   AND  DEMOCRACY.  309 

bearings.  The  opinion,  I  believe,  in  Congress  and  out  of  it,  by 
those  who  admitted  the  power  of  Congress  to  legislate  over  it, 
was  that  the  power,  whatever  it  was,  if  any  existed,  was  derived 
more  from  the  course  of  legislation  than  from  any  constitutional 
delegation  of  it.  For  myself  I  do  not  believe  that  federal  leg 
islation  can  be  usefully  employed  in  that  direction.  Still  in 
times  of  difficulty  it  has,  by  a  kind  of  common  consent,  been 
settled,  and  I  think  that  sovereign  States  could  meet  now  as 
they  have  met  heretofore,  and,  acting  with  good  faith  and  kind 
feeling,  and  in  the  spirit  in  which  the  Constitution  was  framed, 
place  the  question,  by  conventional  arrangement,  upon  some 
just  and  equitable  ground,  satisfactory  under  the  circumstances 
to  all  the  members  of  the  Confederacy. 

When  in  1847  a  sectional  organization  was  formed — I  mean 
an  organization  on  this  question — for  the  first  time  in  the  his 
tory  of  our  politics,  I  saw  that  all  hope  of  a  conventional  adjust 
ment  was  at  an  end.  From  that  time  I  have  looked  upon  it  as 
fraught  with  danger  to  the  stability  of  the  Union,  and  have 
strenuously  maintained  a  position  of  non-interference  with  the 
question.  I  have  held  that  position  up  to  the  present  time,  for 
reasons  which  I  will  state,  and  which  I  deem  conclusive. 

My  friends  on  all  hands  agree  that  nothing  can  be  more 
deleterious  to  free  institutions  than  the  creation  of  sectional  or 
geographical  parties,  though  we  may  differ  honestly  as  to  the 
manner  by  which  we  can  most  successfully  oppose  their  forma 
tion.  I  know  it  has  been  said — many  here  have  no  doubt  heard 
the  charge  often  made,  if  not  here,  at  least  elsewhere  in  the 
State — that  I  am  in  favor  of  the  extension  of  slavery.  My 
opinions — and  they  are  matured  opinions,  deliberately  formed — 
they  are  a  part  of  my  constitutional  inheritance — as  well  as 
every  thought  and  feeling  and  impulse  of  my  heart,  every  verse 
and  chapter  of  my  political  creed,  every  syllable  of  my  political 
education,  teach  me  that  our  political  institutions  are  founded 
in  equality ;  and  I  repudiate  as  one  of  the  foulest  calumnies, 
that  I  am  in  favor  of  slavery  in  any  form.  I  look  on  Democratic 
institutions  as  having  gone  out  into  the  earth  on  a  great  mission 
of  light,  disseminating  knowledge,  carrying  the  glad  tidings  of 
freedom  and  good  will  to  men,  and  second  only  in  their  fertiliz 
ing  influences  to  the  benign  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  it 
self.  I  believe  that  the  work  of  extending  freedom  to  all  man- 


310  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

kind  cannot  be  accomplished  in  man's  brief  moment ;  but  that 
that  mission  is  abroad  and  will  accomplish  its  good  work  in  the 
time  of  Him  who  controls  the  destiny  of  nations. 

My  position,  then,  is  not  in  favor  of  slavery,  and,  not  favor 
ing  the  institution,  I  cannot  favor  its  extension.  I  repudiate  the 
institution,  in  all  its  forms  and  in  all  places,  whether  at  the 
north  or  the  south,  the  east  or  the  west ;  whether  the  bondman 
be  black  or  white,  and  whether  the  limb  or  the  mind  be  held  in 
servitude.  But  I  see  it  having  existence  and  operation  in  some 
of  the  States  of  the  Confederacy — existing  not  only,  but  recog 
nized  by  the  Constitution  which  binds  us  together  as  a  family 
of  States  ;  and  that  it  is  a  matter  of  their  own,  and  that  we  have, 
legally,  nothing  to  do  with  it.  In  this  state  of  things,  unfor 
tunately,  to  say  the  least,  a  sectional  party  has  been  formed.  I 
cannot  and  will  not  act  as  I  would  have  acted,  or  speak  as  I 
would  have  spoken,  had  there  been  no  such  party  formed, 
though  under  no  circumstances  would  I  have  interfered  with 
the  rights  of  others.  I  cannot,  as  a  citizen  or  a  legislator,  do 
what  I  would  have  done  otherwise.  Whoever  else  may,  I  will 
not,  by  thought,  word  or  deed,  manifest  my  contempt  for  the 
parting  injunction  of  the  Father  of  his  country,  against  sectional 
organizations.  In  his  last  parting  address  to  his  countrymen, 
he  warned  them  against  such  organizations,  as  the  rock  on  which 
this  Union  might  split.  I,  sir,  would  heed  that  good  advice  of 
that  great  and  sainted  man.  Hence,  I  would  not  favor  anything 
that  would  be  deemed  to  be  a  sectional  party.  I  would  not  do 
that  which  would  tend  towards  it  in  any  contingency.  I  would 
not  hold  language  that  could  be  tortured  into  its  encourage 
ment.  I  would  not  touch,  taste,  nor  handle  this  subject,  especi 
ally  until  the  excitement  of  the  hour  had  passed  by  ;  until  this 
sectional  organization  had  been  disbanded ;  until  all  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Confederacy  could  sit  down  and  reason  together, 
prepared  to  commune  with  each  other  as  a  family  of  States,  and 
dispose  of  this  dangerous  and  difficult  question  in  the  Terri 
tories,  in  a  becoming  manner  and  spirit.  Such  would  be  my 
wish.  Such,  I  could  hope,  the  wish  of  all. 

Having  thought  deeply  on  this  question — having  been  called 
to  act  upon  it  in  a  responsible  station,  I  desire  to  state  the  posi 
tion  I  have  occupied  and  now  maintain,  and  see  if  there  is  es 
sential  disagreement  between  my  views  and  those  of  the  great 


1849.]  FKEE    SOILISM   AND   DEMOCRACY.  311 

body  of  the  National  Democracy.  I  war  on  no  man,  or  body 
of  men.  The  history  of  political  controversies  shows  that  those 
opposed  to-day,  in  principle,  may  be  united  to-morrow.  There 
is  nothing  in  this  conflicting  organization  sitting  in  this  place, 
bitter  and  unsparing  as  have  been  the  crimination  and  recrimi 
nation,  which,  if  I  agreed  with  them  in  principles  and  they  with 
me,  should  prevent  me  from  freely  extending  them  the  hand  of 
felloAVship  and  uniting  with  them  in  political  communion.  The 
remark  so  feelingly  and  appropriately  made  by  the  Chair  on  the 
opening  of  this  convention,  admonishes  me  riot  to  war  with 
man.  In  that  address  we  were  impressively  reminded  that  two 
distinguished  individuals,  who  five  years  since  were  our  State 
and  National  standard-bearers  in  a  mighty  and  successful  con 
flict,  and  were  raised  to  the  highest  political  distinction  by  the 
favor  of  the  same  united  party,  have  gone  to  their  long  account. 
Shall  we  then  war  with  man,  who  to-day  lives  and  to-morrow 
goes  down  to  his  grave — war  with  what  to-morrow  may  be  a 
mere  handful  of  dust  ?  We  are  admonished  not  to  indulge  em 
bittered  personal  feeling,  and  belittle  the  otherwise  honorable 
and  ennobling  struggles  that  always  have  and  always  will  be 
made  in  behalf  of  those  sacred  principles  that  lie  at  the  founda 
tion  of  democracy — that  have  had  no  beginning  and  can  have 
no  end.  Such  is  my  belief;  such  my  position  ;  and  if  there  be 
personal  feeling  which  can  control  or  influence  me  in  this  mat 
ter,  Heaven  knows  that  I  am  to  it  a  stranger. 

How  far,  then,  let  U3  inquire,  can  we  go  to  produce  recon 
ciliation  in  the  matter  that  has  called  us  here,  with  propriety  or 
safety.  I  will  go  far  in  all  things  personal,  and  in  principle  I 
will  go  to  the  very  verge  of  the  precipice — where  I  can  look 
down  into  the  gulf  and  see  the  danger  and  destruction.  But  I 
will  not  take  the  last  and  final  leap  ;  and  I  am  sure  my  friends 
will  not  go  further  than  I  will.  The  Democratic  party,  it  is  said, 
is  basely  slandered.  It  can  never  get  rid  of  slanders,  nor  its 
individual  members  of  reproach  and  calumny.  From  the  day  of 
Jefferson's  red  unmentionables,  the  songs  of  his  dusky  amours, 
the  Federal  cant  that  he  was  to  burn  the  bibles  and  demolish 
the  churches,  down  to  the  present  moment,  the  Democratic 
party  has  been  covered  over  with  reproaches  and  contumely,  in 
its  creed,  its  organization,  its  measures,  and  its  individual  mem 
bers.  The  patriot  Jackson,  too,  than  wrhom  no  man  was  ever 


312 

more  firmly  rooted  in  the  affections  of  the  people ; — who  does 
not  remember  the  coffin-handbills  of  his  day,  perpetuating  the 
memory  of  David  Morrow  and  poor  Johnny  Wood,  and  the  la 
mented  "  six  militia-men  ?  "  Who  has  forgotten  the  marked 
sympathy  of  Federalism  when  old  Hickory  hung  two  British 
agents,  when  he  ought  to  have  hanged  forty  ?  Who  does  not 
recollect  the  electioneering  romance,  that  he  hung  them  up 
under  the  second  section,  and  then  looked  for  the  law  to  justify 
it  afterwards  ?  The  Democratic  party  nevertheless  preserved 
the  even  tenor  of  its  way.  Unharmed  by  the  impotent  slanders, 
it  moved  on,  unawed. 

And  permit  me  to  ask  you,  sir — [addressing  the  President, 
Gov.  Marcy] — you  who  have  been  selected  unanimously  and 
with  loud  acclaim  by  this  Convention  to  preside  over  its  delib 
erations,  and  may  therefore  be  addressed  as  the  embodiment  of 
its  feeling  and  the  sentiments  of  its  constituency  ;  you  who  have 
so  long  and  so  well  filled  the  high  places  of  honor  and  trust  by 
the  favor  of  the  Democratic  party  ;  have  you  fared  otherwise  ? 
Have  you,  around  whose  head  the  missiles  of  political  strife  have 
so  long  whistled,  and  party  tempests  howled,  ever  been  diverted 
from  your  course,  or  disturbed  by  Federal  assaults  ?  You,  at 
whose  feet  have  fallen  so  many  poisoned  arrows  of  detraction ; 
you,  whose  breast  has  so  long  been  the  target  for  the  shafts  of 
calumny  ;  you,  who,  as  Minister  of  War  of  this  great  Republic, 
conducted  a  campaign  in  a  manner  unheard  of  before  in  the 
annals  of  brilliant  warfare — without  a  single  reverse  or  the  loss 
of  a  single  battle  ;  you,  who,  by  your  own  indomitable  energy, 
sagacious  forecast  and  skill,  literally  planted  the  stars  and 
stripes  on  the  Halls  of  the  Montezumas  ;  you,  who  directed  the 
struggle  which  resulted  in  adding  half  a  continent  to  our  pos 
sessions,  a  vast  empire  on  the  Pacific,  rich  in  mineral  treasures  as 
the  gold  and  gems  of  the  east  ?  Regarding,  then,  you,  sir,  as  a  fair 
index  of  the  present  tone  of  the  Democratic  masses,  I  ask  if  you 
are  alarmed — if  you  shrink  or  hesitate  or  fear  or  quake  or  tremble 
in  your  course  in  this  emergency  ?  We  all  know  you  do  not.  Has 
the  Democratic  party  cut  loose  from  its  moorings  ?  Is  it  fright 
ened  from  its  propriety  by  the  hypocritical  cant  of  its  opponents  ? 
The  answer  is  a  negative  response  from  all.  If  there  be  a  single 
individual  who  imagines  that  this  is  so — or  is  likely  to  be  so — 
that  the  catholic  party  of  progress  has  become  alarmed  at  the 


1849.]  FKEE   SOILISM   AND  DEMOCRACY.  313 

slanders  of  its  opponents,  I  would  point  him  to  you,  sir,  as  one 
who  presents  in  his  own  career  and  present  position,  as  Presi 
dent  of  this  Convention,  the  embodiment  of  the  progress  and 
vitality  of  the  Democratic  party  and  its  principles,  and  of  the 
equanimity  with  which  it  receives  and  defies  assault.  No,  sir ; 
no.  The  Democratic  party  stands  where  it  always  has  stood — 
true  to  its  creed  as  at  the  first — tolerant  in  matters  of  opinion 
and  belief— but  discarding  the  isms  of  the  day  and  the  issues 
of  the  hour ;  and  it  will  stand  like  the  rock  in  the  ocean,  defy 
ing  the  angry  surges  of  its  waters.  Though  it  heave  and  beat 
and  cast  up  its  mire  and  dirt,  though  the  storm  howls  around 
it,  though  the  lightnings  flash  and  the  thunders  roar,  and  all  is 
gloomy  and  tempestuous,  the  clouds  will  by  and  by  be  driven 
away  by  the  healthful  and  cheering  breezes  of  popular  intelli 
gence,  and  we  shall  see  the  Democratic  bow  of  promise  span 
ning  the  political  horizon  in  the  distance. 

A  minority  position  has  no  terrors  to  a  true  Democrat. 
He  wishes  not  to  succeed  if  he  must  leave  his  principles 
behind  him.  Our  Whig  friends  can  be  everything,  anything, 
and  nothing — slavery  men  in  one  place,  anti-slavery  men  in 
another,  and  no  men  at  all  in  a  third ;  and  it  is  just  as  well 
for  them.  Their  party  is  made  up  of  listing,  shreds  and 
patches.  They  can  have  as  many  sorts  of  doctrine  in  their 
creed  as  a  turtle  has  of  meat.  But  the  Democratic  party  is  a 
catholic  party,  having  for  its  guidance  a  few  well-defined  and 
settled  principles,  leaving  all  else  to  individual  opinion.  And 
what  has  it  done  ?  Look  over  the  surface  of  the  broad  Union 
and  see.  From  thirteen  States,  the  Democratic  party,  by  its 
wise  progressive  policy,  in  spite  of  Whig  opposition,  has 
given  us  thirty,  and  territory  enough  for  nearly  as  many 
more.  It  has  not  been  able  to  eradicate  from  our  soil  the 
British  institution  of  slavery ;  nor  could  it  do  it  with  safety 
to  either  North  or  South,  now,  if  it  had  the  power.  But  it 
has  been  able  to  give  freedom,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term — 
the  freedom  of  self-government — to  millions  of  human  beings  ; 
and  has  opened  the  way  through  which  the  oppressed  of  the 
whole  earth  may  come  and  repose  under  the  shadow  of  the 
tree  of  liberty,  and  partake  of  its  fruits.  So  much  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  has  done  already.  It  has  had  before  this  its 
divisions  and  reverses ;  but  I  stand  here  to-day,  in  the  spirit  of 


314: 

Democracy,  to  invoke  every  one,  whether  here  or  elsewhere — 
in  the  populous  city  or  in  the  log  hut  beyond  the  mountains — 
to  come  up  to  the  support  of  Democracy — honest,  iron,  un 
yielding  National  Democracy — and,  laying  aside  non-essentials, 
to  take  the  great  cardinal  principles  of  its  early  faith,  and 
with  them  march  forward  to  victory. 

On  this  territorial  slavery  question,  my  position  is  this : 
I  am,  as  an  individual  and  a  legislator,  not  in  favor  of  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery ;  but  out  and  out,  up  and  down,  live  or  die, 
I  am  opposed  to  its  existence.  That,  I  hope,  is  understood^ 
and,  especially  since  a  sectional  party  has  been  formed,  I  am 
equally  against  the  utterance  of  any  sectional  opinions  by  the 
sovereign  voice  on  the  subject,  and  against  any  legislative 
action.  My  reasons  for  this  I  will  proceed  to  state  briefly. 
It  is  most  generally  conceded  that  we  ought  not  to  act  upon 
it,  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  action  on  the  subject.  The 
agitators  themselves  mostly  regard  the  question  as  an  abstract 
one.  But  they  say  that  there  should  be  an  expression  of 
opinion.  From  all  such  I  beg  leave  to  differ;  but  I  differ 
from  them  no  more  than  they  differ  from  me.  I  will  not  cen 
sure  them  for  their  abstract  opinions,  though  they  may  censure 
me  just  as  much  as  they  please,  illiberal  as  I  may  think  them. 
The  reason  why  I  would  not  speak  upon  the  question  in  the 
sovereign  voice  of  the  State,  is  to  me  most  satisfactory.  The 
members  of  this  Confederacy  are  equals ;  they  are  families  of 
the  same  neighborhood,  and  no  one  has  the  right  to  wound  the 
feelings  or  humble  the  pride  of  another.  What  we  say  here 
in  our  individual  capacity  in  the  exercise  of  free  expressions 
of  opinion  in  discussion,  is  within  our  own  family,  and  does 
not  fall  upon  the  ears  of  our  sovereign  neighbors  as  the  voice 
of  our  State.  But  when  we  speak  through  legislatures  or 
State  Conventions,  we  speak  a  sovereign  voice  to  sovereign 
ears,  and  if  we  would  preserve  equality  of  right  and  good 
neighborhood,  we  should  hold  no  language  but  that  of  kind 
ness.  I  would  treat  sister  States  as  sovereign  members  of  the 
same  Confederacy,  and  as  though  desirous  of  maintaining 
the  relations  of  good  neighborhood.  Some  of  the  States  have 
institutions  that  we  have  not,  and  we  lack  institutions  which 
they  have.  You  and  I  live  neighbors.  You  have  servants  in 
your  family.  I  have  none  in  mine.  What  course  will  most 


1849.]  FKEE   SOILISM  AND  DEMOCRACY.  315 

conduce  to  good  neighborhood  between  us  as  individuals  ? 
For  me  to  hold  conversation  in  your  hearing  and  that  of  your 
neighbors  and  domestics  to  this  effect  ? — "  I  do  not  desire  to 
interfere  in  your  domestic  affairs,  but  I  would  not  have  such 
arrangements  as  you  have,  and  in  short  I  condemn  them.  I 
think  you  should  not  have  servants  to  do  the  cooking,  or  your 
domestic  business  generally,  or  the  house-keeping.  I  think  it 
wrong.  I  think  you  should  pay  more  and  require  less,  and  if 
I  was  one  of  your  servants  I  would  run  away,  and  I  hope 
your  children  will  not  follow  your  bad  example.  Still,  I  don't 
interfere  in  the  least  with  your  domestic  affairs.  I  and  my 
family  do  our  own  work ;  and  we  are  all  the  better  for  it,  and 
you  are  violating  all  the  rules  of  justice  and  propriety  by  not 
doing  as  we  do."  Now,  sir,  would  this  conduce  to  good  neigh 
borhood —  particularly  if  you  had  long  been  goaded  and 
irritated,  and  had  become  sensitive.  II  I  propose  to  act  out 
my  opinions,  and  to  compel  conformity,  then  I  ought  to  speak 
•out  manfully.  But  those  who  do  not  propose  to  act,  should 
not  speak  in  a  sovereign  voice,  in  language  which  it  is  known 
will  be  offensive.  If  there  was,  and  had  been,  no  sectional 
party  formed,  living  and  moving  in  a  spirit  of  agitation  and 
irritation,  I  agree  that  much  might  be  said  with  propriety 
that  cannot  now  be  said.  Irritation  existing,  if  we  hold  any 
language  on  the  subject,  even  that  which  under  other  circum 
stances  would  have  been  kindly  received,  it  will  be  calculated 
to  add  to  the  irritation,  and  we  should  say  no  more  than  is 
necessary  to  repel  imputation. 

These  remarks,  Mr.  President,  are  of  a  general  character 
and  are  not  pointed  at  the  resolutions  now  before  the  Conven 
tion.  I  came  in  after  they  were  offered,  and  do  not  know  their 
exact  purport ;  nor  is  it  necessary  I  should,  as  they  seem  to 
meet  the  views  of  a  majority  of  the  Convention.  I  do  not  pro 
pose  to  review  them,  though  I  suppose  they  go  further  than  I 
would  go.  I  speak  generally.  I  would  prefer  to  wait  until 
this  state  of  irritation  is  over,  before  passing  resolves  upon  the 
subject,  except  to  condemn  agitation.  As  to  these  differences 
between  North  and  South,  it  is  said  the  Southern  people  also 
hold  irritating  language.  Suppose  they  do  ?  I  disapprove  of 
it,  and  would  not  imitate  it.  I  think  some  of  their  positions 
extreme  and  imprudent.  But  we  can  afford  to  be  generous. 


316 

We  are  the  Empire  State,  whose  power,  when  brought  to  bear 
upon  results,  is  generally  decisive.  And  though  its  political 
power  is  now  perverted  to  the  uses  of  those  who,  like  their 
leader,  or  rather  follower,  have  no  friends  to  reward  nor  ene 
mies  to  punish — yet  all  know  from  experience  that  their  days 
are  numbered.  The  hand-writing  upon  the  wall,  over  against 
where  "  the  second  Washington  "  is  sitting,  is  already  visible. 
And  if  our  Democratic  brethren  will  only  have  patience,  they 
will  soon  see  the  knees  of  the  present  dynasty,  who  are  riot 
ing  in  their  ill-gotten  position,  tremble  like  Belshazzar's  at  his 
impious  banquet.  We  must  not  forget  the  South  is  differently 
situated  from  the  North.  Property  is  always  sensitive.  Slave 
property,  of  all  others,  is  peculiarly  so.  He  who  has  powder 
stored  in  his  cellar,  or  upon  his  premises,  not  very  well  secured 
against  fire,  may  well  be  disturbed  while  the  boys  are  firing 
crackers  under  his  windows,  or  sparks  are  emitted  from  other 
causes.  He  who  has  nothing  combustible  in  his — perhaps  po 
tatoes  and  pork — may  well  look  on  undisturbed  at  these 
amusing  national  pyrotechnic  exhibitions.  But  can  he  censure 
or  laugh  at  his  neighbor  who  has  the  powder  in,  because  he 
is  annoyed  by  the  approach  of  fire  under  his  very  nose  ?  Can 
he,  because  he  had  as  lief  they  would  fire  crackers  as  not 
around  his  dwelling,  wonder  that  his  neighbor  is  annoyed  ? 
The  South  sleeps  on  a  mine.  They  have  had  servile  insurrec 
tions  promoted  by  incendiaries,  and  families  murdered  in  sleep, 
and  they  live  in  constant  fear  of  others,  while  incendiaries  are 
prowling  among  them.  They  sleep,  at  times,  by  compulsion, 
as  it  were,  on  their  arms.  They  may  well,  as  they  wake  in 
the  morning,  congratulate  themselves,  while  an  incendiary 
spirit  is  stealing  in  their  midst,  that  another  night  has 
passed  in  personal  safety.  They,  many  of  them,  regard  the 
institution  in  a  social  sense,  as  dangerous,  and  they  naturally 
brook  with  difficulty  any  interference  with  it  from  abroad. 
From  this  or  other  causes  they  are  an  excitable  people.  But 
they  are  generous,  and  our  brethren,  and  as  forbearing  as  we 
should  be  under  similar  circumstances.  We  have  formed  a 
compact  with  them  when  we  and  they  had  this  institution  in 
common.  Whilst  we  should  not  avoid  saying  what  we  think, 
when  necessary  to  say  it,  we  should  not,  merely  because  we 
have  the  right,  say  what  we  need  not  say,  to  wound  and 


1849.]  FREE   SOILISM   AND  DEMOCRACY.  317 

harass  them.  They  are  the  weaker  party.  They  know  this 
institution  to  be  a  perilous  one,  and  in  some  sections  of  the 
slave  region  they  are  struggling  with  it  themselves,  like  strong 
men  armed.  I  aver  that,  but  for  the  fanatical  and  aggressive 
spirit  of  abolitionism  here  at  the  North,  it  would  long  ago 
have  been  abolished  in  several  of  the  Northern  slave  States  ; 
in  Maryland  and  Kentucky  that  every  one  believes.  It  -has 
eaten  its  own  head  off  in  Delaware  already  by  a  natural  pro 
cess.  And  I  believe  it  would  have  gone  down  in  Virginia, 
"the  mother  of  States  and  statesmen" — where  it  is  said  I 
wished  I  had  been  born.  As  many  as  twenty  years  ago  they 
came  to  a  tie  vote  in  their  convention,  on  the  question  of 
gradual  abolition.  But  this  Northern  agitation  and  offensive 
interference  with  it  naturally  and  properly  drives  them  to 
gether.  Jealousy,  under  the  increasing  power  and  wealth  of 
the  North,  no  doubt  adds  to  the  feeling  of  irritation  there  on 
this  subject.  They  see  us  flourishing  whilst  they  are  de 
pressed—our  population  increasing  while  theirs  decreases. 
They  see  everything  green  and  bright  to  look  upon  here, 
whilst  in  the  grain-growing  and  grazing  regions  of  their  fair 
land,  perpetual  sterility  curses  a  half-tilled  soil  with  'that  ex 
pensive  and  profitless  labor.  Can  we  not  afford  to  treat  them 
justly  as  well  as  generously  ?  Ought  we  not  to  allow  them  to 
manage  this  matter  for  themselves  and  in  their  own  way,  as 
they  permitted  us  ? 

This  being  the  position  of  things,  I  long  since  saw  that  it 
could  not  be  treated  of  conventionally  by  the  States  until  this 
agitation  was  over.  I  abandoned  all  hope  of  seeing  it  thus 
settled.  I  sought  to  turn  off  its  agitation .  from  the  halls  of 
Congress,  where  it  should  never  have  been  carried,  until  a 
state  of  feeling  should  exist  that  would  at  least  promise  an  ad 
justment  of  the  question  in  a  manner  acceptable  to  all.  Sir, 
in  the  fall  of  1847,  I  repeat,  this  agitation  commenced  in  this 
State,  in  the  shape  of  a  sectional  organization.  In  a  spirit  of 
forbearance  and  patriotism,  bringing  to  the  question  the  best 
reflection  I  could  command,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Con 
gress  could  deal  most  profitably  with  it,  by  turning  it  over  to 
the  people  of  the  Territories,  and  to  save  all  cavil  about  pow 
er,  I  waived  all  consideration  of  it.  In  1847  I  introduced  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  two  resolutions  in  regard  to 


318 

the  organization  of  the  Territories  embodying  this  principle  ; 
and  let  me  say,  by  way  of  episode,  that  the  day  is  coming 
when  these  resolutions  are  going  to  take  effect,  or  rather  ex 
press  the  true  sentiments  of  a  large  majority  of  the  American 
people.  I  saw  an  empire  on  the  North  coming  in  :  and  whilst 
I  declare  myself  in  favor  of  it  at  the  earliest  practicable  mo 
ment,  no  one,  I  hope,  fears  that  I  expect  to  extend  slavery 
there,  or,  because  I  am  in  favor  of  annexing  this,  that  there  is 
no  other  direction  in  which  this  Union  is  to  expand.  [A 
voice  :  "  Is  it  Cuba  ?  "]  Yes ;  Cuba  and  Canada  both.  Let 
the  one  take  care  of  itself.  We'll  take  the  other  first. 

In  the  doctrine  thus  enunciated,  I  neither  affirmed  nor  denied 
the  power  of  Congress  over  the  subject — that  I  might  not  drag 
in  that  legal  abstraction  to  embarrass  the  question.  It  simply 
expresses  the  opinion  that  man  is  capable  of  self-government ; 
that  it  is  better — more  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  our  in 
stitutions — to  leave  the  matter  there,  under  the  existing  emer 
gency  ;  and  that,  without  looking  back  to  the  tyrannical  prece 
dent  of  that  living  compound  of  scrofula  and  gold-lace,  called 
George  III.,  it  asserts  that  the  decision  may  be  safely  left  with 
the  people  of  the  Territories.  And  let  me  ask,  in  the  spirit  of 
a  Democrat,  is  man  capable  of  self-government  ?  And  if  so, 
does  he  know  less,  after  shifting  his  residence  from  a  State  to 
a  Territory,  from  New  York  to  California,  than  he  did  when 
he  lived  here  ?  Has  he  less  of  the  rights  of  a  man  ?  The  Re 
publican  theory  is  that  man  derives  his  sovereignty  from  God ; 
that  the  States  derive  their  sovereignty  from  man  ;  that  if  man 
chooses  to  inhabit  a  Territory  instead  of  a  State,  he  is  just  as 
much  under  the  Cognizance  of  the  Almighty,  just  as  much  a 
sovereign,  and  just  as  capable  of  self-government,  as  we  are  in 
the  States.  Who  go  there  ?  Are  they  not  our  friends,  relatives, 
brethren  ?  Do  they  leave  their  discretion,  judgment,  and  prin 
ciples  behind  them  when  they  go,  or  on  their  way  there  ?  Look 
over  our  Pacific  territory,  and  see  who  they  are  that  now  peo 
ple  it,  and  how  they  got  there.  It  will  be  found  that,  like  our 
nearer  possessions,  none  but  the  intelligent,  enterprising,  and 
industrious  of  our  population  have  as  yet  gone  there  in  any  con 
siderable  numbers.  The  fools  and  knaves  will  follow.  The 
really  valuable,  hardy,  sensible,  and  capable,  went  by  water 
round  the  Cape  ;  or  by  marked  trees  and  Indian  trails.  What ! 


1849.]  FKEE   SOTLISM   AND   DEMOCRACY.  319 

the  people  of  the  new  settlement  incapable  or  immoral !  Look 
over  the  history  of  the  American  government.  Where  have 
been  your  insurrections,  and  robberies,  arsons  and  murders, 
church  burnings  and  mobs  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  of  any  in  your 
distant  Territories  ?  No.  They  are  in  your  large  cities,  where 
the  spires  are  so  near  each  other  that  the  music  of  their  choirs 
mingle  as  they  ascend  to  heaven.  There  all  the  mobs  and  riots 
are — not  in  the  new  Territories.  The  population  of  those  Ter 
ritories  are  at  this  moment  ripe  for  assuming  the  dignity  of 
freemen  of  States  of  this  Confederacy.  Are  they  not  capable  of 
acting  on  this  question  ?  Go  to  California.  Their  language  is 
as  decided  and  ten  times  more  unanimous  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  than  the  expression  here  or  in  the  other  Convention,  as 
sembled  here  to  consider  the  subject.  There,  there  is  not  a  dis 
senting  voice — not  one.  As  to  New  Mexico,  they  sent  out 
their  mission  to  us  a  year  ago,  washing  their  hands  of  it,  and 
declaring  they  would  not  have  it.  Shall  we  undertake  to  settle 
a  matter  for  them  that  they  have  settled  themselves,  and  under 
stand  as  well  as  we  do  ?  These  Territories  have  had  no  infancy. 
They  have  sprung  up  at  once  into  vigor  and  maturity — leaping 
like  the  goddess,  full-armed,  from  the  brain  of  Jove.  Like  the 
people  of  this  country,  in  these  latter  days  especially,  there  is 
no  intermediate  minority  between  the  boy  and  the  man.  They 
leap  at  once  from  babyhood  to  manhood.  Hence  it  is  in  this 
respect  alone  that  this  matter  is  not  worth  controversy  any  way. 
It  is  a  question  about  "  goats'  wool " — an  issue  that  has  already 
had  its  day,  and  will  soon  expire  by  its  own  limitation.  It  has 
become  a  mere  hobby.  It  has  to  carry  double  now,  and  is  al 
ready  worn  and  jaded.  Set  another  party  on  it,  and  it  will 
break  flat  down.  Besides,  a  suit  would  lie  against  us  under  the 
patent  law — and  we  should  have  to  pay  heavy  damages  for  in 
fringement  upon  the  Whig  abolition  platform.  No.  Let  the 
Democratic  party  stand  on  its  own  ground. 

But,  having  said  what  I  would  not  do,  it  may  be  expected 
that  I  should  say  what  I  would  do.  I  will  do  so.  My  position 
is  with  the  Democracy  of  the  Union.  Unless  they  want  to 
make  the  existing  law  stronger  by  cross-lapping — by  patting 
another  law  on  the  top  of  it — why  not  leave  well-enough  alone  ? 
If  I  said  anything,  I  would  say  that  I  am  not  in  favor  of  the 
extension  of  slavery.  And  that  is  not  a  distinction  without  a 


320 

difference.  I  would  say  further,  that  I  would  stand  there,  and, 
if  you  please,  like  him  of  the  flaming  sword ;  and  that  the  first 
effort  which  proposed  to  extend  slavery  I  would  oppose ;  al 
though  I  am  not  aware  that  any  one  desires  or  proposes  to  ex 
tend  it  by  law  of  Congress.  But  until  that  was  attempted,  I 
would  not  invite  it  by  officious  and  unnecessary  opposition.  I 
would  simply  stand  guard  on  the  frontier.  I  would  not  act  my 
self  nor  let  any  one  else  act ;  I  would  not  permit  laws  by  Con 
gress  to  extend,  nor  ask  for  laws  to  prohibit ;  but  let  the  people 
of  the  Territory  take  care  of  it,  as  they  are  so  soon  to  be  States. 
I  would  not  oppose  slavery  extension  in  advance  by  law,  or 
extend  it  by  law.  Both  extremes  of  opinion  can  stand  by,  and 
suffer  the  people  of  a  Territory,  already  a  State  except  in  form, 
to  dispose  of  the  question,  with  propriety,  and  in  peace.  There 
fore,  instead  of  saying  that  I  am  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  there,  I  would  say  I  am  not  in  favor  of  it.  That  is  the 
doctrine  of  non-interference,  and  is  and  must  and  will  be  the 
doctrine  of  the  National  Democratic  party.  Congress  shall  not 
touch  the  question,  but,  it  being  a  domestic  question,  the  people 
of  the  Territory  about  to  become  States  may  and  ought  to  dis 
pose  of  it.  Is  not  that  fair  and  common  ground  ?  And  if  we 
have  faith  in  the  capacity  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  it 
is  ground  upon  which  all  can  stand.  I  do  not  know  whether 
my  friend's  resolutions  take  this  precise  position.  If  they  em 
body  this  doctrine,  I  support  them  cheerfully.  I  prefer  the 
form  of  expression  which  I  have  indicated,  because  it  expresses 
clearly  the  position  of  non-interference.  I,  Sir,  like  you,  have 
been  laden  with  the  honors  of  the  Democratic  party  in  our 
State.  I  have  no  right  to  dictate  to  that  party,  or  to  shape  and 
direct  its  course  ;  nor  have  I  any  such  desire.  I  recollect  too 
well — for  my  memory  is  acute  on  that  point — where  they  found 
me  and  where  they  placed  me.  They  made  me  by  no  means  a 
king,  yet  they  brought  me  literally,  like  the  fabled  peasant,  from 
the  garden  ;  and  I  desire  not  to  hold  a  sentiment  that  does  not 
belong  to  that  party ;  I  would  express  no  opinions  but  those  it 
holds  dear.  I  desire  a  full,  free,  perfect  understanding  with  it 
and  all  its  members,  and  to  see  it  continue  in  entire  harmony 
and  concert  of  action  with  the  great  Democratic  party  of  the 
Union.  It  has  been  said  that  the  South  has  done  this,  and  that, 
and  the  other — and  that  we  of  the  North  have  a  right  to  com- 


1849.]  FREE   SOILISM   AND   DEMOCRACY.  321 

plain.  But  look  back  a  moment  to  1840 — when  the  proud  Em 
pire  State  quailed  under  the  blows  of  the  enemy — and  when  the 
South  stood  united  in  favor  of  New  York's  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  To  be  sure  they  were  borne  down  by  the  over 
whelming  vote  of  the  Northern  States — but  did  the  South  give 
wray  to  them  ?  Away  •'hen  writh  this  spirit  of  crimination  and 
recrimination. 

The  Democratic  party  of  the  Union  must  stand  or  fall  to 
gether.  Under  no  mere  sectional  organization  can  it  act  at  all, 
much  less  with  success  in  a  Presidential  contest.  The  North  is 
bound  to  be  just  and  can  afford  to  be  generous  towards  the 
South.  It  should  hold  no  language  but  that  of  kindness  and 
generosity.  Above  all  things  should  we  avoid  the  language  of 
irritation  and  reproach.  How,  sir,  was  I  treated  when  I  offered 
the  resolution  I  have  read  to  this  body  ?  The  Southern  slave 
agitators,  for  they  were  there,  said  it  was  worse  than  the  pro 
viso.  Northern  abolitionism  said  it  extended  slavery  purposely 
everywhere  throughout  all  our  land.  And  like  all  who  interfere 
in  a  family  quarrel,  I  found  myself  in  conflict  with,  and  receiv 
ing  blows  from  both  sides.  But,  Sir,  I  have  seen  the  necessity 
of  standing  up,  and  of  standing  straight  up,  leaving  conse 
quences  to  follow  in  their  own  good  time.  The  Democratic 
party  must  have  patience.  We  cannot  extend  our  platform,  if 
we  would,  to  get  rid  of  Whig  or  Abolition  slanders,  without 
weakening  it  and  destroying  it  altogether.  Though  it  should 
be  made  as  long  as  Jacob's  ladder,  it  would  not  be  long  enough 
to  guard  us  against  the  slanders  of  our  opponents.  As  for  our 
Whig  friends  who  go  in  on  the  weakness  of  the  Democracy, 
and  go  out  on  their  own,  they  must  soon  take  the  latter  course. 
They  will  be  ready  to  go  out  before  we  are  ready  to  go  in,  if 
we  are  not  careful.  The  true  course  for  us  is  to  place  this  ques 
tion  on  some  common  ground,  where  we  can  stand  firmly  and 
unitedly.  This  is  no  time  for  the  Democratic  party  to  falter. 
Its  mission  is  not  only  here,  but  over  the  entire  hemisphere. 
The  old  world  is  reeling  and  tottering  under  the  convulsions  of 
the  hour.  Day  after  day,  thrones  and  dynasties  go  by  the 
board,  under  the  slow  but  sure  workings  of  the  Democratic 
principle.  Let  us  bear  up  this  proud  example  of  a  free  govern 
ment,  for  the  encouragement  and  imitation  of  mankind.  Con 
tinue  in  the  Democratic  faith.  Lay  aside  non-essentials,  or,  at 
21 


322 

least,  do  not  engage  in  domestic  conflicts  over  them.  I  can  go 
in  everything,  personally,  as  far  as  any  one  here.  In  all  that 
looks  toward  human  progress  and  rights,  I  acknowledge  no 
superior.  But  in  matters  of  party  principles,  I  would  go  no 
further  than  I  have  indicated.  I  would  greatly  prefer  that  all 
would  unite  with  me,  but  I  would  not  impose  my  opinions  on 
them,  nor  do  I  pretend  to  lay  down  boundaries  for  others  on 
this  question.  I  have  seen,  sir,  some  service  in  the  Democratic 
ranks.  I  have  stood  by  its  principles,  its  measures,  and  its  men, 
until  my  head,  which  was  almost  white  with  youth  when  I  en 
tered,  is  covered  with  premature  frosts.  I  love  it — its  prin 
ciples  and  its  usages.  I  desire  to  see  that  glorious  party  united, 
strong  and  victorious.  I  believe  it  can  and  will  be  ere  long 
firmly  united  and  again  proudly  triumphant.  I  would  not  blind 
ly  adhere  to  preconceived  opinions  on  such  a  subject ;  but,  en 
tertaining  the  views  I  do,  for  the  reasons  I  have  stated,  I  would 
go  no  further  than  I  have  indicated  ;  but  if  others  think  differ 
ently,  I  cannot  have  the  least  wish  to  control  or  overrule  their 
judgment. 


SPEECH 

UPON  THE  RESOLUTION  OF  ME.  CLEMENS,  OF  ALABAMA,  CALL 
ING  UPON  THE  PRESIDENT  FOR  INFORMATION  IN  REFERENCE 
TO  THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  A  MILITARY  GOVERNOR  FOR  CAL 
IFORNIA,  ETC.,  AND  IN  ANSWER  TO  REMARKS  MADE  BY 
MR.  CLEMENS. 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  SENATE  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES,  January  17,  1850. 

[A  portion  of  the  preliminary  proceedings,  sufficient  to  show  the 
occasion  and  the  grounds  of  debate,  is  given. 

The  resolution  came  up  in  order,  and  was  read  by  the  Secretary. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  stated  the  other  day  that  I  thought  it  probable 
that  the  information  called  for  by  this  resolution  would  be  furnished  in 
answer  to  the  resolution  which  has  been  adopted  by  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  If  this  should  be  the  case  it  would  be  unnecessary  to 
adopt  this  resolution ;  and  I  thought  it  better,  therefore,  to  wait  and 
see  the  answer  to  that  inquiry. 

Mr.  DOUGLAS,  of  Illinois.  I  trust  the  resolution  will  be  adopted. 
If  the  answer  made  to  the  House  cover  the  entire  subject,  it  will  be  a 
very  small  affair — a  matter  of  very  little  difficulty — to  send  a  copy  of  it 
to  us. 

Mr.  SMITH,  of  Connecticut,  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table, 
but  withdrew  the  motion  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Douglas. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  hope  no  Senator  will  be  influenced  in  his  action 
on  this  subject  by  any  desire  to  extend  courtesy  to  me.  I  ask  nothing 
of  the  kind  at  the  hands  of  any  man.  I  desire  them  to  vote  according 
to  the  dictates  of  their  own  judgment,  and  to  understand,  too,  what 
they  are  voting  for.  It  has  become  so  much  the  fashion  here  to  discuss 
everything  but  the  precise  question  before  the  Senate,  that  it  has  come 
to  be  regarded  as  the  regular  practice  and  custom,  and  the  Senator  who 
objects  to  it  is  considered  captious  and  ill-natured.  The  question  is  not 
now  whether  this  resolution  shall  be  adopted,  or  whether  I  or  anybody 
else  is  in  favor  of  it,  or  even  whether  we  want  the  information  propos 
ed  to  be  obtained.  That  is  not  now  the  question.  It  was  the  question 


324:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  other  clay,  however,  and  the  Senator  from  Illinois  [Mr.  DOUGLAS] 
voted  against  it.  It  is  his  fault  that  the  information  has  not  been  fur 
nished  to  the  Senate  ;  and  I  must  be  permitted  to  express  my  surprise 
at  the  new-born  zeal  to  obtain  it  which  seems  to  animate  him  now. 
Why  did  he  not  vote  for  its  adoption  at  the  time  he  caused  it  to  be  laid 
on  the  table  ?  Who  prolonged  this  matter  and  prevented  us  from  re 
ceiving  this  information  before  this  time  ?  It  was  the  Senator  from 
Illinois.  He  moved  to  lay  it  on  the  table,  and  his  vote  carried  it  there. 
I  say  the  question  is  not  now  whether  we  want  this  information,  or 
whether  it  is  necessary,  or  will  be  of  public  utility,  but  whether  it  has 
not  already  been  furnished  to  the  House  of  Kepresen'.atives ;  and  if  so, 
is  it  not  an  unnecessary  requirement  to  call  upon  the  Departments 
again  to  furnish  it  to  us  ?  That,  sir,  is  the  only  question  here  now.  I 
think  it  is  very  probable  that  the  information  has  been  already  furnish 
ed,  and  I  want  the  resolution  passed  by  now  for  the  purpose  of  ascer 
taining  whether  it  has  or  not. 

I  move,  Mr.  President,  that  the  resolution  be  laid  on  the  table. 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.  I  claim  the  privilege  of  making  a  single  remark.  As 
an  act  of  courtesy,  will  the  Senator  from  Alabama  give  me  the  oppor 
tunity  by  withdrawing  his  motion  ? 

Mr.  CLEMENS.     No,  sir. 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.  I  ask  the  privilege,  then,  of  the  Senate,  as  an  act  of 
courtesy. 

The  VICE- PRESIDENT.  There  is  no  way  of  obtaining  what  the  Sena 
tor  desires,  except  by  a  vote  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  DODGE,  of  Iowa.     I  ask  then,  sir,  a  vote  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  KING,  of  Alabama.  I  hope  my  colleague  will  withdraw  his  mo 
tion,  and  allow  the  Senator  from  Illinois  to  proceed. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  Very  well ;  at  the  suggestion  of  my  colleague,  I  will 
withdraw  the  motion. 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.  I  will  not  say  that  I  regret — though  I  did  not  expect 
— yes,  I  do  regret  that  the  honorable  senator  from  Alabama  has  given 
the  turn  to  this  matter  which  he  has.  He  has  charged  me  with  being 
responsible  for  the  delay  of  this  subject,  because  the  other  day  when  he 
was  anxious  to  have  it  acted  on,  I  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the 
table,  at  the  same  time  assuring  him  that  I  would  move  to  take  it  up  in 
an  hour.  The  reason  I  gave  was,  that  it  had  come  up  accidentally  on 
a  motion  of  mine  to  suspend  the  order  of  the  day  to  get  at  the  consid 
eration  of  another  subject ;  but  I  pledged  myself  that  I  would  move  to 
take  it  up  in  an  hour,  and  would  vote  for  it.  With  what  fairness,  then, 
can  the  honorable  Senator  from  Alabama  charge  me  with  having  post 
poned  it  to  this  time,  and  with  having  caused  this  delay  ?  Can  he  with 
fairness  charge  me  with  having  voted  against  this  inquiry,  when  he 
heard  me,  and  every  Senator  heard  me,  offer  to  vote  to  take  it  up  in  an 
hour;  especially,  when  I  went  to  him  in  fifteen  minutes,  and  offered  to 


1850.]  MILITARY   GOVERNOR   FOR   CALIFORNIA.  325 

move  to  take  it  up,  and  he  told  me  he  did  not  want  me  to  do  it,  because 
it  was  laid  on  the  table  by  a  sectional  Northern  vote,  and  he  wanted  to 
prove  and  use  that  fact  at  the  South — that  the  North  would  not  allow 
the  South  to  have  an  honest  investigation  of  this  matter.  lie  had  ac 
complished  his  object,  he  said.  I  told  him,  if  he  had  accomplished  his 
object  that  I  had  not  accomplished  mine,  and  that  I  desired  to  see  the 
resolution  adopted.  Hence,  I  expected  that  yesterday,  when  the  sub 
ject  might  have  been  brought  up,  the  Senator  would  let  it  go  over,  and 
I  expect  he  will  do  so  again.  I  wish  to  show  that  Senator  that  my  ob 
ject  has  never  been  concealment.  I  am  anxious  to  see  this  resolution 
adopted,  that  it  may  not  be  said  in  the  South  that  the  North,  as  a  sec 
tion,  has  stifled  investigation  on  this  subject.  That  was  my  object  to 
day  in  laboring  hard  to  get  it  up,  and  I  am  astonished  that  the  Senator 
from  Connecticut  did  not  understand  the  movement  that  was  playing 
and  going  on.  It  has  been  a  matter  of  by-play  which  I  have  under 
stood  all  the  time. 

Mr.  BUTLER,  of  South  Carolina,  Mr.  DOWNS,  of  Louisiana,  Mr. 
DAVIS,  of  Mississippi,  and  Mr.  BORLAND,  of  Arkansas,  denied  all  knowl 
edge  of  any  such  understanding. 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.  "Well,  I  will  explain.  Several  Senators  came  to  me 
— I  do  not  know  how  many — and  said  they  believed  many  were  willing 
this  resolution  should  be  regarded  as  laid  on  the  table  and  kept  there 
by  Northern  votes.  I  was  willing  to  reverse  the  vote  of  the  other  day. 
Other  Senators,  so  far  as  I  had  spoken  to  them,  desired  to  show  on  the 
record  that  they  were  not  unwilling  that  the  investigation  should  be 
made.  And  when  it  was  whispered  in  private  circles  and  here,  that 
the  North  had  been  caught,  and  that  it  would  be  held  up  as  a  sectional 
vote  against  allowing  this  investigation,  several  Senators  spoke  to  me, 
and  desired  to  have  the  question  taken  up. 

Mr.  KING.  I  much  regret  the  course  this  debate  has  taken.  I  had 
supposed  that  it  was  the  wish  of  my  colleague  that  this  subject  should 
be  taken  up  and  finally  acted  on,  and  I  was  not  aware  that  he  de 
sired  any  postponement  of  it.  As  to  the  disposition  manifested  by 
any  portion  of  the  Senate  with  regard  to  this  subject,  of  which 
the  Senator  from  Illinois  has  spoken,  I  myself  knew  nothing  ;  and  if 
the  Senator  has  been  told  that  there  was  any  disposition  on  the 
part  of  any  Southern  man  to  press  this  resolution  with  a  view  to  effect 
an  object  different  from  what  it  expresses,  let  him  name  him. 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.  I  went  to  the  seat  of  the  Senator  from  Alabama, 
just  after  the  vote  was  taken  the  other  day,  in  the  kindest  feeling,  and 
said  to  him  that  I  would  move  to  take  up  his  resolution  on  that  day. 
He  said  to  me  that  his  object  was  acccoraplished  ;  that  it  was  laid  on 
the  table  by  an  almost  unanimous  Northern  vote ;  his  object  was  there 
by  accomplished,  and  he  desired  the  South  to  understand  the  matter. 
I  said  that  mine  was  not,  and  that  he  ought  not  to  make  such  a  use  of 


326  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

my  motion,  because  he  knew  I  only  desired  to  lay  it  on  the  table  tem 
porarily.  He  replied,  you  may  have  done  so,  but  you  are  the  only  one. 
I  was  desirous,  from  that  fact,  that  it  should  be  taken  up,  and  to  have 
that  vote  reversed,  so  that  no  such  use  might  be  made  of  it,  and  I  de 
sired  also  to  have  it  taken  up,  because  I  think  the  resolution  should  be 
adopted. 

Explanations  between  Mr.  King  and  Mr.  Douglas,  regarding  the 
state  of  the  question  and  the  previous  action  upon  the  resolution,  fol 
lowed. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  say 
more  in  relation  to  the  merits  of  this  question,  but  there  is  a  matter 
between  the  Senator  from  Illinois  and  myself  which  requires  that  some 
thing  should  be  said  by  myself.  And  I  take  occasion  to  say  that  a 
Senator  who  undertakes  to  retail  private  conversation  ought  to  be  cau 
tious  what  he  says  in  relation  to  it,  because  if  it  should  happen  that  the 
memory  of  the  individual  and  his  own  should  differ,  he  might  find  him 
self  awkwardly  situated.  But  he  runs  no  risk  in  retailing  what  I  have 
said.  My  lips  avow  what  I  do,  and  my  hand  is  ready  to  defend  it.  I 
said  to  the  Senator  from  Illinois  pretty  much  what  he  has  related,  and 
something  besides,  which  he  has  not  told.  I  did  tell  him  when  he 
came  to  me  and  offered  to  make  a  motion  to  take  up  this  resolution 
from  the  table,  that  I  did  not  want  his  help.  I  did  tell  him  also  that 
the  North  had  proved  what  I  always  knew — that  the  Northern  Demo 
crats  wanted  to  shield  the  President  from  this  investigation,  because 
the  slavery  question  was  involved  in  it. 

Mr.  SHIELDS,  of  Illinois.  I  disavow,  for  myself,  any  such  imputa 
tion,  that  I  gave  a  vote  for  any  such  purpose. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  The  gentleman  is  perfectly  at  liberty  to  disavow  it 
if  he  sees  proper.  I  repeat  that  I  said  it,  and  I  say  it  now,  and  I  am 
responsible  for  what  I  say,  sir ;  that  the  people  of  the  Northern  States 
were  willing  to  shield  the  President  from  this  investigation,  because 
the  question  of  slavery  was  involved  in  it;  that  on  a  resolution  of  this 
sort  the  entire  body  of  Northern  Democracy  were  found  voting  against 
it.  I  told  him  that  I  wanted  to  show  to  the  people  of  the  South  that 
they  were  laboring  under  a  delusion. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  will  thank  the  Senator  not  to  include  me.  I 
voted  against  the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir.  I  said  the  people  of  the 
South  had  been  heretofore  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  the  North 
ern  Democrats  were  their  friends.  I  said  it  was  a  delusion,  and  I  was 
glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of  explaining  it  to  them.  God  deliver  me 
from  such  friends  as  the  Northern  Democrats !  I  would  rather  trust 
Northern  Whigs  to-day.  They  commenced  the  game  earlier,  and  have 
not  to  go  so  far  to  get  in  a  proper  position.  Look  at  the  resolutions  of 
Democratic  Legislatures  and  the  messages  of  Democratic  Governors, 


1850.]  MILITARY    GOVERNOR   FOR    CALIFORNIA.  327 

and  the  resolutions  adopted  by  Democratic  conventions,  and  then  tell 
me  about  Northern  Democrats  being  the  friends  of  the  South.  They 
may  vote  in  a  body  for  the  adoption  of  this  resolution  if  they  choose, 
but  it  will  do  us  no  good ;  because  a  similar  resolution  has  already 
been  adopted  in  the  House,  and  this  investigation  must  go  on.  They 
come  forward  now,  with  their  aid,  when  we  can  afford  to  dispense 
with  it.  They  tell  us  now  they  are  willing  to  adopt  the  resolution,  and 
the  gentleman  from  Illinois  says  it  is  necessary  to  put  himself  in  a  right 
position.  What  is  that  position  ?  It  is  to  enable  him  to  go  before  the 
country  and  to  tell  the  South  that  he  is  still  a  friend  of  the  South,  and 
to  deceive  them  a  little  longer.  That  is  the  position  of  the  Northern 
Democrats.  Put  them  to  the  test,  put  something  practical  before  them, 
and  where  is  the  aid  which  we  get  from  the  Northern  Democracy  ? 

The  junior  Senator  from  Illinois  [Mr.  SHIELDS]  has  seen  proper  to 
disavow  a  declaration  made  by  me  in  terms  which  I  suppose  were  meant 
to  be  offensive.  I  repeat,  therefore,  for  his  especial  benefit,  what  I  said 
before,  that  I  am  responsible  here  and  elsewhere. 

Mr.  DODGE.  I  call  the  gentleman  to  order.  I  wish  to  say  that  in 
debate  such  personal  remarks  should  not  be  allowed. 

Mr.  SHIELDS.     Will  the  Senator  from  Alabama  allow  me — 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.     What  is  the  point  of  order? 

Mr.  DAVIS.  The  point  of  order  is  to  exclude  all  personal  remarks, 
and  I  hope  it  will  be  enforced. 

Mr.  FOOTE  of  Mississippi.     Will  my  friend  from  Alabama  allow  me  ? 

Mr.  CLEMENS.     Certainly,  sir. 

Mr.  FOOTE.  I  hope  my  friend  will  allow  me  to  say  to  him  that  I 
am  sure  one  or  two  of  his  remarks  must  have  fallen  from  him  without 
due  deliberation,  as  I  know  is  the  case  with  myself  often  in  the  heat  of 
debate,  and  as  I  believe  is  the  case  with  himself  on  this  occasion.  I 
have  been  here  for  some  time,  and  I  have  had  free  and  unreserved 
intercourse  with  certain  Northern  Democrats,  whom  I  esteem,  and 
whom  I  hope  my  friend  from  Alabama  will  hereafter  have  cause  to 
esteem  also.  I  could  mention  a  great  many  names  to  him  whose 
merits  he  would  recognize  at  once. 

Mr.  Foote  proceeded  at  some  length  in  the  same  course  of  remark,, 
naming  several  Northern  Democrats  as  illustrating  his  statements. 

Mr.  SHIELDS  explained  that  so  far  from  intending  anything  offensive, 
what  he  said  was  with  the  express  design  of  satisfying  the  Senator 
from  Alabama  [Mr.  Clemens]  that  his  vote  to  lay  the  resolution  on 
the  table  was  given  without  any  reference  whatever  to  the  question  of 
slavery  in  the  South,  or  abolition  in  the  North. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  am  glad  to  hear  the  honorable  Senator's  statement. 
I  am  glad  that  this  episode  is  happily  ended ;  and  to  the  honorable 
Senator  from  Mississippi  I  will  take  occasion  to  say  that  there  is  no 
man  in  this  body  for  whom  I  have  a  more  sincere  respect  or  kinder 


328  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

feelings.  He  has,  as  he  has  a  right  to  do,  presumed  on  an  acquaintance 
of  long  standing  and  many  acts  of  kindness  extended  to  me,  to  set  me 
right,  as  he  says,  in  this  matter.  I  may  not  be  right  in  saying  that  the 
entire  body  of  the  northern  Democracy  are  against  us,  but  I  am  not 
wrong  in  saying  that  there  is  not  a  Legislature,  Democratic  or  "Whisr, 
north  of  Mason  and  Dickson's  line,  that  has  not  instructed  its  Senators 
to  do  what  the  Legislature  of  my  State  has  declared  to  be  a  cause  for 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  DODGE.  You  are  wrong.  The  Legislature  of  my  State  has 
never  done  it. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  am  glad  that  there  are  some  of  them  who  have 
not  done  so.  But  there  are  representatives  here  who  do  not  need  to 
be  instructed.  It  is  true,  however,  sir,  that — 

Mr.  DAVIS.     "Will  my  friend  allow  me  to  interpose  a  single  remark? 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  Certainly. 

Mr.  Davis.  I  would  say,  then,  and  I  say  it  to  him  with  the  more 
confidence  on  account  of  the  high  regard  I  have  for  him,  and  the  sym 
pathy  I  have  in  his  present  position.  I  am  myself  subject  to  the  same 
feelings  of  excitement,  and  especially  on  this  subject.  It  is  a  subject  on 
which  we  all  feel,  and  feel  deeply,  and  on  which  we  are  apt  to  speak 
strongly.  But  is  it  well  to  reopen  the  wounds  which  have  already 
been  inflicted  in  this  sectional  strife  to  the  Union  ?  Is  it  well  to  point 
to  the  wrong-doings  of  others,  that  they  may  recriminate  on  us,  and 
widen  the  breach  which  already  exist?,  and  increase  the  danger  which 
already  threatens  us?  I  ask  my  friend  to  calm  himself,  in  order  that 
his  remarks  may  only  be  applicable  to  so  much  of  this  discussion  as  has 
a  bearing  on  his  position  in  connection  with  this  resolution. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  will  take  the  suggestion  of  the  gentleman  from 
Mississippi,  and  let  the  matter  pass.  I  will  say,  then,  in  relation  to 
the  only  matter  which  should  have  been  discussed,  and  the  only  matter 
legitimately  before  the  Senate,  and  the  only  matter  that  I  have  been 
anxious  to  say  anything  about,  that  the  adoption  of  this  resolution  now 
is  unnecessary  ;  as  the  information  it  seeks  is  already  obtained  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  it  is  not  necessary. that  it  shall  be  copied 
over  again  and  sent  to  us.  My  object  was  to  get  early  information,  and 
we  failed  to  get  it.  Upon  the  motion  of  the  gentleman  from  Illinois, 
no  matter  from  whatever  cause  it  was  made,  it  was  his  motion  and  his 
vote  which  caused  its  postponement,  and  in  consequence  of  that  we 
have  failed  to  get  the  information  at  the  time  we  desired.  He  says  he 
made  the  motion  because  there  were  resolutions  on  file  which  he 
wanted  to  have  adopted,  as  they  could  be  without  producing  discussion; 
the  same  state  of  the  case  applies  now.  There  are  resolutions  that  it 
was  desired  to  get  at  this  morning  for  precisely  the  same  reason. 
There  is  the  stronger  reason  that  then  the  information  had  not  been 
furnished  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  but  now  it  has.  I  move  to 


1850.]  MILITARY   GOVERNOR  FOR    CALIFORNIA.  329 

lay  the  resolution  on  the  table,  and  I  give  notice  that  I  will  not  with 
draw  that  motion  again. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  hope  the  honorable  Senator  will  withdraw  it  to 
allow  me  to  make  an  explanation. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.     I  will  do  so  if  it  is  a  personal  matter. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.     It  is  partly  personal  and  partly  political. 

Mr.  CLEMENS.     Then  I  will  not  withdraw  the  motion. 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  will  then  appeal  to  the  Senate,  and  ask  as  a  favor 
that  it  be  not  laid  on  the  table. 

The  question  was  taken  on  the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table,  and  it 
was  rejected.  Mr.  DICKINSON  then  proceeded : — ] 

I  HAVE  taken  no  part  in  this  debate,  Mr.  President,  and  I 
regret  that  it  has  arisen,  and  especially  that  it  has  passed  be 
yond  its  own  proper  boundaries.  In  the  hour  which  is  usually 
appropriated  to  morning  business,  I  was  engaged  with  my 
correspondence,  and  paid  but  little  attention  to  the  matter. 
But  some  things  have  fallen  from  honorable  Senators,  and 
especially  from  the  junior  Senator  from  Alabama,*  which 
require  not  only  to  be  noticed,  but  to  be  noticed  here  and 
now.  Sir,  that  Senator,  in  undertaking  to  characterize  the 
sentiments  of  whole  communities,  and  the  opinions  of  entire 
bodies  of  men,  comprising  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of 
this  Union,  entered  upon  the  execution  of  a  work  which  might 
well  have  been  left  to  older,  if  not  to  better  soldiers.  In 
regard  to  this  matter,  Mr.  President,  though  I  have  done  no 
more  than  others,  I  think  I  may  say,  without  the  fear  of  con 
tradiction,  or  of  being  charged  with  undue  egotism,  that  I  have 
stood  up  to  it  upon  all  occasions.  I  long  since  saw  that  it  was 
a  question  fraught  with  perilous  consequences.  I  saw  that 
there  was  an  evil  spirit  of  sectionalism  rising  both  in  the 
North  and  in  the  South,  having  for  its  object  agitation  for 
sectional  advantages,  and  I  have  condemned  it  secretly  and 
openly — in  thought,  word,  and  deed.  I  never  have  lent 
myself  to  such  unholy  and  wicked  designs,  and  if  God  gives 
me  that  strength  which  he  has  thus  far  in  mercy  extended  me, 
I  here  declare  again,  where  it  should  be  declared,  that  I  never 
will,  but  that  I  will  lend  my  best  energies  to  crush  and  destroy 
it.  I  have  stood  here,  under  the  sanctions  of  an  official  oath 
and  the  requisitions  of  the  Constitution,  like  Casabianca  upon 

*  MR.  CLEMENS. 


330 

this  question,  which  has  so  unfortunately,  to  say  the  least, 
agitated  the  country  for  the  last  few  years,  and  here  I  will 
stand,  even  though  immolation  be  the  consequence.  Others, 
too,  of  my  Northern  Democratic  brethren  have  shown  no  less 
devotion  to  the  Constitution  they  have  sworn  to  support.  I 
have  stood  up,  not  for  the  South,  but  for  the  rights  of  all,  as 
guaranteed  by  the  Constitution.  I  have  disregarded  personal 
consequences,  and  have  scorned  to  count  the  chances  of 
ephemeral  popularity  and  place.  I  have  permitted  reproach 
and  obloquy  to  discharge  on  me  their  exhaustless  quivers  of 
poisoned  arrows,  that  I  might  secure  the  right ;  and  when  I 
hear  myself,  and  those  with  whom  I  have  acted,  in  rolling  back 
the  dark  waves  of  sectional  strife,  denounced  as  unworthy  of 
reliance — all  in  one  grand  mass  excommunicated  from  fellow 
ship  with  the  Democratic  church — in  a  single  verse,  and  told, 
too,  that  we  are  less  to  be  tolerated  than  our  political  oppo 
nents,  I  feel  inclined  to  repel,  in  pointed  and  emphatic  phrase, 
a'  denunciation  so  wholesale  and  unjust. 

[Mr.  CLEMENS.  I  call  the  honorable  gentleman's  attention 
to  the  resolutions  of  the  7th  of  January,  1847,  and  the  10th  of 
January,  1848,  and  to  like  resolutions  of  1849,  of  his  own  State 
Legislature.] 

Mr.  DICKINSON.  I  cannot  now  speak  of  the  exact  import 
of  the  resolutions.  They  were  doubtless  of  an  anti-slavery 
character,  and  similar  to  those  passed  by  other  Legislatures, 
North.  It  is  well  known  that  I  differed  with  those  who  passed 
them  upon  the  best  mode  of  disposing  of  the  question,  and 
this  responsibility  I  will  settle  with  those  who  have  a  right  to 
call  me  to  account,  and  not  with  those  who  have  not.  The 
Legislatures  which  passed  them  have  been  sometimes  consid 
erably  divided  among  themselves.  Sometimes  they  have 
passed  with  greater  and  sometimes  with  less  unanimity.  The 
Northern  sentiment  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  is  in  many  re. 
spects  entirely  dissimilar  to  that  of  the  South ;  but  when  we 
are  told  that  there  must  be  a  sectional  issue  raised  because  of 
this,  let  the  voice  which  so  declares  come  from  the  North  or 
from  the  South,  I  stand  here  to  repudiate  it.  The  people  of 
the  North  regard  the  question  of  slavery  as  a  constitutional 
guarantee,  precisely  as  do  the  people  of  the  South,  and  as  such 
are  ready  to  respect  it.  It  is  the  political  agitators  in  both 


1850.]  MILITARY   GOVERNOR   FOR   CALIFORNIA.  331 

sections  who  have  made  all  the  mischief.  Sir,  take  a  small 
number  of  men  out  of  the  Northern  and  also  out  of  the  Southern 
sections  of  this  Union,  or  silence  their  clamor,  and  this  accursed 
agitation  could  be  settled  in  less  than  a  single  week.  I  am  for 
maintaining  the  Union  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  form ;  and  I  have 
deprecated  the  assaults  which  I  have  seen  made  upon  the 
Constitution  occasionally  in  the  non-slaveholding  States,  in  the 
refusal  to  deliver  fugitives  from  service  according  to  a  solemn 
provision  of  that  instrument.  But  this,  sir,  I  look  upon  as  a 
matter  which  must  be  reformed  at  home,  as  it  will  be  by  a 
sound  and  healthy  public  opinion,  when  it  shall  set  a  just 
estimate  upon  the  interference  of  political  agitators,  and  con 
demn  a  morality  that  is  purer  than  the  fundamental  law.  But 
I  will  not  even  dwell  upon  the  alleged  errors  of  any  section  of 
my  country.  If  she  has  ever  been  astray,  rather  than  contem 
plate  it,  I  would  cast  the  mantle  of  concealment  over  her 
errors.  I  desire  to  preserve  in  all  its  vigor  the  glorious  in 
heritance  which  our  fathers  gave  us ;  to  see  the  South  secure 
in  the  full  possession  and  enjoyment  of  their  constitutional 
rights.  I  have  stood  by  them  when  I  thought  them  right, 
regardless  of  peril,  and  will  now  aid  in  shielding  them  from 
unjust  and  improper  aggressions  upon  their  institutions.  In 
this  struggle  numerically  they  are  the  weaker  party,  and  when 
I  have  seen  them  unjustly  assailed,  my  sympathies  have  been 
with  them ;  and  I  have  exposed  and  denounced  not  only  the 
sectional  agitators,  but  have  warned  those  against  excitement 
whose  views  and  intentions  are  just,  but  who  have  been  pro 
voked  to  retaliation  by  just  such  wholesale  sectional  assaults 
as  are  now  heaped  upon  the  North  by  the  Senator  from  Ala 
bama.  Sir,  crimination  begets  recrimination ;  and  although 
men  may  put  on  the  garb  of  philosophy  for  an  occasion,  they 
are  yet  liable  to  be  betrayed  by  impulse  and  excitement ;  and 
when  they  hear  distinguished  Southern  men  day  after  day 
making  sectional  appeals,  grouping  all  together  and  condemn 
ing  all  in  gross,  without  stint  or  exception,  they  in  their  turn 
will  make  opposing  declarations,  and  thus  the  work  goes  on. 
One  sectional  agitator  begets  another — a  blow  given  brings  a 
blow  in  return,  and  thus  dissention  makes  the  meat  it  feeds 
on.  I  have  already  said  I  regretted  this  subject  had  been  in 
troduced.  Allow  me  to  say,  that  I  do  not  regret  that  it  is 


332  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

about  to  reach  its  culminating  point.  I  care  not  how  soon 
this  may  be  the  case.  I  believe  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  South  are  honest,  just,  and  generous,  and  that  all 
they  desire  is  to  remain  secure  in  the  possession  of  their  rights. 
I  believe  too,  sir,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the 
North  are  equally  just  and  equally  generous,  and  true  to  the 
Constitution,  and  that  they  too  desire  nothing  more  than  what 
they  deem  to  be  their  rights,  and  the  rights  of  the  whole 
people,  and  best  calculated  to  advance  the  honor  of  the  Con 
federacy  and  the  interest  and  happiness  of  mankind.  When 
reviled  I  will  not  revile  again.  I  will  by  no  means  repudiate 
the  Southern  Democracy.  They  have  too  often  proved  them 
selves  worthy  of  the  name  they  bear.  Nor,  sir,  upon  the 
question  of  this  Union,  much  and  radically  as  I  differ  with 
them  upon  other  questions,  will  I  repudiate  the  patriotic 
among  our  opponents.  This  question  shoots  too  deep  and 
stretches  too  high  to  be  measured  by  political  parties ;  and 
when  the  day  of  trial  comes,  if  corne  it  does,  every  patriotic 
man  will  breast  himself  for  the  shock,  and  sectional  agitators 
will  be  foiled.  The  Constitution  throws  its  broad  aegis  over 
this  mighty  Republic ;  and  its  people  worship  at  its  shrine 
with  more  than  an  Eastern  devotion.  They  have  contemplated 
the  priceless  value  of  the  Union.  They  have  thought  of  the 
blood  and  tears  by  which  it  was  purchased.  They  see  the 
proud  vessel  bearing  majestically  onward,  and  they  exclaim  in 
the  language  of  the  poet : 


"Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  ship  of  State  1 
Sail  on,  O  Union,  strong  and  great  I 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
"With  all  the  hope  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate ; 
We  know  what  master  laid  thy  keel, 
What  workmen  wrought  thy  ribs  of  steel ; 
Who  made  each  inast.  and  sail,  and  rope, 
What  anvils  rang,  what  hammers  beat, 
In  what  a  forge  and  what  a  heat 
Were  shaped  the  anchors  of  thy  hope." 


They  will  cheer  on  this  noble  ship ;  they  will  stand  by  this 


1850.]  MILITARY   GOVERNOR   FOR   CALIFORNIA.  333 

Constitution ;  they  will  adhere  to  this  Union ;  and  although 
the  Northern  people  are  opposed  to  the  institution  of  slavery, 
the  great  mass  of  them  have  no  intention  or  disposition  to 
trench  improperly  upon  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South  ; 
and  this  they  will  prove,  should  the  occasion  arise,  even 
though  they  should  sell  their  lives  in  her  defence.  Sir,  if  it 
should  come  to  the  worst,  as  it  never  will,  so  firmly  are  the 
Northern  people  devoted  to  the  Constitution,  and  armed  incen 
diarism,  foreign  or  domestic,  push  a  mad  crusade  against  the 
South,  and  she  be  placed  in  peril ;  I  am  free  to  declare,  I  would, 
and  so  I  believe  would  every  patriotic  man  of  the  free  States 
who  had  a  sword  to  draw,  draw  it  in  defence  of  their  Southern 
brethren  and  of  the  rights  guaranteed  to  them  by  a  common 
compact,  and  stand  by  them  to  the  death.  [Applause.]  But, 
sir,  they  will  only  stand  by  her  when  she  is  right ;  and  so  long 
as  she  is  so,  no  sword  will  be  called  into  requisition,  except 
against  a  foreign  and  a  common  foe.  The  very  heat,  natural 
and  artificial,  to  which  sectional  agitation  has  attained,  will 
work  its  own  cure.  It  will  burn  itself  out.  Northern  agita 
tors  and  Southern  agitators  will  find  themselves  side  by  side 
in  their  errand  of  mutual  mischief.  And  the  great  mass  of  the 
American  people  will  look  upon  this  Union  as  it  is,  and  upon 
Southern  rights  and  Northern  rights  as  they  are,  and  will  stand 
by  them  and  protect  them. 

These  territorial  questions,  this  District  of  Columbia  ques 
tion,  the  question  of  jurisdiction  in  forts  and  dock-yards,  arse 
nals  and  navy-yards,  are  temporary  in  their  character,  and, 
together  with  that  of  fugitives  from  service,  would  be  soon 
settled  by  the  good  sense  of  the  right-minded,  were  it  not  for 
the  wholesale  denunciations  of  men  grouped  together  in  whole 
communities  and  States ;  on  one  hand  denouncing  the  North, 
the  North,  the  North ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  South,  the 
South,  the  South.  This  provokes  the  greater  part  of  this 
struggle  ;  I  would  suggest  whether  it  would  not  be  more  wise, 
if  gentlemen  would  exercise  a  little  forbearance,  always  re 
membering  the  saying,  "  Let  him  that  is  without  sin  cast  the 
first  stone."  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  the  great  mass  of  our 
Southern  friends  treat  this  question  as  it  should  be  treated ; 
and  I  am  pleased  to  see  them  stand  up  boldly  as  they  do  for 
their  right  of  being  let  alone.  I  am  gratified  to  hear  them,  in 


334 

a  proper  spirit,  stand  by  their  institutions  and  defend  them ; 
for  it  serves  to  show  what  some  seem  practically  to  forget,  that 
this  Union  is  a  sisterhood  of  free  and  independent  States  asso 
ciated  for  a  few  common  purposes,  and  not  a  consolidated  fed 
eral  government  for  all  purposes.  The  North  and  the  South 
stand  together  upon  one  great  constitutional  platform,  and 
neither  has  a  right  to  claim  superiority  over  the  other.  The 
people  of  the  South  have  institutions  that  are  sensitive  and 
that  can  be  endangered  by  agitation  in  the  North,  and  in  op 
posing  such  agitation  I  have  been  willing  to  throw  myself  into 
the  breach  to  turn  it  aside  ;  I  have  attempted  to  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Northern  people — nay,  of  the  whole  American 
people — to  the  danger  of  agitating  this  question  ;  and  I  would 
say  in  all  kindness  to  my  friend  from  Alabama  that  he  gives 
more  food  in  one  speech  for  the  nourishment  of  the  Abolition 
movement,  than  all  the  Garrisons,  Wendell  Phillipses,  and 
Abby  Folsoms,  and  all  the  speeches  of  all  the  "  Free  Soil " 
agitators  and  abolition  demagogues,  put  together.  He  does 
more  to  provoke  assaults  upon  the  institutions  of  the  South 
than  all  that  abolitionism  has  ever  been  able  to  accomplish  in 
the  hour  of  its  greatest  triumphs.  I  beg  of  that  honorable 
Senator,  when  he  has  anything  to  say  hereafter — unless  he  is 
impelled  by  a  strong  sense  of  duty — that  he  will  not  attempt 
to  foment  and  carry  on  this  sectional  agitation.  To  what  end 
and  to  whose  good  will  result  the  dissolution  of  this  Union, 
from  the  contemplation  of  which  every  patriotic  mind  instinct 
ively  recoils  with  horror  ? 

I  Fing  no  hosannas  to  a  Union  without  a  Constitution.  I 
admit  that  when  the  life  and  spirit  have  departed,  the  frame 
work  will  be  valueless  and  will  tumble  to  decay.  But  the 
spirit  has  not  yet  departed,  the  life  is  not  yet  gone.  It  is  true 
it  has  received  many  assaults,  but  it  is  capable  of  receiving  and 
sustaining  many  more.  Let  those  who  are  disposed  to  indulge 
in  agitation,  ask  for  the  rights  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution 
only ;  but  when  they  ask  for  these,  let  them  not  ask  for 
what  the  Constitution  does  not  guarantee.  Let  them  not 
provoke  assaults  themselves,  while  decrying  the  assaults  they 
invite. 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Alabama  repudiates  and  casts 
off  the  Northern  Democracy.  They  will,  however,  do  no  such 


1850.]  MILITARY   GOVERNOR  FOR  CALIFORNIA.  335 

« 

thing  with  him.  They  will  retain  him  in  full  membership,  but 
endeavor  to  teach  him  some  instructive  and  useful  lessons. 
And  upon  this  subject  of  reading  out  the  entire  Democracy  of 
fifteen  States  of  this  Union,  they  will  request  my  young  friend 
from  Alabama  to  tarry  awhile  at  Jericho  until  his  beard  shall 
have  grown.  [Laughter.]  I  greatly  admired  parts  of  a  speech 
which  that  honorable  Senator  delivered  here  a  few  days  since. 
He  therein  depicted  the  position  of  the  South  in  glowing 
and  eloquent  terms,  and  in  a  manner  which  was  well  calcu 
lated  to  call  the  attention  of  the  American  people  to  this 
question.  And  if  we  could  at  all  times  keep  in  view  the  high 
destiny  of  this  nation,  and  the  high  duties  of  those  clothed 
with  power — if  the  American  people  would  set  their  seal  upon 
political  hobby-riding  for  a  miserable  party  advantage  upon 
questions  of  this  import, — there  would  be  no  trouble  ;  or  none 
which  did  not  exist  at  the  time  of  the  original  formation  of 
this  government.  This  question  of  slavery  was  one  of  diffi 
culty  then  :  and  the  same  spirit  of  patriotism  which  rose  above 
it  then,  the  same  principles  of  compromise  which  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Constitution,  must  preserve  it.  The  Democ 
racy  of  the  North  are  not,  and  cannot  be  made,  a  mere  sec 
tional  party.  Our  government,  in  one  sense,  exists  in  the 
organization  of  national  political  parties;  we  have  nothing 
separated  from  politics.  If  you  make  a  sectional  party  in  the 
North,  you  will  by  the  same  act  make  a  sectional  party  in 
the  South.  If  you  thus  divide  the  Democratic  party,  you  will 
also  divide  the  Whig  party ;  and  when  you  thus  divide  polit- 
cal  parties  into  sectional  portions,  the  result  will  prove  that 
you  have  taken  a  long  step  towards  putting  an  end  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union. 

I  have  spoken  only  because  I  felt  assured  that  the  remarks 
of  the  Senator  had  a  direct  tendency  to  create  and  fester  sec 
tionalism,  and  to  produce,  what  we  all  deprecate,  a  division  of 
political  parties  by  a  sectional  line — the  formation  of  provis 
ional  sectional  governments,  and  then  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  Sir,  this  Union  can  never  be  dissolved,  if  representa 
tives  in  Congress  will  only  do  their  duty.  If  they  will  abide 
by  the  principles  which  their  fathers  taught  them ;  if  they  will 
treat  each  other  with  kindness  and  courtesy  and  conciliation  ; 
if  they  will  bear  and  forbear,  and  be  as  firm  and  as  true  as 


336 

* 

the  masses  of  the  people,  all  will  go  well,  and  this  republic 
will  be  able  to  outride  the  dark  lowering  storms  which  threat 
en  its  existence. 

[Further  explanations  of  a  conciliatory  character  from  Mr.  DOUGLAS, 
Mr.  DOWNS,  Mr.  DAYIS,  Mr.  CLEMENS,  and  Mr.  WHITCOMB  of  Illinois, 
followed ;  when  the  resolution  passed  by  yeas  and  nays.] 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED  AT  A  COMPLIMENTARY  PUBLIC  DINNER,  GIVEN  TO 
MR.  DICKINSON  BY  THE  DEMOCRATS  OF  THE  COUNTIES  OF 
NEW  YORK,  KINGS,  QUEENS,  RICHMOND  AND  WESTCHESTER, 
AT  TAMMANY  HALL,  NEW  YORK,  JuilG  17,  1850. 

[The  proceedings,  published  at  the  time,  give  the  following  account 
of  the  preliminaries  to  the  speech. 

"  Long  before  the  hour  of  sitting  down  at  the  dinner-table,  the  en 
trance  to  the  long  room  in  old  Tammany  was  crowded  with  the  ad 
mirers  of  the  distinguished  guest.  At  half-past  six  o'clock  he  arrived  at 
Tammany  Hall,  escorted  by  the  committee  of  arrangments.  On  enter 
ing  the  room  his  reception  was  most  enthusiastic,  all  present  seeming 
desirous  to  do  him  honor.  At  seven  o'clock,  the  committee  conducted 
the  honored  guest  to  the  large  room,  followed  by  some  two  or  three 
hundred  citizens  who  had  determined  to  enjoy  the  festive  occasion. 
The  band  (Dodworth's)  performed  a  favorite  air  during  the  time  the 
company  were  entering  the  room.  The  following  gentlemen  presided 
at  the  various  tables  : — 

CHARLES  O'CONNOR,  ESQ.,  President ; 

JOHN  D.  VAN  BUREN,  ESQ.,  First  Yice-President ; 

RCYAL  PHELPS,  ESQ.,  Second  Yice-President ; 

Hon.  JOHN  A.  LOTT,  Third  Vice-President ; 

Gen.  AARON  WARD,  Fourth  Yice-Presideut. 

The  room  was  decorated  in  magnificent  style.  It  presented  a  spacious 
and  splendid  "  marquee,"  beautifully  formed  at  the  top  by  several  thou 
sand  yards  of  flowing  tri-colored  bunting,  and  at  the  sides  and  front 
by  innumerable  large-sized  republican  banners,  promiscuously  blended 
together.  The  lower  end  or  entrance  was  an  arch,  surmounted  by  a 
golden  eagle,  composed  of  the  American  and  French  flags,  united,  as  in 
the  Revolutionary  struggle,  with  each  other.  Over  the  President's 
chair  hung  an  original  portrait  of  Washington,  by  Stuart,  kindly  loaned 
to  the  committee  by  Mr.  Crumby,  and  around  it  was  entwined  the 
never-fading  emblem  of  our  glorious  nation.  Immediately  on  the  right 
was  suspended,  elegantly  and  richly  ornamented,  the  coat  of  arms  of 
22 


338  DICKINSON'S    SPEECHES. 

Virginia,  the  birth-place  of  tlie  immortal  father  of  his  country  ;  on  the 
left  shone  no  less  brilliant  the  coat  of  arms  of  our  own  favored  State, 
New  York  Above  these,  bearing  in  every  letter  a  deserved  compli 
ment  to  Senator  Dickinson,  was  the  following : 

"!N  HONOR  OF  THE  BOLD  AND  ELOQUENT  EXPONENT  or  A  NA 
TION'S  WILL." 

This  comprehensive  and  complimentary  sentence  was  originally  em 
bodied  in  a  resolution  by  the  Central  Democratic  Jackson  Association 
of  Washington,  in  1847,  upon  the  introduction  of  the  resolution  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  opposition  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  by 
Mr.  Dickinson.  The  coat  of  arms  of  South  Carolina  occupied  a  place 
next  to  New  York.  It  was  shrouded  in  deep  mourning  in  honor  of  her 
departed  son,  the  lamented  JOHN  0.  CALHOUN.  Around  the  tent  were 
similar  banners  of  the  "  thirteen  "  original  States,  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  orchestra  was  an  oil-painting  of  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence,  politely  furnished  by  Gen.  Storms.  Five  chan 
deliers,  and  numerous  branches  of  wax  candles,  spread  their  lustre  on 
the  scene,  and  added  greatly  to  the  effect.  In  short,  the  old  and  ven 
erable  "Wigwam,"  in  which  not  a  spot  of  the  walls  was  to  be  seen, 
presented  to  the  eye  a  grand  and  chaste  appearance,  not  easy  to  de 
scribe.  The  tout  ensemble  has  never  been  equalled  in  this  city. 

The  first  regular  toast,  which  was  "  The  Union,"  having  been  drank 
with  the  honors,  the  President,  after  some  eloquent,  pertinent,  and  com 
plimentary  remarks  upon  the  all-absorbing  political  question  of  the  day, 
and  the  action  of  the  guest  of  the  evening  upon  it,  announced  the 
second  regular  toast : — 

"  Our  Guest : 

"By  unwavering  fidelity  to  the  Union,  he  truly  represents  the  Em 
pire  State;  by  according  justice  to  every  section  he  has  attained  it  for 
his  own." 

Mr.  DICKINSON  responded,  and  spoke  as  follows : — ] 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  The  highly  complimentary 
remarks  and  sentiments  which  have  just  been  uttered,  the  mag 
nificence  of  the  festival  with  which  I  have,  as  your  representa 
tive,  been  honored,  demand  from  me  a  response  suited  to  the 
occasion.  The  kind  allusion  to  my  humble  services  in  the  public 
councils  inspires  me  with  sentiments  and  emotions  which  I  will 
not  attempt  to  conceal  or  describe.  It  is  the  highest  motive  of 
the  representative  to  discharge  his  important  trusts  with  fideli 
ty  ;  and  if  I  have,  in  executing  mine,  secured  the  approbation 
of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  Empire  City,  I  shall  feel  assured 
that  I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  obligations  which  rested 
upon  me  as  a  representative  of  this  great  State  and  great  com- 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY   PUBLIC    DIKNEK.  339 

mercial  emporium  of  the  Union.  The  occasion  is  not  only  flat 
tering  in  the  highest  degree  personally,  but  it  affords  the  most 
gratifying  evidences  that  the  Democratic  party,  chastened  and 
instructed  by  the  reverses  which  domestic  strife  and  division 
have  brought  to  its  once  potent  and  successful  career,  is  about 
to  profit  by  its  dear-bought  lessons  of  experience,  and  laying 
aside  all  matters  of  minor  consideration,  and  leaving  each  to  the 
indulgence  of  his  own  private  sentiments,  to  organize  again 
upon  that  ancient  and  catholic  creed  which  was  prescribed  by 
the  purest  and  best  of  men ; — a  creed  which  is  as  broad  as  the 
light  and  comprehensive  as  space,  which  knows  no  North,  no 
South,  no  East,  no  West,  but  regards  all  as  children  of  a  com 
mon  father,  and  seeks,  by  the  wise  influences  of  its  genial  prin 
ciples  of  progress,  to  usher  in  the  day  when  all  shall  drink  alike 
at  the  pure  fountain  of  liberty  ; — when  violence  and  oppression 
shall  exist  only  in  the  remembrance  of  the  wrongs  they  have 
done  ;  and  when,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  our  natures,  every 
root  of  sorrow  shall  be  plucked  out  of  the  great  garden  of  the 
world.  We  see  on  either  hand  evidences  of  fraternal  union. 
The  dove,  bearing  the  olive-leaf  to  our  windows,  assures  us  that 
the  dark  waters  which  had  overwhelmed  us  have  assuaged,  and 
that  we  can  meet  and  worship  again  around  the  altar-fires  of  our 
fathers  in  our  ancient  temple.  Let  us,  then,  only  remember  the 
past,  as  the  mariner  does  the  shoals  and  the  storm  where  his 
best  hopes  have  been  wrecked,  that  he  may  avoid  them,  and 
look  forward  upon  the  future  to  the  bright  prospects  which 
await  our  united  efforts.  By  the  favor  of  my  Democratic 
friends,  I  have  been  long  devoted  to  the  public  service.  The 
best,  though  not  the  greatest  portion  of  my  life  has  been  with 
drawn  from  the  interesting  cares  of  domestic  life,  and  the  prac 
tice  of  an  honorable  profession,  that  I  might  fulfil  responsible 
public  trusts,  and  gratify  a  laudable  ambition ;  and  if  I  have 
failed  to  discharge  my  duty  according  to  the  ability  which  has 
been  given  me,  I  must  have  been  basely  ungrateful,  and  that 
without  motive.  The  period  during  which  I  have,  in  part,  rep 
resented  the  proudest  sovereignty  of  the  confederacy  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  has  been  without  its  parallel  in  our 
eventful  history.  To  claim  to  have  been  exempt  from  error 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  which  have,  at  such  a  time,  attended 
public  affairs,  would  be  claiming  that  which  has  not  been  vouch- 


310 

safed  to  the  wisdom  of  man.  But  the  occasion  affords  me  a 
pleasing  opportunity  to  render  an  account  of  my  stewardship  to 
those  who  have  a  right  to  know  the  reasons  which  have  in 
fluenced  me,  and  I  embrace  it  with  alacrity.  In  doing  so,  the 
history  of  the  absorbing  questions  which  have  agitated  the 
country,  is  necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  matter, 
and  to  my  own  justification,  and  to  these  ends  only  it  will  be 
briefly,  but  in  no  spirit  of  recrimination,  reviewed. 

The  subject  which  has  constituted  the  most  unfortunate  ele 
ment  of  sectional  strife  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  proposed  ap 
plication  of  the  ordinance  of  1787  to  the  recently  acquired  Ter 
ritories  ; — Territories  won  by  the  common  valor  and  common 
effort  of  wise  heads  in  council,  and  patriotic  hearts  upon  the 
field  of  battle  ; — Territories  purchased  by  the  common  blood 
and  common  treasure  of  every  section  of  the  Union.  Repeated 
efforts  have  been  made  in  Congess,  from  time  to  time,  to  give 
these  Territories  a  civil  organization  ;  but  they  have  all  proved 
fruitless  and  unavailing,  for  the  reason  that  one  portion  insisted 
that  no  government  should  be  erected  unless  their  restrictive 
ordinance  was  applied  to  it,  while  another  insisted,  with  equal 
pertinacity,  that  none  should  be  erected  with  it : — one  section 
contending  that  it  was  necessary  and  proper  to  prohibit  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery  by  the  legislation  of  Congress ;  the  other, 
that  such  action  by  the  National  Legislature,  was  unjust,  im 
proper,  and  unconstitutional ;  calculated,  if  not  intended,  to 
wound  and  insult  their  feelings,  and  to  degrade  them  in  the 
scale  of  social  and  political  being,  and  insisting  upon  their  right 
to  pass  into  the  Territories  and  enjoy  them  in  common  with  the 
people  of  the  free  States,  with  the  institutions  peculiar  to  them 
selves.  That  the  whole  ground  may  be  surveyed  understand- 
in  gly,  it  should  be  remembered  that  those  who  urge  the  appli 
cation  of  this  ordinance  claim  for  it  no  further  or  higher  oftice 
than  that  it  would,  if  adopted,  prohibit  slaves  from  going  from 
the  States  to  the  Territories — making  a  few  less  slaves  in  Mary 
land  or  other  States,  and  placing  them  in  the  Territories.  The 
South  have  often  and  earnestly  declared  that  a  prohibitory  act 
of  Congress  upon  this  subject  would  compel  them  to  sever  the 
political  bonds  which  unite  the  States  in  confederacy,  and  have 
appealed  to  their  sister  States,  and  to  their  representatives  in 
Congress,  to  cease  from  its  agitation.  But,  although  it  has  al- 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY    PUBLIC     DINNER. 

ready  formed  parties,  based  upon  no  higher  principles  than  geo 
graphical  lines — more  dangerous  to  our  free  institutions  than  a 
combined  world  in  arms  against  us,  and  has  sown  broadcast  in 
our  midst  the  terrible  elements  of  sectional  hate — the  agitation 
is  still  pressed  on,  as  though  those  who  urged  it  recked  little 
of  the  consequences  which  might  follow. 

It  is  conceded  by  those  who  know  most  of  the  soil,  produc 
tions,  climate,  and  physical  configuration  of  the  Territories  in 
question,  that  slavery  will  never  go  there,  as  there  can  be  no 
adequate  demand  for  its  most  unwieldy  and  expensive  labor. 
And  although  considerations  of  much  higher  import  influence 
and  control  my  action  upon  all  that  relates  to  this  difficult  and 
dangerous  subject,  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  Congress 
can  pass  no  law  sufficiently  inviting  in  its  rewards,  or  stringent 
in  its  penalties,  to  force  slavery  there,  and  keep  it  there  for  a 
single  year.  But  the  South  regard  it  as  a  point  of  honor : — 
they  hold  all  interference  with  the  question  an  infringement  of 
a  constitutional  right ;  and  they  fear  that  when  this  particular 
power  has  been  exercised  by  Congress,  some  other  of  more 
practical  importance,  and  more  deeply  injurious  to  them,  may 
be  first  asserted,  then  insisted  upon,  and  finally  applied,  until 
State  sovereignty  shall  become  an  empty  name,  and  they  be 
placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  general  government,  wielded  by  the 
potential  voice  of  a  controlling  majority  in  the  free  States.  We 
are,  numerically,  the  stronger  party,  and  should  remember  that 
minorities  are  constitutionally  sensitive  and  jealous  of  encroach 
ment.  Majorities  can  at  all  times  enforce  their  rights,  by  the 
exercise  of  their  power,  and  they  should  be  admonished  by  the 
highest  dictates  of  justice  and  generosity,  to  treat  with  marked 
delicacy  and  indulgence  the  rights  of  those  who  are,  in  all  but 
numbers,  their  equals. 

I  have  long  and  anxiously  contemplated  this  question  in  all 
its  bearings,  and,  notwithstanding  I  do  not  hold  tl  e  South  ex 
empt  from  error  in  her  reciprocal  policy ;  notwithtanding  she 
has,  as  well  as  ourselves,  her  ultraisms — for  ultraism  always 
hunts  in  couples,  and  each  nurses  its  counterpart ;  notwith 
standing  a  portion  of  her  statesmen  have  occasionally  abandoned, 
as  I  have  thought,  her  strongest  ground,  to  stand  upon  her 
weakest  and  most  impracticable,  I  have  long  believed  that,  in 
all  that  relates  to  this  sectional  strife,  she  has  been  "  more  sin- 


342 

ned  against  than  sinning."  The  institution  of  African  servitude, 
from  its  very  nature,  must  be  at  all  times  painfully  sensitive, 
and  there  is  no  offence  on  earth  which  humanity  brooks  with  so 
little  patience  as  external  interference  in  domestic  affairs.  Scarce 
ly  was  the  act  of  our  own  emancipation  legally  signalized,  when 
societies  were  organized  in  our  midst,  and  presses  established 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  putting  down  the  institution  in 
other  States.  Missionaries  went  forth  upon  their  errand  of  mis 
chief,  and  every  means  of  vexation  and  annoyance  that  ingenuity 
could  devise  and  vigilance  execute  was  employed  to  sap  and 
undermine  and  render  valueless  the  institutions  of  the  South, 
and  to  disturb  the  relation  between  master  and  servant.  We 
repealed,  unnecessarily  and  vexatiously,  our  laws  which  per 
mitted  our  Southern  friends  to  bring  with  them  their  household 
servants,  when  visiting  our  State  for  a  few  weeks,  upon  busi 
ness  or  pleasure  ;  and,  in  the  judgment  of  our  own  courts,  vio 
lated  the  Constitution  by  legislative  enactment  in  endeavoring 
to  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  recovering  summarily, 
according  to  previous  legalized  usage,  their  fugitive  slaves.  And 
it  will  be  found  to  be  a  painful,  yet  instructive  truth,  that  the 
darkest  passages  in  the  history  of  human  servitude  have  been 
written  there  from  a  necessity  imposed  by  the  officious  inter- 
meddlings  and  malign  influences  of  a  misguided  and  mistaken 
philanthropy. 

As  a  sentiment,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Northern  people 
of  all  classes  and  all  parties  regard  with  disfavor  the  transfer 
of  slavery  from  the  States  to  the  Territories,  and,  in  that  general 
sentiment,  I  have  often  declared  my  concurrence.  It  is  not, 
however,  because  I  have  more  sympathy  for  the  slave  in  the 
new  settlement  than  the  old,  for  in  such  change  his  health  and 
comfort  would  probably,  in  many  cases,  be  promoted  ;  but  it  is 
because  I  believe  the  moral,  political,  and  social  condition  of  the 
whites  much  better  without  slavery  than  with  it ;  and,  while  I 
have  never  employed  liberty  and  freedom  as  cant  phrases  to 
signalize  my  superior  philanthropy,  and  do  not  propose  to  do 
so,  I  experience  high  gratification  when  I  see  a  new  State,  in 
founding  her  political  organization,  a'dhere  to  what  I  regard  the 
true  principles  of  economy,  and  reject  an  institution  which, 
sooner  or  later,  must  bring  more  of  embarrassment  and  evil 
than  ever  it  can  even  of  imaginary  good.  Yet,  since  it  is  a  con- 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY    PUBLIC    DINNER.     ^  343 

stitutional  right,  upon  the  broadest  principles  of  free  self-gov 
ernment,  I  am  willing  that  each  political  community  should 
judge  for  itself  whether  it  will  have  it  or  not.  But  while  thus 
concurring  in  sentiment  with  those  who  do  not  favor  the  trans 
fer  of  slavery  to  the  newly  acquired  Territories,  I  am  quite  free 
to  declare,  that,  much  sooner  than  see  this  otherwise  happy  and 
heaven-favored  Union  divided ;  sooner  than  see  a  single  star  in 
our  constellation  blotted  from  the  firmament ;  sooner  than  see 
the  fraternal  relations  which  ought  to  exist  between  this  sister 
hood  of  States  turned  to  systematic  menaces  and  angry  re 
proaches,  I  would  see  every  member  of  this  unfortunate  race, 
bond  and  free,  well  provided  and  provisioned  for  the  journey,  in 
one  dark  and  mighty  cloud,  march  from  the  old  States  to  the 
new  Territories,  or  any  other  section  of  the  Union,  there  to 
reside,  if  the  inhabitants  would  permit  them.  If  this  be  treason, 
let  those  who  will  make  the  most  of  it.  And,  I  will  further 
add,  that  if  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  movement,  I  would 
consent  that  those  who  causelessly  agitate  the  subject  in  any 
section  of  the  Union,  including  their  noisy  sympathizers,  real 
arid  spurious,  might  go  along  with  them. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  only  office  which  it  was  pro 
posed  to  accomplish  by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  was  to  prevent 
the  transfer  of  slavery  from  the  States  to  the  Territories  ;  and 
none  can  fail  to  see  that  if  it  had  been  adopted,  and  performed 
all  that  its  most  strenuous  advocates  claim  for  it,  it  would  have 
rendered  but  a  poor  compensation  for  the  evil  which  has  fol 
lowed  in  its  train  of  sectional  strife,  and  heart-burnings,  and 
bitterness.  Slavery  is  now  confined  to  the  Atlantic  slope,  and 
the  strength  of  our  institutions  has  been  put  to  trial  by  the 
formation  of  sectional  combinations  to  prevent  by  federal  legis 
lation  its  crossing  to  the  other  side.  Let  us  for  a  moment  re 
verse  the  picture,  and  transfer  it  all  to  the  Pacific,  and  inquire 
whether  the  same  spirit  of  sympathy  would  desire  to  bring  it 
back  again  ?  As  is  usual,  when  any  questionable  expedient  is 
to  be  urged  upon  the  consideration  of  the  country,  the  peculiar 
votaries  of  the  proviso  doctrine  have  exhausted  history  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  for  its  support  the  authority  of  illustrious 
names.  True  it  is,  that,  under  other  circumstances,  a  similar  pro 
position  was  introduced  by  those  whose  purity  and  patriotism 
rendered  their  names  immortal :  but  a  moment's  consideration 


314:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

i* 

of  its  history  will  show  that  it  was  introduced  for  no  such  pur 
pose  as  the  present,  and  that  it  has  little,  if  any,  application  to 
our  present  condition.  The  ordinance  of  1787,  providing  that 
slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  should  be  excluded  from  the 
northwestern  territory,  was  adopted  while  the  States  were 
united  under  patched-up  and  imperfect  articles  of  confedera 
tion  ;  but,  when  a  constitution  was  framed,  it  was  silent  in  all 
that  related  to  the  exercise  of  such  a  power,  and  as  many 
opinions  are  drawn  from  its  reading,  upon  this  subject,  as  there 
are  lines  in  its  composition.  Not  intending,  however,  to  enter 
upon  a  constitutional  disquisition,  I  will  merely  add,  that,  in 
organizing  Territories,  in  some  cases  it  has  been  applied  by 
Congress  to  Territory  north  of  36°  30' — (the  Missouri  com 
promise  fine) — and  in  some  not ;  but  never  excited  serious  ob 
jection,  or  even  attention,  until  the  effort  to  apply  it  to  a  bill 
providing  means  for  terminating  the  war  with  Mexico.  It  was 
there  attempted  to  provide  in  advance,  before  any  territory  had 
been  acquired,  and  that,  too,  in  the  very  heat  of  the  war,  for 
the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  any  territory  which  might  be 
obtained.  The  South,  whose  sons  were  then  bleeding  by  the 
sides  of  our  own  on  the  parched  sands  of  Mexico,  regarded  this 
as  a  gross  insult,  as  well  they  might ;  and  here  was  sounded  the 
first  note  of  sectional  strife  upon  this  subject ; — here  originated 
the  flame  which  has  since  spread  far  and  wide,  and  threatened 
the  very  citadel  of  liberty  with  conflagration.  I  have  but  given 
a  brief  and  faithful  history  of  the  origin  of  the  proviso  excite 
ment.  The  motives  which  influenced  the  movement  at  the  time 
and  under  the  circumstances,  I  leave  to  Him  who  tries  the  hearts 
of  men,  and  to  that  country  which  eventually  does  justice  to 
all. 

In  1787,  when  the  ordinance  was  applied  to  the  northwestern 
territory,  and  until  1808,  the  foreign  slave  trade  was  authorized 
and  was  prosecuted  with  vigilance  and  success.  Now  it  is  by 
law  piracy  upon  the  high  seas.  Then  it  was  a  question  between 
the  coast  of  Africa,  where  the  negro  could  be  purchased  for  a 
few  dollars'  worth  of  trinkets,  and  the  fertile  valleys  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  where  he  would  command  from  five  hun 
dred  to  a  thousand  dollars ;  and  this  inducement  was  strong 
enough  to  transfer  him.  Now,  the  foreign  slave  trade  being 
abolished,  it  is  a  question  between  the  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  and 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY   PUBLIC    DINNER.  345 

sugar  plantations  of  the  Southern  States,  where  slavery  is  prof 
itable,  and  the  grazing  and  grain-growing  regions  of  the  new 
Territories,  where  it  could  not  earn  its  own  support,  and  where, 
in  the  language  of  John  Randolph,  if  the  slave  did  not  run  away 
from  the  master,  the  master  would  run  away  from  him.  Slave 
labor,  as  existing  and  organized  in  a  portion  of  our  country, 
like  every  other  department  of  human  affairs,  founded  in-  pe 
cuniary  considerations,  is  controlled  in  its  movements  by  the 
principles  of  profit  and  loss,  and  of  demand  and  supply.  Like 
free  labor,  it  will  eventually  be  found  where  there  is  the  greatest 
demand  and  where  it  pays  the  best  profit.  It  may  linger  in  an 
old  settlement,  where  it  has  long  been,  after  it  has  ceased  to  be 
profitable ;  but  it  will  not  go  on  a  new  one  unless  invited  by 
reward.  So  long  as  the  spirit  of  cupidity  is  inseparable  from 
man,  it  will  go  where  a  majority  of  the  people  desire  it,  and  not 
elsewhere  ;  and  since  it  is  tolerated  by  our  fundamental  law,  a 
majority  who  favor  it  will  soon  be  found  where  it  is  greatly  to 
their  advantage.  When  the  water-fowls  spend  their  winters  at 
the  North  and  their  summers  at  the  South,  we  may  then  begin 
to  apprehend  that  slave  labor  will  go  from  where  it  is  profitable 
and  is  wanted,  to  where  it  must  be  unprofitable  and  is  not  de 
manded  ;  and  those  who  deem  it  necessary  can  take  steps  to 
arrest  its  progress.  If  it  be  said,  on  either  hand,  that  it  might 
go  to  the  mineral  regions  for  the  purpose  of  operating  in  the 
mines,  and  that  the  restriction  in  this  respect  was  material,  the 
practical  answer  is  furnished  in  the  fact  that  the  proviso  was 
urged  on  one  hand  and  resisted  on  the  other,  with  greater  per 
tinacity,  before  the  mineral  treasures  in  the  Territories  were 
dreamed  of,  and  no  regard,  therefore,  was  had  to  the  employ 
ment  of  slave  labor  in  mining.  Besides,  the  Constitutional  Con 
vention  of  California  was  held  upward  of  one  year  after  the 
mining  was  in  successful  operation ;  not  a  single  slave  was 
there  ;  and  although  seventeen  of  the  forty-eight  members  of  the 
Convention  were  from  slave  States,  a  clause  inserted  in  the  Con 
stitution  prohibiting  slavery  passed  unanimously  ;  all  of  which 
shows  that  it  was  utterly  unnecessary  for  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  proposed.  But  all  these  lessons  are  unheard  or  unheeded, 
and  we  are  yet  told,  with  as  great  assurance  as  ever,  that  slavery 
will  now  most  certainly  overleap  all  the  laws  of  nature,  of  man, 
and  of  demand  and  supply,  and  find  its  way  to  the  remaining 


346 

territory,  unless  prohibited  by  a  Congressional  proviso.  Like 
the  benevolent  old  lady  described  in  the  early  school-books, 
who  feared  that  the  remnant  of  an  old  gun-barrel,  without  lock 
or  charge,  would  go  off,  as  an  amateur  performer,  they  fear  that 
the  slaveholder  will  disregard  his  own  interests  for  the  sole  pur 
pose  of  removing  his  slave  from  one  point  where  he  is  wanted, 
to  another  where  he  is  not,  and  subvert  the  fundamental  prin 
ciples  of  freedom  by  a  mere  change  of  geographical  position. 

Another  reason  has  sometimes  been  gravely  urged  in  favor 
of  the  application  of  the  proviso  to  Territories,  which  it  would 
perhaps  be  disrespectful  to  pass  by  unnoticed.  It  is  admitted 
that,  if  slaves  should  pass  from  the  States  to  the  Territories,  and 
leave  the  States  free,  it  would  not  be  an  evil  of  such  crying 
magnitude,  as  it  would  not  increase  in  the  aggregate  the  num 
ber  of  slaves  ;  but  it  is  said  that  the  business  of  breeding  will 
be  carried  on  in  the  old  States  in  a  greater  ratio,  as  a  new  field 
opens  the  business  of  marketing  the  increase  in  the  Territories 
— and  thus  retain  the  evil  in  the  old  settlements  and  extend  it 
in  the  new.  A  magnificent  solution,  truly  ;  reducing  the  theory 
of  reproduction  to  an  exact  science  !  He  who  first  produced 
this  sublime  idea,  should,  like  the  Syracusan  philosopher,  run 
naked  through  the  streets,  crying  out  like  a  public  bell-man  his 
mighty  discovery  and  achievement  in  political  physiology.  Here 
after,  let  the  shade  of  Malthus  on  population  hide  its  diminished 
head,  remembering  that,  by  a  recent  discovery,  it  has  been  as 
certained  that  unless  prevented  by  restrictive  legislation  of  Con 
gress,  slaves  can  be  made,  like  migratory  birds,  to  produce  their 
young  in  one  latitude  and  spend  the  residue  of  their  time  in 
another.  But  for  this  sage  discovery,  one  would  have  supposed 
that  the  slaveholder,  like  other  men,  would  desire  to  turn  the 
labor  of  his  slaves  to  the  greatest  account,  and  would,  there 
fore,  place  them  where  the  industry  of  the  father,  mother  and 
children,  would,  according  to  their  ability,  respectively,  con 
tribute  to  the  prosecution  of  the  business.  Suppose,  however, 
this  idle  vagary  should  be  carried  into  practice — let  us  see  what 
would  be  the  operation.  We  have  now  two  unorganized  Ter 
ritories  only,  New  Mexico  and  Utah.  Recently  the  period  of 
Territorial  pupilage  before  the  formation  and  admission  of  a 
State  has  been  very  brief,  and  bills  have  already  been  before 
Congress  for  the  admission  of  both  these  Territories  as  States 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY  PUBLIC    DINNEK.  347 

of  the  Union.  All  who  have  read  and  understand  the  Consti 
tution  admit,  that,  when  a  State  is  formed,  slavery  may  be  ad 
mitted  or  excluded  as  shall  suit  the  pleasure  of  the  people  of 
the  State,  regardless  of  federal  legislation  or  provisos ;  and 
when  we  reflect  how  great  is  the  spirit  of  adventurous  enter 
prise  ;  how  deep  the  interest  our  newly  acquired  possessions 
have  created ;  how  extensive  the  every-day  increasing  facilities 
for  intercommunication,  and  how  numerous  that  busy,  restless 
class  who  are  seeking  a  change  of  home  and  scenery,  we  must 
conclude  that  these  Territories  will  be  admitted  as  States,  at  a 
very  early  day.  Those,  then,  who  are  to  rear  slaves  in  the  old 
States  for  the  Territorial  markets,  must  send  the  progeny  there 
at  a  very  early  age — a  period,  probably,  at  which,  if  they  should 
be  deprived  of  a  mother's  care,  and  she  left  behind  them,  they 
ought  at  least  to  be  attended  by  some  active,  and  known,  and 
self-signalized  sympathizer  of  the  race  to  serve  as  nurse. 

Those  who  have  thought  it  to  be  their  duty  to  resist  this 
sectional  agitation  in  all  its  forms  are,  from  a  certain  quarter, 
suddenly  reminded  that  the  young  State  of  California  is  entitled 
to  unconditional  and  immediate  admission,  and  every  one  who 
is  not  willing  to  disregard  all  surrounding  circumstances,  and 
join  in  the  steeple-chase  of  immediate  admission,  is  an  enemy 
of  California.  Immediateism  is  a  word  coined  in  the  prolific 
mint  of  abolitionism  years  since,  and  has  no  charms  or  terrors 
for  me.  I  am  and  ever  have  been  for  the  earliest  admission  of 
California,  consistent  with  the  embarrassing  circumstances  from 
which  her  position  renders  her  inseparable  ;  and  while  I  shall 
receive  lessons  on  that  subject  from  those  who  are  loudest  for 
her  immediate  and  unconditional  admission,  with  great  patience, 
I  am  quite  ready  to  compare  notes,  examine  records,  and  try 
conclusions  with  the  self-constituted, par  excellence,  friends  of 
the  immediate  admission  of  California.  I  invoke  the  truth  of 
history  to  show  who  are  her  best  and  truest  friends.  This  in 
fant  State,  I  need  not  say,  is  a  part  of  the  possessions  which  we 
acquired  from  Mexico  ;  and  let  the  record  of  the  times  tell  who 
gave  a  vigorous  support  and  wrho  did  not,  to  that  policy  which 
wrested  this  gem  of  the  Pacific  border  from  vice,  and  ignorance, 
and  barbarism,  to  free  and  happy  institutions,  and  the  stars  and 
stripes  of  liberty.  Who,  sir,  when  our  army  was  in  a  foreign 
and  semi-barbarous  land,  contending  with  forces  superior  in 


348 

numbers,  and  a  foe  proverbially  subtle  and  treacherous — when 
our  sons  and  our  brothers  were  stricken  with  the  diseases  of  a 
fatal  climate,  and  were  dying,  far  from  those  they  loved,  with 
no  soft  voice  to  whisper  words  of  consolation,  and  no  gentle 
hand  to  smooth  their  rude  pillow,  or  close  their  eyes  in  death ; 
when  the  best  heart's  blood  was  ebbing  from  the  gashed  bosom 
of  the  dying  soldier,  refused  necessary  supplies  of  food  and 
clothing,  or  sought  to  affix  to  a  bill  appropriating  moneys  for 
the  speedy  and  honorable  termination  of  the  war,  the  "  Wilmot 
proviso  ?  "  Those  who  would  now  put  all  suspicion  to  flight 
by  shouting,  at  the  top  of  their  lungs,  for  the  immediate  ad 
mission  of  California.  And  let  history  tell,  too,  when  a  treaty 
of  peace  was  concluded  with  Mexico,  who  sought  to  affix  the 
same  pernicious  minister  to  sectionalism  to  the  treaty  with  that 
government,  and  give  to  New  Mexico,  as  it  would  have  done,  a 
controlling  voice  over  the  domestic  policy  of  the  free  people  of 
California  ?  Fortunately,  however,  the  people  of  California 
were  spared  this  humiliation  by  the  votes  of  those  who  are  now 
denounced  as  her  enemies.  I  by  no  means  question  the  motives 
of  those  who  thought  it  their  duty  to  pursue  this  course,  but 
would  suggest  that  whoever  is  worthy  to  receive  lectures  upon 
the  subject  of  California,  those  who  stand  in  such  a  relation  to 
her  and  to  the  country  as  I  have  just  decsribed,  are  not  the  per 
sons  to  give  them. 

But  California,  it  is  said,  has  declared  for  the  great  principle 
of  human  freedom.  True,  she  has  not  only  asserted,  but  carried 
into  practical  operation,  the  first  and  last  great  principle  of  free 
dom,  and  one  for  which  I  have  long  and  ardently  contended : 
that  of  self-government,  and  of  choosing  such  domestic  institu 
tions  as  were  suited  to  the  tastes  and  condition  of  her  own  peo 
ple,  uninfluenced  either  by  the  provisos  of  Congress  or  the  in 
terference  of  Mexico,  with  which  domestic  policy  all  who  pro. 
fess  to  believe  in  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government  should 
be  satisfied.  And  if  she  had  decided  to  admit,  instead  of  ex 
clude,  slavery,  as  the  Constitution  authorized  her  to  do,  no  one 
beyond  her  own  borders  would  have  had  a  right  of  complaint. 
Her  action  would  have  still  been  that  of  human  freedom,  in  the 
most  comprehensive  sense  of  the  term.  Human  freedom  does 
not  co.nsist  in  enslaving  the  minds  and  controlling  the  actions 
of  the  race  to  whom  the  destinies  of  this  government  have  been 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY   PUBLIC    DINNER.  34:9 

committed,  or  placing  them  under  the  control  of  foreign  des 
potisms,  lest  they  may  admit  among  them  another,  constitution 
ally  held  in  bondage  ;  but  in  permitting  them  to  lay  for  them 
selves  the  foundation  of  their  government  on  such  principles, 
and  to  organize  its  powers  in  such  a  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem 
most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Keeping  in 
view  this  principle,  it  is  my  desire  to  see  the  white  race  and 
the  true  principles  of  self-government  preserved  first,  and  to 
leave  the  freedom  of  the  black  race  to  those  who  have  them  in 
charge,  and  are  responsible  to  their  God  and  their  country  ac 
cordingly. 

Let  us  inquire  for  a  moment,  under  what  process  this 
exclusion  of  domestic  slavery  was  made  an  article  in  the 
fundamental  law  of  California.  It  was  not  under  the  influences 
of  that  political  catholicon,  the  Wilmot  proviso,  nor  under  the 
dictation  of  Mexico,  interfering  in  our  affairs  by  virtue  of  a 
treaty  stipulation,  but  under  the  true  and  not  the  spurious 
principles  of  human  freedom — the  freedom  of  the  white  race, 
to  whom  not  only  the  cause  of  human  liberty  here,  but 
throughout  the  world,  has  been  committed  by  a  beneficent 
Providence,  under  the  freedom  of  self-government  in  the 
broadest  sense — that  freedom  which  is  based  upon  man's  in 
telligence  and  capacity,  and  not  upon  provisos  and  restrictions 
and  tyrannical  legislation  of  Congressional  masters  or  foreign 
governments,  without  representation,  A^oice,  or  vote  by  their 
own  people ;  which  believes  our  brethren  and  neighbors, 
whose  enterprise  has  carried  them  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific, 
as  wise  there  as  before  they  left  us,  and  as  well  qualified  to 
choose  for  themselves  as  we  are  to  choose  for  them.  This  is 
the  kind  of  human  freedom  which  I  am  proud  to  advocate, 
upon  whu^h  I  have  stood,  and  upon  which  I  will  stand  here 
after.  In  December,  1847,  after  it  had  become  apparent  that 
legislation  by  Congress  over  the  question  of  slavery  in  the 
Territories  would  lead  to  unhappy  if  not  alarming  consequen 
ces,  I  introduced  into  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  certain 
resolutions,  declaring  boldly  the  true  principles  of  our  system 
to  be  self-government,  and  that  all  questions  of  domestic 
policy  in  the  Territories  ought  to  be  left  to  the  people  thereof, 
under  the  principles  of  the  Constitution,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  rights  of  the  several  States.  This  was,  so  far  as  I 


350 

know,  the  first  time  the  doctrine  was  formally  presented.  But 
how  was  this  principle  of  human  freedom  received  then,  by 
those  who  now  so  far  outstrip  me  in  their  claims  of  friendship 
for  the  cause  of  civil  liberty,  and  who  are  so  anxious  for  its 
development  that  they  cannot  wait  for  California  to  be  properly 
admitted  as  a  State  ?  The  principle  was  denounced  by  orators 
and  presses  in  no  measured  ternm  and  those  cogent  and  con 
vincing  arguments  u  traitor"  and  "dough-face  "applied  without 
stint  or  mercy  to  its  author.  If  I  had  proposed  to  change  the 
Federal  Constitution  so  as  to  force  slavery  into  every  State 
and  Territory,  or  to  abolish  the  Christian  religion,  and  place 
that  of  Mohammed  in  its  stead — to  burn  every  Bible,  and 
legalize  the  brazen  revelations  of  Joe  Smith,  or  to  apply  the 
knout  or  the  bowstring  for  the  non-payment  of  debts,  I  could 
not  have  been  more  bitterly  or  opprobiously  assailed.  The 
resolutions  declaring  the  principles  of  self-government  were 
pronounced  to  be  a  fraudulent  device,  instigated  by  the  South, 
for  the  purpose  and  with  the  design  of  extending  slavery  to 
the  Territories.  In  short,  they,  figuratively  at  least,  called  me 

"Misbeliever,  cot-throat,  dog, 
And  spit  upon  my  Jewish  gabardine." 

They  were  unwilling  to  trust  the  people  with  themselves,  lest, 
like  children  who  can  walk  just  enough  to  fall  into  the  fire 
they  should  destroy  themselves  wilfully  or  unwittingly,  and 
declared  that  nothing  but  the  application  of  the  proviso  by 
Congress,  and  that  quite  speedily,  would  ever  save  California 
from  the  blighting  curse  of  slavery.  When  an  ancient 
prophet  sought  to  show  the  depth  of  his  grief  over  the  slain 
of  the  daughters  of  his  people,  he  lamented  that  his  head  were 
not  waters,  and  his  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  he  might 
weep  day  and  night  incessantly ;  but  the  sorrow  of  some  for 
the  curse  of  slavery  which  was  to  find  its  way  into  California 
if  self-government  was  tolerated,  and  the  proviso  not  applied, 
were  evidently  much  greater  than  those  of  the  sympathetic 
prophet ;  and  to  enable  them  to  make  adequate  exhibitions  of 
regret,  it  would  have  been  necessary  for  them  (to  use  a  com* 
mercial  phrase,)  to  go  into  liquidation  altogether.  But  the 
proviso  was  not  applied,  and  the  people  were  left  to  assert 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY   PUBLIC     DINNER.  351 

their  rights  by  resorting  to  first  principles.  They  assembled 
in  convention,  and  formed  a  Constitution,  and,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  though  upwards  of  one  third  of  its  members 
were  from  slave  States,  and  had  been  residents  of  California 
an  average  of  about  two  years  only,  an  article  excluding  sla 
very  was  unanimously  inserted.  And  when  this  practical 
commentary  has  been  furnished  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
fear  the  transfer  of  slavery  from  one  point  to  another  above 
all  else ;  they  who  have  derided  and  reviled  the  principle  of 
self-government,  proclaiming  in  effect  the  people  unworthy  to 
be  trusted  with  their  own  domestic  policy — who  have  arrayed 
popular  prejudice  against  its  advocates,  and  hunted  them  as 
though  they  had  been  beasts  of  prey,  but  who  now  step  in  and 
stand  volunteer  godfathers  to  the  infant  State,  and  denounce 
its  early,  uniform,  and  consistent  advocates  as  its  enemies ; 
we  might  well  imagine  this  an  age  of  brass,  instead  of  an  age 
of  gold. 

The  great  principle  of  popular  sovereignty,  for  which  I 
have  contended,  has  been  that  upon  which,  as  regarded  the 
freedom  of  the  white  race,  the  Constitution  was  founded; 
leaving  each  political  community  free  to  determine  for  them 
selves  how  far  they  Avould  or  would  not  tolerate  domestic  sla 
very,  as  existing  in  a  portion  of  the  States,  amongst  them ; 
and  if  it  is  not  freedom  to  permit  a  community  to  fashion  and 
regulate  its  own  domestic  concerns,  I  know  not  what  is. 
There  always  has  been,  and  there  always  will  be,  a  strong  re 
pugnance  on  the  part  of  freemen  to  have  their  domestic 
affairs  controlled  by  those  who  are  not  chosen  by  themselves. 
It  was  not  disloyalty  to  the  British  crown  which  caused  the 
revolt  and  the  revolution  in  the  American  Colonies,  but  a  de 
termination  to  resist  the  legislation  of  the  British  Parliament 
over  their  domestic  policy;  and  when  their  cup  of  wrongs 
was  filled  to  overflowing,  for  this  reason  they  severed  the  ties 
which  bound  them  to  that  tyrannical  system  with  the  sword. 
Our  whole  Republican  theory  and  federative  system  rests  in 
the  principles  of  self-government ;  and  he  who  believes  that 
he  is  qualified  to  govern  both  himself  and  his  neighbor,  and 
that  one  community  of  free  men  should  regulate  and  control 
the  domestic  affairs  of  another  equally  free  and  equally  in 
telligent,  thousands  of  miles  distant,  should  write  a  treatise 


352  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

justifying  the  aggressions  of  the  British  Parliament  upon  the 
colonies,  and  add  an  appendix  in  favor  of  the  divine  right  of 
kings. 

I  have  another  parallel  to  run  between  the  human  freedom 
which  I  advocate  and  that  which  is  practised  by  those  whom 
I  find  so  much  in  advance  of  me.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  makes  all  the  States,  old  and  new,  sovereign 
equals.  The  original  States  were  founded  in  the  true  prin 
ciples  of  freedom;  for  the  only  restriction  upon  them  was 
that  their  form  of  government  should  be  Republican.  Slavery 
had  been  planted  here  by  the  mother  government,  and  each 
State  was  left  to  treat  it  as  it  thought  best.  They  could  adopt 
or  reject,  continue  or  abolish,  or  modify  the  institution  of  sla 
very,  as  should  suit  their  own  interest  or  sense  of  propriety. 
The  new  States  to  be  admitted,  if  admitted  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution,  must  come  in  with  the  same 
rights,  powers,  and  privileges,  unrestricted  and  unimpaired,  or 
they  will  not  be  sovereign  'equals.  And  yet  we  have  seen 
that  the  strenuous  advocates  for  human  freedom  sought  to 
make  a  treaty  stipulation  with  Mexico,  to  last  through  all 
time,  that  the  free  people  of  California  should  not  be  left  as 
free  as  those  of  other  States  to  choose  their  own  institutions, 
lest,  perchance,  they  might  be  inclined  to  exercise  that  priv 
ilege  improperly  or  improvidently — making  their  sovereignty 
inferior  to  that  of  their  sister  States,  and  dependent  in  this 
respect  upon  the  caprice  of  the  miserable  government  from 
whom  the  very  territory  had  been  conquered,  leaving  them  to 
do  as  they  pleased,  if  they  should  do  as  a  Mexican  treaty 
dictated.  While  I  by  no  means  question  the  purity  of  the 
motives  of  those  who  thus  exhibited  their  sense  of  free  gov 
ernment,  I  submit,  that,  however  ardent  and  sincere  may  now 
be  their  friendship  for  California,  they  should  exercise  some 
small  degree  of  charity  and  forbearance  for  those  who  are,  as 
I  confess  myself  to  be,  very  far  in  arrear  of  this  extraordinary 
and  peculiar  system  of  human  freedom.  The  Democratic 
theory  teaches  the  simple  yet  sublime  principles  of  equality. 
One  of  the  primary  articles  in  its  cherished  creed  is  the  repu 
diation  of  every  species  of  monopoly,  and  to  it  I  am  strongly 
opposed  in  every  form.  I  do  not  claim  to  be  more  sincere 
and  honest  than  my  fellow-men,  acting  free  from  excitement, 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY    PUBLIC     DINNER.  353 

and  with  a  due  regard  to  their  responsibilities  to  society ;  and 
I  do  not  believe  that  in  the  Divine  economy  all  the  honesty 
and  sincerity,  or  all  the  benevolence  and  philanthropy,  were 
allotted  to  any  particular  class. 

The  question  of  slavery  in  all  its  aspects  is  full  of  difficulty, 
and  when  fiercely  agitated  in  a  confederated  government,  as 
an  element  of  sectionalism,  is  fraught  with  danger  and  peril. 
It  is  a  problem  too  complicated  for  human  solution ;  but  if 
those  now  subject  to  its  control  shall,  in  process  of  time,  be 
returned  to  the  barbarous  land  from  whence  they  were  taken 
with  hardly  an  attribute  of  humanity,  bearing  with  them  the 
blessings  of  civilization  and  Christianity,  it  will  prove  that 
the  wise  decrees  of  an  inscrutable  Providence  intend  that  for 
good  which  man's  cupidity  and  violence  and  wrong  intended 
for  evil.  I  have  given  this  subject  deep  and  anxious  considera 
tion,  and  my  conclusions  are  too  well  matured  and  too  strongly 
founded  in  reason  and  serious  convictions  to  be  lightly  yielded. 
At  the  same  time  I  am  prepared  to  extend  to  those  who  have 
arrived  at  other  results  all  that  toleration  so  necessary  to  the 
free  exercise  of  opinion  and  manly  discussion,  and  so  essential 
to  the  development  of  truth.  But  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  to  the  present  moment,  loud  professions  of  superior 
integrity  have  been  distrusted,  disbelieved,  and  disregarded  by 
the  masses  of  men  ;  and  those  who  have  asserted  a  higher  and 
purer  order  of  sanctity  than  their  fellows  have  excited  more 
of  disgust  and  derision  than  of  admiration  ;  for,  it  is  a  popular 
idea  that  according  to  the  verse — 

"  A  man  may  cry  church,  church,  at  every  word, 

With  no  more  piety  than  other  people  ; 
A  daw's  not  reckoned  a  religious  bird 

Becausa  it  keeps  a-cawin  ^  on  a  steeple." 

And  when  I  think  of  some  of  those  who  are  now  among  the- 
most  active  negro  sympathizers,  and  remember  their  antece 
dents  upon  these  very  questions,  I  am  reminded  of  an  anecdote 
of  two  scape-graces  in  the  Italian  States,  one  of  whom  turned 
priest  with  no  obvious  change  of  character.  The  other  being 
convicted  of  a  crime,  sent  for  a  confessor,  and  his  old  compan 
ion  came.  "  What  is  to  be  done  ?"  inquired  the  priest.  "  See 
if  we  can  look  each  other  in  the  face  without  laughing,"  was- 
23 


354 

the  reply.  The  unfortunate  African  race  can  never  attain  to  a 
true  state  of  freedom  so  long  as  they  remain  amongst  a  people 
so  unlike  them  in  physical  development,  and  so  greatly  their 
superiors.  Whether  nominally  free  or  not,  their  condition 
will  be  one  of  degradation  and  vassalage,  and  it  is  alike  due 
to  all  to  meet  the  question  in  this  aspect.  They  have  with 
us  now  few  privileges  of  citizenship,  nominally,  beyond 
the  protection  of  the  laws,  and  none  really  ;  and  if  they  were 
extended  to  them  in  theory,  they  could  not  successfully  cany 
them  into  practice.  However  much  this  many  be  deplored  by 
the  real  or  bewailed  by  the  spurious  philanthropist,  it  is  pain 
fully  true.  They  have  been  free  here  upwards  of  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  and  their  condition,  physical,  mental,  and  social,  is, 
as  far  as  concerns  their  own  action,  as  abject  now  as  it  was  on 
the  day  of  their  emancipation.  In  all  but  the  name  of  freedom 
they  are  as  much,  and  many  of  them  more,  the  objects  of  sym 
pathy  as  those  who  are  held  in  servitude,  and  fed  and  clothed 
and  cared  for  by  a  legally  recognized  master.  (Cries  of  true! 
true  !) 

The  measure  which  is  now  before  the  Senate,  called  the  ad 
justment,  or  Compromise  Bill,  and  is  attracting  much  public 
attention,  was  presented  by  a  committee  of  thirteen,  of  which 
the  distinguished  Senator  from  Kentucky  *  was  chairman,  and 
of  which  I  had  the  honor  to  be  a  member.  There  were  bills 
before  each  house  of  Congress  for  the  admission  of  California, 
and  almost  every  conceivable  form  of  plan  for  the  organization 
of  the  Territories.  There  were  also  propositions  to  fix  the  dis 
puted  boundary  line  between  Texas  and  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico ;  to  abolish  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia ; 
to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  a  bill  for 
the  reclamation  of  fugitive  slaves.  These  were  all,  in  some 
form,  the  subjects  of  strong  support  and  opposition,  and  of 
spirited  and  bitter  controversy.  Amid  the  sectional  strife 
which  prevailed,  and  the  crimination  and  recrimination  which 
were  cast  back  and  forward,  and  the  difficulty  during  the  ex 
citement  and  conflict  of  those  acting  together  efficiently  and 
understandingiy  who  were  disposed  to  pass  some  measure  or 
series  of  measures,  doing  justice  to  all,  as  far  as  practicable,  it 

*Mn.  CLAY. 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY    PUBLIC     DINNER.  355 

was  deemed  best  to  commit  the  whole  subject  in  contest  to  a 
large  committee,  composed  of  about  equal  numbers  from  the 
North  and  South,  and  from  each  great  political  party.  The 
committee  was  raised,  and,  after  careful  and  anxious  consulta 
tion,  submitted  their  report.  They  reported  one  bill,  admit 
ting  California  with  her  own  prescribed  limits,  organizing  the 
residue  of  the  Territories  acquired  from  Mexico  by  simple  gov 
ernments,  without  any  proviso ;  and  as  the  southerly  line  of 
New  Mexico  was  in  serious  dispute  between  that  Territory 
and  Texas,  it  proposed  to  fix  a  suitable  and  convenient  boun 
dary  between  them,  paying  Texas,  should  she  consent  to 
the  arrangement,  a  fair  pecuniary  compensation  for  the  sur 
render  of  her  claim.  They  reported  a  bill  to  abolish  the  slave- 
trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  reported  strongly 
against  the  abolition  of  slavery  there.  There  was,,  at  the  time 
of  their  report,  and  for  weeks  had  been,  a  bill  before  the  Sen 
ate,  and  under  discussion,  for  the  reclamation  of  fugitive 
slaves,  and  the  committee  simply  recommended  that  it  pass, 
with  one  or  two  amendments  and  modifications,  which  they 
proposed.  This  bill  never  had  any  more  connection  with  the 
bill  for  the  admission  of  California  than  any  other  bill  before 
the  Senate,  except  that  both  were  subjects  of  sectional  irrita 
tion  and  controversy.  There  is  doubtless  a  decided  majority 
of  Congress  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  California  :  but  it  is 
equally  true,  that  a  strong  and  vigorous  minority  were  and 
are  opposed  to  its  admission,  and  had  declared  their  determi 
nation  to  resist  it  to  the  last  extremity.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  there  were  irregularities  in  her  organization,  nor  but 
that  her  selected  boundaries  are  exceedingly  ample ;  but  un 
der  all  the  circumstances  of  her  neglect  by  Congress,  and  the 
well-ordered  proceedings  of  her  intelligent  people,  I  deem  her 
well  entitled  to  admission,  and  would,  could  I  have  done  so, 
with  a  due  regard  to  her  own  good,  in  common  with  the  in 
terest  of  the  whole  country,  have  voted  to  admit  her  the  day 
she  sent,  us  her  constitution.  Not  having,  however,  opposed 
the  policy  which  brought  her  territory  within  the  Union,  or 
proposed  to  place  her  domestic  concerns  within  the  control  of 
Mexico,  I  have  had  no  necessity  for  being  clamorous  in  my 
professions  in  her  favor,  and  could  afford  to  treat  all  that  re 
lates  to  her  as  a  practical  question.  If  I  had  wished  to  create 


356 

and  foster  sectional  parties,  that  I  might  ride  upon  the  whirl 
wind  and  direct  the  storm ;  if  I  had  lived,  and  moved,  and  had 
my  being  in  the  disturbance  of  the  public  peace,  I  Avould  have 
urged  the  immediate  admission  of  California  by  the  iron  rigor 
of  a  numerical  majority;  but  wishing  to  bring  her  in,  if  possi 
ble,  with  the  good  feeling,  if  not  the  consent,  of  all,  and  believ 
ing  her  admission  would  be  sooner  obtained  by  the  organiza 
tion  of  her  sister  Territory  at  the  same  time  than  otherwise, 
I  have  pursued  that  course  and  shall  continue  to  do  so  until 
the  policy  succeeds,  or  is  defeated ;  and  if  defeated  after  all 
fair  efforts  are  exhausted  to  quiet  the  whole  question,  I  shall 
regard  it  as  a  high  duty  to  go  for  the  admission  of  that  young 
State  as  a  separate  measure.  If  it  then  provokes  sectional 
feeling  and  unhappy  consequences,  I  must  say  to  those  most 
interested,  "  Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it." 

It  has  been  often  stated  and  often  repeated  that  the  admis 
sion  of  California  was  placed  upon  a  level,  and  made  to  de 
pend  upon  the  passage  of  a  bill  for  the  recovery  of  fugitive  ne 
groes.  This  was  an  erroneous  statement  originally,  and,  al 
though  often  repeated  and  endorsed,  has  scarcely  yet  fallen 
within  the  questionable  adage,  that  "  a  lie,  well  stuck  to,  is  as 
good  as  the  truth."  The  only  question  upon  which  the  ad 
mission  of  California  is  made  to  depend,  is  the  simple  organi 
zation  of  the  territory  which  was  acquired  with  her,  and,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  the  adjustment  of  its  disputed  boundary. 
We  stipulated  in  the  treaty  by  which  we  acquired  the  Territo 
ries  of  California  and  New  Mexico,  that  they  should  be 
incorporated  into  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  at  a  time  to 
be  judged  of  by  Congress,  and  in  the  mean  time  their  inhabi 
tants  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  liberty  and  proper 
ty,  and  secured  in  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  without 
restriction.  We  took  these  Territories  from  the  government 
of  Mexico,  and  left  them  without  any,  in  defiance  of  solemn 
treaty  stipulation.  California  has  framed  a  government,  and 
is  now  enjoying  a  portion  of  its  benefits.  New  Mexico  has 
none,  although  she  is  as  deserving  of  a  government  as  Califor 
nia  ;  and  her  necessities  are  much  greater.  These  Territories 
of  California  and  New  Mexico  were  formerly  held  by  Spain, 
and  were  together,  side  by  side,  transferred  to  Mexico ;  they 
were  both  transferred  to  us  by  the  same  treaty,  upon  the  same 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY   PUBLIC    DINNER.  357 

piece  of  paper,  in  the  same  article,  and  neither  is  supposed  to 
have  suffered  detriment ;  and  it  is  confidently  hoped  that  their 
being  in  the  same  bill  now,  if  that  should  hasten  the  admission 
of  the  one  and  the  organization  of  the  other,  and  restore  kind 
feelings  between  conflicting  sections,  may  not  sully  the  fame 
or  dim  the  lustre  of  either.  The  adjustment  of  the  bound 
ary  between  New  Mexico  and  Texas  is  one  of  the  first  and 
highest  duties  of  the  government,  for  the  controversies  grow 
ing  out  of  it  are  exceedingly  angry  between  the  respective 
claimants,  and  a  resort  to  arms  and  violence,  the  law  of  the 
border,  is  seriously  threatened.  The  boundary  is  generally 
believed  to  be  the  dividing  line  between  the  free  and  the  slave 
States,  and  the  first  drop  of  blood  shed  in  a  controversy  over 
it  will  provoke  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  wars  in  the  history 
of  civilization.  An  extensive  region  of  country  is  claimed  by 
each,  and  some  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  nation  differ  as  to 
which  is  right ;  and  hence  the  propriety  of  fixing  it  by  peace 
ful  stipulation.  The  other  questions  are  of  less  moment,  and 
an  examination  of  them  in  detail  would  consume  too  much 
time. 

I  have  given  these  measures  of  adjustment,  as  a  whole,  my 
full  assent,  not  that  I  agree  with  all  the  details,  for  I  do  not, 
but  I  deem  them  generally  just,  suited  to  the  public  exigency, 
calculated  to  restore  peace,  and  destroy  that  hot-bed  of  sec 
tionalism,  where  those  spring  up  and  flourish  who  feed  like 
vampires  upon  the  best  heart's  blood  of  their  country.  I  have 
pursued  the  course  here  briefly  recapitulated,  because  I  believed 
it  was  demanded  by  the  highest  consideration  of  duty,  and 
that  the  best  interests  of  the  country  were  in  jeopardy.  I  did 
not  accept  a  high  public  trust  without  preparing  to  meet  the 
storm,  as  well  as  the  sunshine.  When  I  was  yet  a  child,  I 
learned,  from  the  public  act  of  one  great  man,  to  disregard  all 
ordinary  considerations  when  the  interests  of  the  country  were 
imperilled,  and  that  man  was  Andrew  Jackson,  and  that  act 
was  taking  the  responsibility.  I  have  uniformly  sought  to 
erect  simple  territorial  governments  by  Congress,  without  any 
restrictions  as  regards  their  domestic  aifairs  upon  the  power 
of  the  people  immediately  interested ;  and  although  the  bill 
before  the  Senate  contains  a  clause  prohibiting  legislation  upon 
the  subject  of  slavery  by  the  people  of  the  Territory,  I  voted 


358 

against  inserting  it,  in  committee,  and  have  voted  to  modify 
it  so  as  to  leave  more  power  to  the  people  than  it  did  origi 
nally,  and  in  favor  of  striking  it  out  entirely  in  the  Senate ;  and 
upon  that  occasion  I  remarked,  among  other  things,  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  Now,  sir,  I  wish  to  state,  once  for  all,  that  it  is  not  my  intention, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  favor,  by  voice  or  vote,  the  extension  of 
slavery,  or  the  restriction  of  slavery,  in  the  Territories,  by  Congress,  or 
any  interference  with  the  subject  whatever.  Nor  am  I  influenced  in 
this  conclusion  by  the  local  laws  of  the  Territory  in  question,  either 
natural  or  artificial — the  laws  of  nature  or  the  laws  of  man ;  and  for  all 
the  purposes  of  present  action,  I  will  not  inquire  what  they  are,  in  either 
respect.  I  will  stand  upon  the  principles  of  non-intervention  by  Con 
gress,  in  the  broadest  possible  sense,  for  non-intervention's  sake,  and  to 
uphold  the  fundamental  principles  of  freedom,  and  for  no  other  reason — 
and  will  leave  the  people  of  the  Territories  and  of  the  States  to  such 
rights  and  privileges  as  are  theirs,  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  without  addition  to,  or  diminution  from  such  rights, 
by  the  action  of  Congress." 


I  should  do  injustice  to  my  own  feelings,  if  I  did  not  bear 
testimony  to  the  patriotic  zeal  and  good  faith  with  which  this 
plan  for  adjusting  sectional  controversies  is  supported  from  the 
North  and  South,  the  East  and  the  West,  and  from  members 
of  both  political  parties.  One  spirit  seems  to  animate  them, 
and  that  is  to  do  justice  to  all,  and  once  more  give  the  country 
quiet,  and  the  government  power  to  perform  its  ordinary  func 
tions.  But  it  has  vigilant,  earnest,  and  unyielding  opposition, 
and,  while  we  may  hope  for  its  success,  the  result  must  be  con 
sidered  uncertain ;  and  whether  it  succeed  or  be  overpowered, 
there  is  one  whose  special  efforts  in  its  behalf  have  earned  the 
approbation  of  his  country,  and  wrung  warm  admiration  from 
its  opponents,  for  his  great  ability  and  manly  independence.  I 
mean  Mr.  Clay,  of  Kentucky.  Strong  and  decided  political  op 
ponent  as  he  is,  I  deem  it  no  more  than  justice  to  say  that  his 
position  in  its  support  is  a  most  commanding  moral  spectacle. 
Full  of  years,  his  eye  still  kindles  with  the  fire  of  youth,  and  his 
enlarged  experience  throws  back  from  the  evening  of  his  days 
a  flood  of  light  and  learning,  as  the  sun  retiring  in  the  western 
horizon  sheds  its  hues  of  golden  beauty  upon  the  eastern  moun- 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY    PUBLIC     DINNER.  359 

tains.  He  is  entitled  to  the  gratitude  and  thanks  of  every  friend 
of  his  country,  regardless  of  party  considerations ;  and  may 
they  be  cheerfully  awarded. 

The  whole  question,  then,  as  we  have  seen,  about  which  the 
country  has  been  so  unhappily  agitated  and  divided,  which  has 
treated  with  contempt  the  warning  voice  of  the  father  of  his 
country  against  sectional  combination,  which  has  caused  the 
structure  of  our  republican  system  to  tremble  to  its  foundation 
in  the  face  of  the  corrupt  and  grasping  monarchies  of  Europe, 
which  has  divided  churches,  arrested  the  action  of  Congress, 
absorbed  the  attention  of  State  legislatures,  misled  sensible 
men,  and  unsexed  worthy  females,  and  which,  above  all,  seri 
ously  threatens  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  is,  when  stripped  of 
its  embellishments,  merely  whether  persons  of  color,  held  in 
servitude  in  the  slave  States,  and  to  be  so  held,  shall  be  re 
strained  by  the  law  of  Congress  from  being  transferred  to  the 
new  Territories,  if  their  masters  wish  to  transfer  them  there, 
wrhich  few  think  would  probably  be  the  case,  even  should  the 
people  there  interpose  no  objection ;  an  agitation  which,  for  a 
purpose  comparatively  trivial,  sports  at  a  game  where  the  des 
tiny  of  the  world's  freedom  is  the  hazard.  Shall  we  experiment 
upon  our  institutions  because  they,  like  all  that  is  human,  have 
not  attained  perfection,  when  the  experiments  suggested  propose 
no  remedy  and  only  increase  the  evil  by  agitation  ?  Would 
we  blot  out  forever,  if  we  could,  the  glorious  luminary  of  heaven 
because  now  and  then  a  dark  spot  is  descried  upon  its  disc  ? 
Shall  we  reject  every  political  and  moral  good,  because  a  mix 
ture  of  evil  must  flow  from  the  same  fountain  ? 

During  the  present  session  of  Congress,  while  the  Senate  of 
thirty  free  and  equal  States  were  discussing  with  recriminatory 
spirit  its  fruitful  source  of  discord,  and  calculating  the  point  at 
which  all  political  relations  might  be  severed,  a  stranger  and  a 
few  companions  entered  the  chamber.  He  was  evidently  a  for 
eigner.  His  forehead  was  prominent  and  intellectual,  his  pale 
face  denoted  deep  thought  and  painful  anxiety  and  emotion, 
and  a  silvery  beard  swept  his  breast.  He  gazed  upon  the  scene 
with  deep  and  absorbing  interest ;  but,  from  ignorance  of  our 
language,  thank  Heaven,  he  was  unconscious  of  what  was  pass 
ing.  It  was  the  Governor  of  Cornorn,  who  had  fled  for  his  life 
from  the  murderous  and  inhuman  despotism  of  Austria,  to  our 


360  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

great  city  of  political  refuge  for  the  oppressed,  here  to  enjoy 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  The  scene  furnished 
a  volume  full  of  interest  and  instruction,  and  replete  with  poetry 
and  eloquence.  It  was  a  picture  more  vivid  than  was  ever  por 
trayed  by  human  pencil.  I  gazed  upon  its  painful,  pleasing 
features,  until  its  image  still  lingers  in  my  sight.  I  wished  that 
every  American  citizen  might  look  upon  it  as  I  did,  and  feel  the 
emotions  which  my  heart  experienced.  But  a  few  days  since, 
availing  myself  of  the  hospitality  of  a  Senatorial  friend,  I  spent 
two  days  at  Annapolis,  and  visited  the  hall  where  the  immortal 
Washington,  after  carving  out  the  liberty  which  we,  in  common 
with  twenty-five  millions  of  our  fellow-beings  this  day  enjoy, 
with  a  victorious  yet  unpaid  army  who  adored  him  under  his 
command,  surrendered  his  commission  and  his  sword  voluntarily 
to  the  representatives  of  a  few  exhausted  colonies.  That  sub 
lime  occasion  yet  imparts  its  sacred  influences  to  the  place,  and 
there  is  eloquence  in  its  silent  walls.  But  where,  said  I,  are  the 
brave  and  patriotic  spirits  who  here  fostered  the  germ  of  this 
mighty  empire  ?  Alas  !  they  have  gone  to  their  rewards,  and 
the  clods  of  the  valley  lie  heavily  on  their  hearts  ;  while  we, 
their  ungrateful  children,  with  every  element  of  good  before  us, 
forgetting  the  mighty  sacrifices  they  made  for  their  descendants, 
trifle  with  the  rich  blessings  we  inherited,  and  are  ready,  with 
sacrilegious  hands,  to  despoil  the  temple  of  liberty  which  they 
reared  by  years  of  toil  and  trial,  and  cemented  in  blood  and 
tears.  O,  could  we  not  defer  this  inhuman  struggle,  until  the 
departure  from  amongst  us  of  the  revolutionary  soldier,  with  his 
bowed  and  tottering  frame,  and  his  once  bright  but  now  dim 
med  eye  !  Ask  him  the  cost  of  liberty,  and  he  will  "  shoulder 
his  crutch  and  show  how  fields  were  won,"  and  tell  you  of  its 
priceless  value.  And  yet  we  are  shamelessly  struggling  in  his 
sight,  like  mercenary  children,  for  the  patrimony,  around  the 
death-bed  of  a  common  parent,  by  whose  industry  and  exertion 
it  was  accumulated,  before  the  heart  of  him  who  gave  them  ex 
istence  has  ceased  to  pulsate. 

Arnid  all  these  conflicts  it  has  been  my  policy  to  give  peace 
and  stability  to  the  Union ;  to  silence  agitation ;  to  restore 
fraternal  relations  to  an  estranged  brotherhood,  and  to  lend  my 
feeble  aid  in  enabling  our  common  country  to  march  onward  to 
the  glorious  fruition  which  awaits  her.  I  have  opposed,  and 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY   PUBLIC    DINNER.  361 


hereafter  oppose,  the  hydra  monster  disunion  and  its  snaky 
influences,  in  any  and  every  form,  and  however  disguised,  or  in 
whatever  condition  —  whether  in  the  creeping  larvae,  or  upon  its 
attractive  wings  of  gossamer  ;  whether  in  the  egg,  or  the  full- 
fledged  bird  of  evil  omen  ;  whether  in  the  germ,  or  the  stately 
upas  with  its  wide-spread  branches  ;  whether  it  comes  from  the 
North  or  the  South,  or  the  East  or  the  West,  and  whether  it 
consists  in  denying  the  South  her  just  rights,  or  in  her  demand 
ing  that  to  which  she  is  not  entitled.  The  Union  of  these  States, 
in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  is  a  sentiment  of  my  life. 
It  was  the  dream  of  my  early  days  ;  it  has  been  the  pride  and 
joy  of  manhood,  and,  if  it  shall  please  Heaven  to  spare  me  to 
age,  I  pray  that  its  abiding  beauty  may  beguile  my  vacant  and 
solitary  hours.  I  do  not  expect  a  sudden  disruption  of  the 
political  bonds  which  unite  the  States  of  this  confederacy  ;  but 
I  greatly  fear  a  growing  spirit  of  jealousy  and  discontent  and 
sectional  hate,  which  must,  if  permitted  to  fester,  finally  destroy 
the  beauty  and  harmony  of  the  fabric,  if  it  does  not  raze  it  to 
its  foundation.  It  was  not  founded  upon  the  principle  of  force, 
and  majorities  should  be  admonished  to  use  their  power  justly. 
A  chafed  spirit,  whether  of  a  community  or  an  individual,  may 
be  goaded  beyond  endurance,  and  the  history  of  the  world  has 
proved  that  the  season  of  desperation  which  succeeds  is  awfully 
reckless  of  consequences.  But  wo  be  to  him  by  whom  the 
offence  of  disunion  comes  !  He  will  be  held  accursed  when  the 
bloody  mandates  of  Herod  and  Nero  shall  be  forgiven  ;  will  be 
regarded  as  a  monster  in  this  world  ;  and,  in  the  next, 

"  The  common  damned  will  shun  his  company 
And  look  upon  themselves  as  fiends  less  foul." 

And  now,  amid  this  mad  and  bootless  crusade  of  sectionalism, 
where  should  stand  the  Empire  State  of  the  confederacy,  and 
the  commercial  Emporium  of  the  Western  hemisphere  —  where 
two-thirds  of  the  commercial  business  of  the  Union  is  trans 
acted,  and  two-thirds  of  the  public  revenues  collected  —  which, 
in  a  few  years,  will  be  the  centre  of  the  commercial  world,  when 
a  bill  payable  in  Wall  street  will  command  a  premium  through 
out  the  habitable  globe,  and  whose  mint,  about  to  be  established, 
will  coin  the  money  for  half  of  Christendom  ;  a  state  composed 


362  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  three  millions  of  free  and  happy  people  which  has  founded  a 
system  of  internal  improvements  and  of  universal  education  the 
pride  and  glory  of  the  age  ;  a  city  whose  munificence  has  given 
ears  to  the  deaf,  tongues  to  the  dumb,  and  eyes  to  the  blind ; 
which  has  fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  and  founded  in 
stitutions  of  religion  and  charity,  the  admiration  of  philanthro 
pists  throughout  the  world,  and  caused  her  sons  at  home  and 
abroad  to  point  to  her  and  exclaim  with  gratification, 

"  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land.' 

Shall  she  lend  her  mighty  influences  to  the  cause  of  section 
alism  ?  She  has  once  saved  the  honor  and  integrity  of  the 
Union,  and  enabled  it  to  outride  the  storm,  when  all  other  re 
sources  failed ;  and  let  her  again  put  forth  her  potential  voice, 
and  calm  a  convulsed  country.  In  the  second  war  of  inde 
pendence,  when  our  ports  where  blockaded  by  hostile  fleets  ; — 
while  the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife,  stimulated  by  foreign 
gold,  were  working  their  hellish  deeds  upon  the  women  and 
children  of  our  frontiers ;  when  the  very  federal  Capitol  was  a 
smouldering  ruin,  and  the  arm  of  the  national-  government  fell 
paralyzed,  too  feeble  for  the  herculean  task,  it  was  the  New 
York  merchants  and  bankers  who  stepped  forward  with  their 
money  and  their  credit,  and  inspired  new  life  and  energy,  and 
secured  for  the  arms  of  the  bleeding  country  victory  and  honor. 
The  shouts  which  then  went  up  from  a  patriotic  people,  and 
were  echoed  back,  have  scarcely  died  away  in  my  imagination 
from  the  distant  hills.  Let  the  same  patriotic  spirit  again  stand 
forth,  and,  by  the  commanding  influence  of  their  great  moral 
power,  cast  oil  upon  the  troubled  waters  of  domestic  dissension, 
calm  the  fears  of  the  timid,  subdue  the  spirit  of  the  factious  by 
their  indignant  frowns,  and  expel  all  selfish  and  sectional  feeling 
from  our  borders. 

And,  especially,  where  shall  stand  the  Democratic  party  of 
the  Empire  State,  and  the  bulwark  of  her  strength,  in  the  city 
of  her  pride  ;  that  party  which,  with  the  great  national  Demo 
cratic  party  of  the  Union,  has  administered  the  government  from 
its  foundation,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  brief  inter 
vals,  and  those  in  consequence  of  reverses  produced  by  dissen 
sions  in  its  own  ranks — whose  principles  of  progress  have 


1850.]  COMPLIMENTARY  PUBLIC    DINNER.  363 

brought  the  country  to  a  state  of  prosperity  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  men  ;  that  party  whose  creed  is  simple  and  catholic 
— which  inculcates  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government, 
without  reservations  or  provisos — which  professes  to  adhere  to 
a  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution — to  preserve  inviolate 
the  rights  of  the  States,  and  to  abstain  from  all  officious  inter- 
meddlings  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  communities — which  resists 
the  accumulation  of  power  by  the  general  government,  whether 
in  the  executive  or  Congress,  and  seeks  to  leave  it  as  far  as 
practicable  in  the  hands  of  the  people  immediately  interested ; 
and  which,  above  all,  eschews  all  sickly  sentimentality  and 
spurious  benevolence,  and  all  temporary  and  hobby-riding  is 
sues,  that  it  may  the  better  advance  its  great  principles  of  human 
regeneration — of  freedom  and  good  will — and  the  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  man  ?  I  will  not  now  recount  the  history 
of  its  triumphs,  which  this  course  of  policy  has  given ;  but  are 
they  not  written  upon  every  page  of  our  country's  history  as 
with  a  pencil  of  light  ?  Let  then  the  Democratic  party  of  New 
York  unite,  one  and  all,  upon  the  ground  of  its  early  cherished 
principles  ;  let  it  evince  its  faith  in  the  capacity  of  man  for  self- 
government  by  its  works,  and  not  seek  to  enforce  the  legislation 
of  Congress  over  the  domestic  policy  of  political  communities 
which  have  no  vote  or  voice  in  its  councils,  but  regard  man 
practically,  as  well  as  in  the  abstract,  as  wise  as  his  neighbor, 
leave  the  States  and  Territories  to  such  rights  and  such  privi 
leges  as  the  Constitution  gives  them — to  their  own  choice  and 
responsibility  respectively,  and  peace  and  friendship  will  again 
be  restored  to  all  sections,  and  the  success  of  sound  principles 
be  speedy  and  enduring.  I  give  you,  in  conclusion,  as  a  senti 
ment,  Mr.  President, 

The  Democratic  party  of  New  York,  and  its  principles—  freedom 
of  opinion,  freedom  of  the  press,  and  freedom  of  self-government. 


SPEECH, 

DELIVERED    AT   THE   CENTENNIAL     CELEBRATION   OF   LITCHFIELD 

COUNTY,  CONN.,  August  14,  1851. 

[Upon  the  invitation  of  the  citizens  of  Litchfield,  a  large  number  of 
the  natives  of  the  county  assembled,  and  celebrated  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  its  organization,  on  the  13th  and  14th  days  of  August, 
1851.  The  ceremonies  were  conducted  under  a  large  pavilion,  erected 
for  the  purpose  in  the  West  Park,  and  were  inaugurated  and  interspers 
ed  with  solemn  religious  services.  On  the  13th,  an  Address  was  deliv 
ered  by  Hon.  Samuel  Church,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  and  a 
Poem  read  by  Rev.  John  Pierpont.  The  14th  opened  with  a  discourse 
from  Rev.  Horace  Bushnell,  D.  D.,  which  was  followed  by  numerous 
letters,  speeches,  poems,  &c.,  and  closed  with  appropriate  religious 
services.  All  who  participated  in  the  proceedings  were  natives  of  the 
sturdy  old  county.  Altogether,  the  occasion  was  one  of  rare  and  heart 
felt  interest. 

Mr.  Dickinson,  on  being  introduced  by  the  President,  Gen.  Brins- 
made,  spoke  briefly  as  follows :] 

ME.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  Few  recollec 
tions,  indeed,  are  of  deeper  or  holier  interest  than  those  asso 
ciated  with  the  home  of  our  childhood.  When  the  mind,  like 
the  Patriarch's  dove,  seeks  repose  from  its  wanderings,  and 
returns  to  the  place  of  its  nativity,  how  many  emotions  rise 
up — how  many  pleasing,  painful  memories  struggle  for  the 
empire  of  the  heart !  How  is  the  perilous  journey  of  life, 
from,  its  cloudless  morning,  with  its  joys  and  sorrows,  its 
lights  and  shadows,  its  smiles  and  tears,  made  to  pass  in  rapid 
yet  serene  review  hefore  us.  The  parts  we  have  severally 
been  called  to  act  upon  the  great  theatre  of  life, — the  relations 
we  have  formed  and  the  bereavements  we  have  experienced, 
all  rush  in  with  their  attending  joys  and  sorrows  and  swell 
the  heart  too  full  for  utterance.  I  am  proud  to  boast  myself 


1851.]  CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION.  365 

a  native  of  the  town  of  Goshen  in  this  county,  though  remov 
ed  to  another  State  by  the  varying  currents  of  fortune  while 
still  a  child.  Yet,  by  the  favor  of  Him,  "  who  doeth  all  things 
well,"  I  have  been  permitted,  after  forty-four  years'  absence, 
to  stand  upon  the  threshold  of  what  was  once  my  happy 
home,  and  to  realize  the  imaginings  of  poetic  beauty  in — 

"  The  orchard,  the  meadow,  the  deep-tangled  wild-wood, 
And  every  loved  spot  that  my  infancy  knew." 

The  emotions  which  the  occasion  inspired,  deepened  by  pecu 
liar  circumstances,  are  too  sacred  to  pass  beyond  the  heart 
where  they  are  so  painfully  felt,  and  the  fragment  of  the  little 
domestic  circle  who  lived  and  loved  upon  that  cherished  spot, 
and  are  yet  of  earth.* 

We  have  assembled  here,  my  friends,  in  obedience  to  one 
of  the  strongest  laws  of  our  nature, — one  of  the  best  and  lof 
tiest  impulses  of  the  human  heart.  When  we  have  attained 
the  meridian  of  life,  and  see  age  approaching,  though  yet  in 
the  distance — when  the  passions  and  impulses  are  subdued  and 
chastened — when  we  cease  to  believe  that  the  "  deficiencies  of 
the  present  day  will  be  supplied  by  to-morrow,"  and  Hope, 
that  terrestrial  charmer,  no  longer  promises  her  after-growth 
of  joy,  we  turn  with  a  feeling  of  devotion  which  the  heart  has 
never  before  experienced,  to  cherish  that  holy  love  of  home 
which  God,  for  benevolent  purposes,  has  established  in  the 
deep  well-springs  of  the  heart, — to  repose  our  head,  throbbing 
with  the  busy  cares  of  life,  upon  which  time,  perchance,  has 
written  his  untimely  furrows,  like  a  wayward  child,  upon  that 
pure  and  holy  altar  of  domestic  love — a  mother's  knee — say 
ing  in  the  language  of  a  native  poet— 

"  Oft  from  life's  withered  bower, 
In  sad  communion  with  the  past  I  turn, 
And  muse  on  thee,  the  only  flower 
In  memory's  urn." 

The  children  of  New  England,  of  which  this  State,  and 

*  Mr.  Dickinson  received  intelligence  at  the  celebration  that  an  elder  brother  was 
dying. 


366  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

especially  this  County,  has  furnished  her  full  and  honorable 
share,  have  been  thrown  broadcast  upon  the  great  battle-field 
of  life,  where  they  have  been  pre-eminently  distinguished  for 
their  practice  of  the  sterner  virtues  of  manhood,  and  their 
disregard  of  ease,  indolence,  and  sensual  enjoyment.  Though 
proverbial  for  religious  veneration  and  their  devotion  to  reli 
gious  observances,  they  have  never  been  idle  waiters  upon 
Providence,  but  have  acted  upon  the  suggestion  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  who  declared  that  "  Heaven  always  favored  the 
cause  of  the  best-disciplined  troo}3s  !  "  But  the  excellencies  of 
our  common  mother  have  been  too  truthfully  portrayed  by 
others  to  permit  one  further  word  of  eulogy.  Her  sterling 
virtues  have  been  traced  in  sober  narrative,  and  her  brow  gar 
landed  with  the  choicest  specimens  of  poetry  and  eloquence 
which  modern  times  can  furnish.  All  that  is  left  me  is,  to  cast 
my  humble  chaplet  at  her  feet,  and  to  declare  that,  though  she 
has  many  sons  who  can  bring  her  choicer  offerings,  she  has 
none  who  love  her  more. 

From  the  life-like  delineations  of  the  New  England  charac 
ter,  in  the  inimitable  productions  to  which  we  have  listened,  we 
have  seen  that  it  is  no  extravagance  to  say  that  her  sons  have 
virtually  climbed  every  hill-side,  threaded  every  mountain-pass, 
explored  every  valley,  fathomed  every  cavern  and  "  wrung 
their  shy,  retiring  virtues  out,"  passed  over  every  lake  and 
river,  and  navigated  every  sea  ;  they  lasso  the  wild  horse  of  the 
Paciiic  border  with  the  Indian  hunter,  gallop  by  the  side  of 
the  natives  upon  the  ponies  of  the  Pampas,  and  are  first  and 
last  in  the  mines  of  California.  Nor  is  their  enterprise  confined 
to  one  element  alone,  but  they  pursue  with  success  the  mon 
sters  of  the  deep,  and  achieve  that  which  in  the  days  of  the 
patient  but  afflicted  Idumean  was  regarded  so  formidable, 
"  draw  out  leviathan  witli  a  hook"  In  short,  such  is  their 
manly  independence  and  characteristic  self-reliance,  that  if  cast 
naked  and  helpless  upon  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  instead  of 
becoming  objects  of  charity  or  commiseration,  they  would  be 
sure  to  gain  a  livelihood  and  accumulate  wealth,  by  furnishing 
fuel  for  the  Hindoo  Suttees  by  contract.  And  what,  it  may 
well  be  inquired,  is  the  secret  power  by  which  they  move  the 
moral,  and  change  the  face  of  the  natural  world  ?  It  is  knowl 
edge, — knowledge,  industry,  and  virtue.  What  enables  one 


1851.]  CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION.  367 

hundred  thousand  Englishmen,  in  India,  to  cast  down  the  tem 
ples,  overthrow  the  idols,  uproot  the  heathenism,  and  play  the 
tyrant  and  tax-gatherer  over  seventy  millions  of  savage  black 
heads,  glittering  in  barbaric  wealth,  abounding  in  all  the  ter 
rible  elements  of  war,  and  burning  with  wild  ferocity  to  expel 
the  intruders  from  their  soil  ?  Alas  !  with  all  their  natural  ele 
ments  of  power,  the  answer  is  given  in  this,  that — 

u  Knowledge  to  their  eyes  her  ample  page, 
Rich  with  the  spoils  of  time,  did  ne'er  reveal." 

Connecticut  has  sent  forth  her  children,  armed  with  a  good 
common-school  education,  which,  like  the  battle-blade  of  Fitz 
James,  the  Saxon,  has  been  both  "  sword  and  shield,"  and 
carved  out  for  them  success  wherever  it  has  pleased  Providence 
to  cast  their  lot.  But  it  is  not  to  the  success  of  ordinary  tem 
poral  enterprise,  or  the  accumulation  of  material  wealth  alone, 
that  its  benefits  have  been  limited.  Its  teachers,  and  those  who 
minister  in  holy  things,  have  been  forth  upon  their  mission  of 
light  throughout  the  habitable  globe.  It  has  gone  down  to  the 
cottage  of  the  lowly  and  abject,  and  led  its  humble  inmates,  if 
deserving,  to  the  most  distinguished  stations.  It  has  triumphed 
in  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  shed  a  lustre  upon  the  pathway 
of  the  most  illustrious  of  its  votaries.  By  its  light,  our  mothers, 
sisters,  and  daughters  have  fixed  their  gentle  yet  mighty  im 
press  upon  our  social  structure,  as  noiseless  as  the  dews  of 
evening  fall  upon  the  vegetable  world,  and  have  adorned  it 
with  all  that  is  virtuous,  refined,  and  elevated.  It  has  served 
to  bind  together,  in  ties  of  amity  and  interest,  in  singleness  of 
heart  and  sympathy  of  soul,  a  great  family  of  States,  whose 
hearts  beat  responsive  to  the  pulsations  of  liberty  throughout 
the  world, — glowing,  like  beacon-lights  upon  the  mountain,  to 
warn  mankind  of  the  dangers  of  ambition  and  despotism,  and 
to  beckon  them  onward,  through  liberty  and  intelligence,  to  the 
temple-gates  of  happiness  and  peace. 

The  sons  of  New  England  who  have  participated  in  this 
system  of  popular  beneficence,  comprise  a  large  class  in  the 
Empire  State,  which  has  generously  adopted  them  as  her  own, 
and  cast  her  choicest  laurels  upon  some  of  the  most  humble;  they 
mingle  numerously  with  the  staid  and  sturdy  yeomanry  of  the 
Keystone ;  they  brush  the  earliest  dew-drops  from  the  vast 


368 

prairies  of  the  West,  and  join  their  voices  with  the  hum  of  the 
Pacific's  waves.  In  the  sunny  South  they  stand  "  like  men — 
high-minded  men" — like  men  who  know  their  rights,  and 
knowing,  dare  maintain,  invoking  the  Constitution  as  the  ark  of 
their  political  safety,  and  guarding  their  own  institutions,  as  the 
vestals  preserved  the  sacred  fire.  And  they  all,  whether  from 
the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  or  the  west,  love,  with  the  deep, 
pure,  gushing  love  of  sinless  childhood,  their  dear  native  New 
England  still ; — love  to  gaze  upon  her  cloud-cap'd  hills,  her 
fadeless  sky,  her  sunny  slopes,  her  smiling  vales,  her  laughing 
streams;  and  to  contemplate,  with  filial  reverence,  the  condition 
of  her  refined,  joyous,  and  happy  people. 

But  the  institutions  from  which  these  blessings,  under  a 
beneficent  Providence,  spring,  are  not  ours  to  sport  with,  jeop 
ard,  or  destroy.  We  hold  them  in  sacred  trust,  during  the 
pleasure  of  Him  who  conferred  it,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
shall  come  after  us,  to  guard  and  preserve  at  the  cost  of  life, 
fortune,  and  honor.  The  States  of  this  confederacy  were  united 
"to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  do 
mestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  ensure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our 
selves  and  our  posterity."  In  a  few  years,  we  who  are  assem 
bled  here  shall  all  be  laid  in  the  dust.  When  we  go  hence,  we 
shall  separate,  many  of  us  for  years — most  of  us  forever  ;  but 
the  same  blue  heavens  and  beauteous  earth  will  be  here  ;  the 
same  rugged  hills  will  remain,  and  the  same  streams  will  dance 
along  as  merrily  as  now,  at  the  music  of  their  own  rippling. 
Our  children  and  children's  children  will  be  here,  too,  for  weal 
or  for  woe, — basking  in  the  sunlight  of  our  heaven-favored  free 
dom,  invigorated,  perfected,  and  beautified  by  the  tests  of  time 
and  experience,  or  torn  by  the  conflicts  of  rival  States,  and  de 
spoiled  by  domestic  \iolence. 

O  !  what  modern  Erostratus  shall  seek  to  hand  down  an  ex 
ecrable  name  to  undying  infamy,  by  raising  his  parricidal  hand 
against  institutions  such  as  these  ?  Are  we  not  all  brethren  of 
one  tie  upon  this  great  question,  which  so  deeply  concerns  our 
integrity  and  being  ?  Let  us,  then,  by  all  the  bright  memories 
of  the  past,  by  the  present  fruition,  by  hope  of  the  future,  by 
the  spirits  of  just  patriots  made  perfect,  invoke  all  to  preserve, 
entire,  a  fountain  from  which  so  much  goodness  flows. 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED     IN     THE     DEMOCRATIC     NATIONAL     CONVENTION     AT 
BALTIMORE,    June    5,    1852. 

[On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day  of  the  Convention,  on  the  call  of 
the  States  for  the  thirty-fourth  ballot  for  a  presidential  candidate,  the 
Virginia  delegation,  which  had  retired  for  consultation,  came  in  and 
cast  the  fifteen  votes  of  the  State  for  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  of  New  York. 
"  This,"  says  the  report  of  the  proceedings,  u  was  received  with  favor." 
Mr.  Dickinson,  who  was  present  as  a  delegate  from  New  York,  imme 
diately  took  the  floor,  general  consent  being  given,  and  addressed  the 
Convention  as  follows :] 

ME.  PRESIDENT  :  I  came  not  here  to  speak ;  but  I  should 
be  much  more  or  much  less  than  human,  if  I  could  under  these 
circumstances  be  silent — if  I  could  arise  and  address  this  Con 
vention  without  the  very  deepest  emotion.  I  came  here  not 
for  myself,  but  as  the  representative  of  others,  clothed  with 
the  highest  functions,  which  it  shall  be  my  chief  ambition  to 
discharge.  I  came  here  not  with  instructions,  but  with  ex 
pectations  stronger  than  instructions,  th'at  I  would  vote  for 
and  endeavor  to  procure  the  nomination  of  that  distinguished 
citizen  and  statesman,  General  Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan. 

["At  this  point  a  number  of  magnificent  bouquets  were  thrown  by 
the  ladies  occupying  one  of  the  galleries,  and  loud  and  long-continued 
were  the  huzzas  and  other  demonstrations  of  applause."  Published 
Report  of  the  Proceedings.'} 

I  have  enjoyed  the  highest  honors  the  sovereignty  of  my 
State  could  confer,  and  have  seen  times  when,  in  the  discharge 
of  public  duties,  I  have  been  covered  with  revilings  ;  yet  amid 
all  the  varied  responsibilities  of  life,  I  have  never  experien 
ced  an  occasion  so  trying  as  this.  But  should  I  hesitate  or 
24 


370  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

waver .?  No  I  Mr.  President !  From  the  time  I  took  my  seat 
in  this  Convention,  men  who  never  knew  me,  who  never  before 
had  seen  me,  coming  from  a  far-off  State,  cast  for  me  their 
votes  from  the  beginning.  Well  may  I  feel  proud  of  this,  and 
claim  it  as  a  rose-bud  in  the  wreath  of  political  destiny.  And 
now  I  see  the  land  of  Presidents — the  ancient  Dominion — 
coming  here  and  laying  her  highest  honors  at  my  feet.  Vir 
ginia,  the  land  of  chivalry,  the  land  of  generosity,  the  land  of 
high  and  noble  impulses — a  land  of  all  others  willing  to  rescue 
my  name  from  every  imputation.  I  cherish  her  vote  as  of  the 
highest  worth  and  import.  As  an  offering  unsought,  unre- 
quested,  opposed  to  my  own  wishes,  it  has  been  brought  to 
me ;  and  is,  therefore,  the  more  valuable.  But  while  I  thus 
prize  and  shall  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  to  my  last  hour 
a  compliment  in  every  respect  so  distinguished,  I  could  not 
consent  to  a  nomination  here  without  incurring  the  imputation 
of  unfaithfully  executing  the  trust  committed  to  me  by  my 
constituents — without  turning  my  back  on  an  old  and  valued 
friend.  Nothing  that  could  be  offered  me — not  even  the  high 
est  position  in  the  government,  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States — could  compensate  me  for  such  a  desertion  of  my 
trust.  I  could  receive  no  higher  compliment  than  has  here  been 
tendered  me,  but  I  cannot  hesitate  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty. 
I  would  say  to  my  Southern  friends  that  I  shall  go  home  a 
prouder,  if  not  a  better  man.  What  I  have  met  with  here  to 
day  has  given  me  renewed  assurance,  that  u  truth  crushed  to 
earth  will  rise  again."  And  may  I  not  ask  my  friends,  the 
representatives  of  the  Democracy  of  the  Old  Dominion,  who 
have  by  their  generous  action  stayed  up  my  hands,  may  I  not 
successfully  invoke  them,  by  all  the  history  of  the  past,  by 
the  rich  fruition  of  the  present,  and  the  glorious  hopes  of  the 
future  of  our  country,  to  go  with  me  for  the  nomination  of  one 
who  has  been  abundantly  tried  and  ever  found  faithful,  Lewis 
Cass  of  Michigan.  [Applause.]  We  cannot  find  a  single  in 
dividual  acceptable  to  us  all.  Every  one  can  pass  criticisms 
upon  opposing  candidates,  and  even  upon  his  own  peculiar  fa 
vorite.  None  are  perfect.  From  the  accomplished  statesman 
of  Pennsylvania  to  the  hero  of  San  Jacinto,  every  one  can  be 
charged  with  defects  real  or  fancied,  and  I  can  repeat  to  oppo 
nents  : 


1852.]  BALTIMORE   CONVENTION.  371 

"  Go,  wiser  thou,  and  in  thy  scale  of  sense 
Weigh  thy  opinion  against  Providence  ; 
Call  imperfection  what  thou  fanciest  such, 
Say  here  he  gives  too  little,  there  too  much." 

It  will  be  a  long  time  before  we  can  come  together  in  favor 
of  any  one  man,  if  each  insists  on  being  absolutely  satisfied. 
There  are  many  stars  in  the  galaxy.  Let  us  then  cease  our 
struggles  and  act  in  a  spirit  of  forbearance,  conciliation,  and 
compromise. 

I  tender  my  most  grateful  thanks  to  my  friends  of  the  "  Old 
Dominion  "  for  the  choice  offering  they  have  brought  me,  and 
congratulate  them  and  all  other  friends  upon  the  good  temper 
which  prevails  in  this  Convention.  I  ask  them  not  to  expect 
me  to  depart  from  the  line  of  my  intentions,  and  I  know  they 
will  not.  My  spirit  is  willing,  and  the  flesh  is  not  weak ;  the 
highest  temptation,  I  repeat,  could  not  induce  me  to  depart 
from  this  course. 

["  Mr.  Leake  wished  to  say  a  word  for  Virginia.  Nathaniel  Macon 
once  said,  that  the  Presidency  was  neither  to  be  sought  nor  declined. 
The  fact  that  the  gentleman  from  New  York  declined  was  the  highest 
argument  in  his  favor.  We  wish  to  say  that  he  has  not  heen  forced 
upon  us."  Published  Proceedings. 

On  the  thirty-fifth  ballot,  the  Virginia  delegation  cast  the  vote  of  the 
State  for  Franklin  Pierce,  and  on  the  forty-ninth  ballot  he  was  unani 
mously  nominated.] 


OBATION 


ON    THE    CELEBRATION     OF     THE     ANNIVERSARY    OF    AMERICAN 
INDEPENDENCE. 

DELIVERED  AT  SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  July  4,  1853. 

[The  publication  of  this  Oration  was  preceded  by  the  following  corre 
spondence  : 

STEACUSE,  July  4th,  1853. 

YEEY  HONORABLE  SIR  :  Being  under  instructions  to  that  effect  from 
the  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  Fourth,  the  undersigned  do 
most  respectfully  solicit  for  publication  a  copy  of  your  very  able,  eloquent, 
and  patriotic  Oration  delivered  before  our  citizens  to-day. 

A  wide  diffusion  of  the  lessons  of  that  document  among  the  masses, 
we  are  confident,  will  awaken  a  livelier  appreciation  than  now  exists  of 
our  greatness  as  a  people  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  of  the  rela 
tions  of  other  nations  towards  us,  of  the  duties  and  obligations  towards 
each  other  of  the  different  members  of  our  Confederacy,  of  the  respon 
sibilities  and  proprieties  incumbent  upon  us  as  individual  citizens  of  a 
government  which  is  based  upon  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  its  sub 
jects,  and  of  the  broad  nationality  of  principle  and  aim  so  necessary  for 
the  continual  preservation  of  our  beloved  and  blessed  institutions. 

We  trust,  therefore,  that  our  distinguished  Orator  may  be  pleased  to 
grant  the  request  in  this  note  contained. 

And  we  have  the  honor,  Sir,  to  be 

Your  very  humble  fellow  citizens, 

S.  CORNING  JUDD, 
B.  M.  HOPKINS, 

E.  B.  GRISWOLD, 

F.  A.  MARSH, 
NICHOLAS  COONEY. 

N.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON,  Syracuse  House. 


BINGHAMTON,  July  6,  1853. 
GENTLEMEN — I  did  not  find  time  to  answer  the  very  kind  note  which 


1853.]       ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  373 

you  placed  in  my  hands  on  the  evening  of  the  Fourth,  requesting  a  copy 
of  my  Anniversary  Address  for  publication,  until  I  reached  home,  and 
must  urge  my  incessant  engagements  while  with  you  for  apology. 

The  Address  was  prepared  in  great  haste,  and  I  fear  is  too  carelessly 
written  to  bear  the  test  of  criticism  ;  but  as  you  believe  the  dissemina 
tion  of  its  doctrines  would  prove  salutary,  I  commit  it  to  your  discretion, 
relying  upon  the  liberal  indulgence  of  my  friends  and  a  generous  public. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c., 

Sincerely  yours, 

D.  S.  DICKINSON. 

Messrs.  S.  COEXISTS  JUDD,  B.  M.  HOPKINS,  E.  B.  GEISWOLD,  F.  A. 
HAESH,  and  NICHOLAS  GOOSEY.] 


MEMORABLE  indeed,  my  fellow- citizens,  is  the  day  we  cel 
ebrate,  in  the  annals  of  our  country :  a  day  which  marked  the 
commencement  of  our  national  existence,  and  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  governments  among  men  ;  a  day  consecrated  to  pa 
triotic  impulses  and  proud  recollections ;  a  day  upon  which  all 
the  friends  of  constitutional  liberty  may  merge  their  domestic 
divisions  and  offer  their  common  oblations  to  the  Giver  of  all 
good;  a  day  for  national  enjoyment,  for  an  interchange  of 
kindly  feelings  and  generous  sentiments,  mingled  with  that 
profitable  self-communion  which  vigilance  demands  of  a  free 
people,  that  we  may  determine  whether  we  have  held  in  cher 
ished  remembrance  that  noble  and  successful  experiment  of  our 
fathers  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  man. 

The  Western  Hemisphere  seems  to  have  been  consecrated 
by  Heaven  to  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  In  the 
pursuit  of  freedom  of  conscience  originated  that  scene  of  incom 
parable  moral  grandeur,  the  embarkation  of  the  pilgrims :  a 
scene  whose  sublimity  eloquence  and  art  have  in  vain  sought 
to  delineate,  and  which  will  live  in  tradition  when  all  their  sto 
ried  memorials  shall  have  passed  away  forever.  The  first  con 
ventional  germ  of  the  free  government  and  its  attendant  bless 
ings  which  we  now  enjoy  in  such  liberal  profusion,  sprang  up 
on  board  that  bark  of  immortal  memory,  the  Mayflower, 
as  she  was  riding  at  anchor  in  a  New  England  harbor.  The 
primary  community  thus  gathered,  acting  as  their  own  legisla 
tors,  with  a  brevity  and  simplicity  most  commendable,  reared 


374 

their  fabric  of  social  order  upon  broad  and  deep  and  enduring 
foundations  by  the  following  compact : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  amen  ! 

"  We  whose  names  are  underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of 
our  most  sovereign  Lord  King  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of 
Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  King,  and  defender  of  the 
faith,  &c.,  having  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  ad 
vancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  of  our  King  and  country, 
a  voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the  heathen  parts  of  Vir 
ginia,  do  by  these  presents,  solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  God  and  one  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves 
together  in  a  civil  body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and 
preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid ;  and  by 
virtue  hereof  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame  such  just  and  equal 
laws,  ordinances,  ai'ts,  constitutions,  and  offices  from  time  to 
time  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for  the 
general  good  of  the  colony ;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due 
submission  and  obedience." 

This  crude  but  sublime  theory  of  free  government,  evolved 
by  the  Adams  and  Eves  of  this  republic,  was  fostered,  strength 
ened,  and  improved  by  the  fathers  of  the  Revolution.  Invigorat 
ed  by  the  free  air  of  this  refuge  of  liberty,  and  looking  out  upon 
the  works  of  an  Almighty  artificer,  they  saw  that  the  sun's 
golden  light  and  genial  warmth  were  spread  out  for  all  earth's 
children;  that  the  refreshing  rains  of  heaven  descended  alike 
upon  the  ju?t  and  the  unjust,  and  that  the  dews  of  evening  fertil 
ized  for  all.  The  lights  of  revelation  and  the  deductions  of  rea 
son  taught  them  that  the  whole  family  of  man  were  framed  in 
the  same  Divine  image,  and  were  protected  and  sustained  by 
the  same  good  Providence  ;  that  all  were  created  with  the  same 
immortal  attributes,  nourished  by  the  same  elements,  depressed 
by  the  same  infirmities,  weaving  the  same  mysterious  web  of 
earthly  being,  alike  the  subjects  of  disease  and  death,  and  bound 
to  a  common  tribunal ;  and  goaded  to  desperation  by  the  frauds 
and  oppressions  of  Kingcraft,  they  tore  away  the  veil  which  con 
cealed  the  deformities  of  a  spurious  theology  and  a  fabricated 
legitimacy,  and  exposed  them  to  the  gaze  of  a  plundered  and 
outraged  people. 

They  proclaimed  to  the  world  the  fraudulent  pretensions  of 
"  Divine  Right ;  "  asserted  the  sacred  doctrine  of  equality,  and 


1853.]        ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  375 

raised  up  those  who  were  prostrate  at  the  footstool  of  a  gorged 
and  stultified  monarchy.  They  aimed  a  fatal  blow  at  social  and 
political  despotism.  They  determined  to  navigate  and  explore 
the  shoreless  ocean  of  freedom,  arid  in  the  fulness  of  their  vir 
tuous  resolve  exclaimed,  as  if  to  the  genius  of  Liberty, 

"  Build  me  straight,  O  worthy  master, 

Staunch  and  strong,  a  goodly  vessel, 
That  shall  laugh  at  all  disaster, 

And  with  wave  and  whirlwinds  wrestle." 

Let  the  historian  tell  of  the  perils  of  that  devoted  ship — of 
the  toil  and  hunger — of  the  fatigue  and  cold — of  the  privation 
and  sickness — of  the  precious  blood  which  was  shed — of  the 
bitter  tears  which  flowed — of  the  sighs  and  prayers  which  were 
wafted  to  Heaven — how  many  hapless  victims  were  by  violence 
and  butchery  hurried  untimely  to  judgment — how  she  was  tem 
pest-tossed  upon  the  maddened  elements — how  her  trembling 
structure  was  exposed  to  wreck  and  destruction,  ere  she  was 
safely  moored  in  the  haven  of  peace. 

Three  quarters  of  a  century  have  just  elapsed  since  that 
spirit-stirring  declaration  ;  and  thirteen  feeble  and  sparsely  set. 
tied  colonies  have  given  place  to  thirty-one  populous  sovereign 
States,  with  others  in  process  of  formation,  and  on  their  way  to 
join  the  happy  sisterhood.  A  crude  and  disjointed  confederacy 
has  been  replaced  by  a  glorious  constitutional  union — forming  a 
free  and  happy  government,  where  all  are  protected  and  none 
are  oppressed ;  where  labor  is  bountifully  rewarded ;  where 
learning  is  encouraged  and  the  arts  and  sciences  cherished; 
where  misfortune  is  provided  for ;  where  each  one  worships 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  and  where 
want  and  destitution  in  the  abodes  of  virtuous  industry  are  un 
known.  The  scion  of  a  monarchical  stock,  transplanted  to  the 
genial  soil  of  liberty,  we  have  flourished  beyond  the  most  san 
guine  anticipations  in  all  that  can  elevate  and  secure  the  best 
interests  of  mankind. 

Our  form  of  government,  which  has  proved  so  eminently 
successful,  was  at  first  the  recipient  of  taunts  and  sneers  from 
all  the  pampered  pimps  of  "  Divine  Right "  pretensions  through 
out  the  earth.  Its  success  provoked  their  envy,  and  now  its 
sublime  moral  grandeur  wrings  from  the  trembling  occupants 


376 

of  unsteady  thrones  unwilling  admiration.  Taught  by  dearly 
purchased  experience,  they  long  since  despaired  of  crushing  by 
the  armed  power  of  the  world  a  people  devoted  to  the  arts  of 
peace  ;  and  hence  they  have  assiduously  sought  to  assail,  divide, 
and  conquer  us,  with  the  moral  artillery  of  spurious  philanthropy 
and  an  exuberant  display  of  zeal  in  the  cause  of  freedom  and 
humanity ;  that  they  too  and  their  abettors  and  apologists  may 
at  the  same  time 

"  Compound  for  sins  they  are  inclined  to, 
By  damning  those  they  have  no  mind  to." 

But,  however  much  we  may  indulge  domestic  controversies 
touching  our  internal  affairs,  we  shall,  I  trust,  receive  and  treat 
with  becoming  scorn,  lessons  upon  national  morality  from  Euro 
pean  monarchies  or  their  self-constituted  nobility.  If  it  is  proper 
that  we  should  receive,  they  are  by  no  means  entitled  to  give 
instructions  upon  national  wrongs  nor  lessons  on  human  rights. 
We  will  pass  by  Russia  with  her  military  despotism,  her  knouts? 
her  serfs,  and  Siberian  exiles ;  and  France,  with  her  impulsive, 
restless,  revolution-loving  people,  who  court  oppression  one  day 
that  they  may  throw  it  off  by  violence  another  ;  whose  liberty 
is  licentiousness,  and  whose  idea  of  freedom  is  the  right  to  sack 
and  plunder  ;  and  we  too  will  pass  by  proud,  decayed,  and  super 
annuated  Spain,  and  ferocious,  blood-thirsty,  and  bigoted  Austria, 
and  pay  our  respects  for  a  moment  to  powerful,  haughty,  and 
aristocratic  England,  in  morals  as  in  war,  a  "  foeman  worthy 
of  our  steel."  The  best  epitome  of  her  self-importance,  and  of 
the  American  Revolution  and  Independence,  is  given  by  the 
sarcastic  English  writer,  Sidney  Smith.  "  There  was,"  says  he, 
"  a  time  when  the  slightest  concessions  would  have  satisfied  the 
Americans,  but  all  the  world  was  in  heroics.  One  set  of  gen 
tlemen  met  at  the  Lamb,  another  at  the  Lion,  real  blood  and 
treasure  men,  breathing  nothing  but  defiance.  Eight  years  after 
wards  an  awkward-looking  gentleman  in  plain  clothes  walked 
up  to  the  drawing-room  at  St.  James,  and,  in  the  presence  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Lamb,  was  introduced  as  Ambassador  from 
the  United  States"  Her  pampered,  indolent,  consuming  no 
bility,  who  hang  like  an  incubus  upon  the  industry  of  her  peo 
ple,  have  by  their  ill-timed  and  officious  intermeddling  in  our 


1853.]       ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  377 

domestic  affairs  so  often  provoked  and  invited  a  return  of  civil 
ities,  that  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  display  upon  this  occasion  the 
features  of  her  veiled  prophet.  It  is  clearly  the  policy  of  our 
government  and  people  to  cherish  friendly  relations  with  this, 
as  with  all  other  nations,  and  this  will  be  best  attained  by  an 
occasional  examination  of  accounts,  and  the  prompt  adjustment 
of  balances. 

There  is  much,  very  much,  in  England's  history  to  admire  ; 
much  indeed  to  contemplate  in  a  spirit  akin  to  filial  reverence. 
In  her  glorious  system  of  common-law,  her  encouragement  of 
the  arts  and  sciences — as  the  patron  of  letters,  and  the  enter 
prising  pioneer  in  commerce,  she  furnishes  profitable  lessons  for 
contemplation  and  instruction.  But,  to  those  whose  visions  can 
penetrate  the  blaze  of  her  martial  glory,  and  look  upon  the  seared 
eyeballs  of  her  struggling,  groaning,  starving  millions,  she  is  but 
a  wliited  sepulchre — "  a  huge  burial-field  un walled  and  strewed 
with  spoils  of  animals  savage  and  tame."  The  history  of  her 
government  is  but  the  history  of  the  rapacity  and  blood  which 
have  marked  the  pathway  of  her  base  and  destructive  career, 
from  the  time  she  sought  with  the  ferocity  of  a  tigress  to 
strangle  the  infant  of  her  own  bosom,  to  the  present  moment. 
Her  mighty  influence  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  whether 
we  regard  her  precepts  or  example,  has  not  been  exerted  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  men — to  diffuse  more  equally  the 
blessings  of  a  beneficent  Providence,  or  to  correct  the  vicious 
organization  of  society  which  she  herself  established  ;  but  for 
the  accumulation  of  material  wealth  and  the  achievement  of 
military  renown.  In  her  superhuman  efforts  she  has  not  sought 
to  elevate  the  condition  of,  and  feed  and  clothe  her  own  toiling 
masses,  but  to  feast  and  pamper,  and  to  cover  with  garters  and 
gew-gaws,  and  gorgeous  drapery,  and  invest  with  power  and 
maintain  in  place  a  favored  and  unworthy  few,  while  the  abject 
many  are  crushed  and  debased  by  ignorance  and  want  and  every 
privation  which  can  render  our  kind  wretched  and  degraded ; 
their  substance  consumed  by  a  pensioned  aristocracy,  and  eaten 
up  by  a  fox-hunting  priesthood,  while  the  children  of  their 
bodies  starve  and  die  for  the  lack  of  the  bread  earned  by  the 
labor  of  their  hands.  It  is  the  boast  of  this  proud  monarchy 
that  her  drum-beat  encircles  the  world,  and  that  the  sun  never 
goes  down  upon  her  possessions ;  and  before  she  becomes  a 


SYS  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

trans-Atlantic  almoner,  she  might  remember  with  profit  if  not 
with  pleasure,  that  she  has  thousands  of  subjects  of  both  sexes 
and  all  ages  and  conditions,  upon  whom  the  light  of  heaven's 
sunshine  has  never  fallen.  If  she  has  more  tears  to  shed,  and 
finer  sensibility  to  expand,  let  her  unharness  woman  from  the 
subterranean  coal  car,  where  like  the  lowest  orders  of  beasts  of 
burden  she  is  driven  until  all  that  was  womanly  has  left  her 
forever.  Let  her  suspend  her  wholesale  murder  of  children 
who 

"  Pine  in  want  and  dungeon's  gloom, 

Shut  from  the  common  air  and  common  use 

Of  their  own  limbs," 

who  in  the  last  great  day  of  accounts  will  raise  their  little  hands 
against  her  for  her  system  of  factory  labor,  more  destructive 
than  the  mandate  of  Herod :  a  system  which  renders  them  as 
inanimate  as  the  machinery  which  is  their  co-worker,  and  which, 
like  an  evil  spirit,  has  come  hither  to  torment  them  before  their 
time.  Let  her  listen  to  the  wailings  of  her  sewing-women,  who 
with  tears  of  blood  exclaim  in  the  language  of  her  own  immor 
tal  poet, 

"  Oh  men  with  sisters  dear, 
Oh  men  with  mothers  and  wives, 
It  is  not  linen  you're  wearing  out, 
But  human  creatures'  lives. 
Stich,  stich,  stich, 
In  poverty,  hunger  and  dirt, 
Sewing  at  once,  with  a  double  thread, 
A  shroud  as  well  as  a  shirt. 

"  But  why  do  I  talk  of  death, 
That  phantom  of  grizzly  bone  ? 
I  hardly  fear  his  terrible  shape, 
It  seems  so  like  my  own. 
It  seems  so  like  my  own, 
Because  of  the  fast  I  keep. 
Oh  God  !  that  bread  should  be  so  dear, 
And  flesh  and  blood  so  cheap." 

If  these  grievances  are  too  near  the  centre  of  regal  magnifi 
cence  to  command  attention,  lest  it  mar  the  glories  of  her  tro- 


1853.]        ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE.  379 

phies  and  dim  the  effulgence  of  her  regalia,  let  her  for  a  mo 
ment,  in  the  rich  plentitude  of  her  compassion,  turn  her  eye  to 
a  neighboring  green  isle  of  the  ocean,  whose  down-trodden 
children  are  groaning  under  the  exactions  of  a  government 
which,  like  the  fabled  vampire,  is  preying  upon  their  warm 
heart's  blood.  Let  her  see  them  conquering  that  holy  love  of 
home  which  is  stronger  than  death,  and  tearing  themselves  from 
friends  and  kindred  and  the  remains  of  their  beloved  dead,  that 
they  may  escape  the  destroying  influences  of  a  government  less 
tolerable  in  its  visitations  than  the  curse  which  overthrew  the 
cities  of  the  plain.  See  them  hovering  upon  our  shores,  the 
asylum  of  the  oppressed,  the  home  of  the  weary  and  the  house 
less  wanderer,  who  has  found  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  his  feet, 
amid  the  wide  waste  of  the  old  world's  desolation.  Stained 
with  guilt  and  drunk  with  the  blood  of  nations,  when  she  has 
redressed  these  and  many  kindred  grievances,  and  atoned  before 
Heaven  for  her  whole  career  of  atrocity  and  violence,  she  may 
assume  to  play  the  censor  with  more  propriety  and  no  less  ad 
vantage  ;  and  we  may  then  consent  to  discuss  with  her  the  na 
tional  morality  of  a  domestic  institution  of  a  portion  of  the 
States  of  this  confederacy,  which  constitutes  so  large  an  item  in 
her  catalogue  of  mock  solicitude  ;  an  institution  which  was 
planted  upon  our  soil  by  her  own  cupidity,  against  the  protest 
of  our  people,  which  is  in  no  regard  within  the  reach  or  control 
of  federal  legislation,  and  which  the  States  where  it  had  exist 
ence  could  not  with  safety  or  propriety  suddenly  throw  off  if 
they  would. 

When  we  were,  as  a  people,  few  and  feeble,  we  possessed 
the  moral  courage  and  physical  force  to  achieve  our  independ 
ence  against  the  most  warlike  nation  of  Christendom.  Now 
that  we  are,  by  common  consent,  one  of  the  great  powers  of  the 
earth,  if  we  are  not  equal  to  the  reformation  of  our  own  abuses, 
we  shall  fail  to  draw  profitable  teachings  from  envious  rivalry 
abroad.  We  will  submit  our  shortcomings  to  a  tribunal  worthy 
to  review  them,  a  virtuous,  intelligent,  and  refined  people,  whose 
opinion  is  free  from  the  musty  prejudices  of  decayed  royalty. 
We  will,  socially  speaking,  confess  to  our  full  share  of  error,  and 
to  records  in  abundance  of  human  frailty ;  but  we  will  arraign 
and  try,  and,  if  need  be,  condemn  and  execute,  where  the  sanc 
tuary  of  justice  is  untainted  with  envy. 


380  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Our  institutions  repose  not  upon  physical  foundations  of 
standing  armies  and  warlike  material,  but  are  upheld  by  the  vir 
tue  and  intelligence  of  a  free  people.  The  patriot's  hope  for 
their  enduring  perpetuity  rests  in  the  fabric  of  social  order, 
which  is  deeply  indebted  for  its  strength  and  beauty  to  the  in 
fluence  of  woman,  who  fashions  the  structure  of  society.  In 
the  sphere  which  Heaven  destined  her  to  fill,  she  holds  un 
divided  empire ;  she  purifies  the  foundations  of  social  and  do 
mestic  life,  and  casts  the  impress  of  her  moral  image  around 
her,  like  the  smiles  of  a  gracious  Providence. 

That  dream  of  poetic  fancy  which  suggested  that  the  do 
mestic  hearth  was  the  only  spot  on  earth  uncontaminated  by 
Satan  in  the  fall  of  our  common  progenitor,  was  a  beautiful  con 
ception,  and  is  exemplified  in  the  pure  and  holy  influences  of  a 
mother's  love.  The  characteristics  of  her  nature  are  gentleness 
and  peace.  In  every  sphere  of  life  where  it  has  pleased  Heaven 
to  cast  her  lot,  whether  at  the  fireside  of  home,  where,  by  in 
fluences  which  fall  like  evening  dews,  she  sways  the  moral  senti 
ments,  and  refines  and  elevates  the  affections,  or  in  heathen 
lands  ;  whether  in  the  mansion  of  affluence  or  in  the  lowly  cot 
tage  ;  whether  lingering  by  the  couch  of  the  dying,  moistening 
the  fevered  lip,  and  wiping  the  death-damp  from  the  throb 
bing  forehead,  after  her  companion  has  sunk  beneath  or  fled 
before  the  destroyer,  she  is  ministering  to  the  necessities  of 
fallen  man,  and  fulfilling  the  mission  of  that  same  angel  of  mercy 
who  was  last  at  the  cross  and  earliest  at  the  tomb  of  her  Lord 
and  Master.  Who  would  desire  to  see  her  transferred  from  the 
domestic  altar-fires  to  the  political  arena ;  from  the  culture  of 
immortal  minds  at  the  vestibule  of  existence,  to  the  framing  of 
legislative  reports  and  penal  statutes  ;  from  teaching  infant  lips 
to  pray,  to  mingle  in  the  harsh  contests  and  angry  debates  of 
the  forum  ;  from  being  the  presiding  genius  of  a  happy  home, 
to  preside  over  grave  courts  and  wrangling  conventions  ?  Her 
physical  and  mental  structure  indicate,  not  that  she  was  destined 
for  a  sphere  inferior  to  that  of  man,  but  that  she  was  called  to 
exercise  a  vocation  more  interesting,  delicate,  and  sacred. 

The  conceit  that  she  has  been  degraded  by  society  from  her 
true  condition,  is  the  diseased  offspring  of  a  morbid  fancy. 
Wherever  Christianity  and  civilization  are  known,  she  is  man's 
companion  and  equal,  and  in  social  life  the  arbitress  of  his 


1853.]       ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE.  381 

destiny.  She  enjoys  privileges  and  immunities  to  which  he  is 
a  stranger,  escapes  many  and  grievous  burdens  which  rest  upon 
his  shoulders,  and,  like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  she  occupies  the 
uppermost  rooms  at  feasts  and  receives  greetings  in  the  mar 
kets  :  and  the  reformers  of  modern  times,  while  prospecting  for 
the  fossil  remains  of  her  lost  rights,  should  remember  that  if,  in 
the  discharge  of  common  duties  and  common  offices,  equality  is 
the  point  to  be  attained,  she  should  commence  the  reformation  by 
restoring,  for  man's  equal  enjoyment,  many  prerogatives  which 
she  has  usurped  and  monopolized.  He  who  should  insist  upon 
the  equal  rights  of  metals  which  are  usually  employed  in  trans 
acting  the  business  of  life,  and  to  that  end  seek  to  fashion  im 
plements  of  husbandry  from  gold,  that  it  might  enjoy  equality 
with  iron,  would  be  pitied  for  a  lunatic,  and  meet  with  contempt 
and  ridicule  for  his  reward ;  and  he  who  would  desecrate  and 
spoil  Heaven's  last,  best  gift,  by  transferring  her  from  the  ex 
ercise  of  her  social  functions,  where  she  holds  mysterious  do 
minion  over  the  heart,  to  discharge  duties  and  engage  in  con 
flicts  suited  only  to  man's  sterner  nature,  should  be  remembered 
only  with  execration  for  the  wrongs  inflicted  by  him  upon  so 
ciety — for  his  endeavor  to  dim  the  lustre  and  mar  the  beauty 
of  the  female  character,  by  hurling  it  down  to  darkness  from 
its  orbit  where  it  has  so  long  shed  light  and  loveliness  around. 

Every  age  has  furnished  its  self-constituted,  restless,  buzzing 
reformers,  who  regard  society  as  an  organized  evil,  and  hence 
have  essayed  to  uproot  arid  reconstruct  it  according  to  their  own 
Utopian  schemes  and  dreamy  speculations.  Hitherto,  fortu 
nately,  these  moon-struck  conceits  have  been  confined  to  the  idle, 
vicious,  and  demented  ;  but  now,  unhappily,  we  have  many  of  a 
different  class,  and  of  diversified  characteristics,  big  with  the 
spirit  of  some  social  reformation,  which  is  to  exterminate  from 
our  land  every  real  and  imaginary  ill.  And  lamentably  foremost 
and  most  conspicuous  in  the  performance  are  respectable  fe 
males,  who,  finding  the  relations  of  wife,  mother,  and  sister  too 
tame  and  spiritless  to  engage  their  attention  and  command  their 
solicitude,  have  unsexed  themselves,  left  the  home-hearth  cold 
and  desolate,  and,  with  ideas  and  costumes  alike  elevated,  are 
struggling  to  stand  at  the  head  of  this  motley  crusade,  that,  like 
Peter  the  Hermit,  they  may  rescue  the  holy  land  where  woman's 
rights  are  entombed  from  the  grasp  of  infidel  man.  Nor  is  this 


382 

all :  The  Ultima  Thide  of  perfection  is  not  to  be  attained  until 
the  supremacy  of  all  kindred  isms  is  vindicated  and  established ; 
until  both  sexes  shall  pursue  the  same  vocations  in  common ; 
until  the  barriers  which  nature  erected  between  colors  and  races 
in  physical  developments  and  dissimilar  tastes  shall  be  pros 
trated  by  amalgamation  ;  nor,  finally,  until  entire  communities 
shall  dine  together  from  one  universal  platter,  and  cleanse  their 
linen  in  a  common  tub. 

By  the  interposition  of  a  kindred  genus  and  allied  class  of 
modern  seers,  the  teachings  of  philosophy,  too,  have  been  ren 
dered  useless  through  the  occult  process  of  spiritual  manifesta 
tions  ;  and  divine  revelation  has  been  superseded  and  rendered 
useless  by  the  receipt  of  later  intelligence  from  the  land  whither 
we  are  hastening  !  The  immortal  yet  obedient  and  convenient 
spirits  of  the  departed  appear  like  the  shade  of  the  ancient 
prophet  on  the  summons  of  some  modern  witch  of  En  dor,  and 
reveal  what  is  doing  on  the  other  side,  by  plying  spiritual 
knuckles  upon  substantial  and  material  things  !  Pitiful,  humili 
ating,  and  shameless  delusion !  The  green-room  where  trage 
dies  are  rehearsed  to  be  enacted  in  the  mad-house  !  In  its  in 
fluences,  corrupt,  sensual,  and  devilish — at  variance  with  every 
process  of  reasoning,  subversive  of  the  common  delicacies  and 
decencies  of  life,  and  in  derogation  of  all  religion,  revealed  or 
natural.  Its  heresies  are  more  threatening  to  the  cause  of 
morals  than  the  libertinism  of  the  worst  ages,  and  more  hurtful 
to  the  cause  of  religion  than  the  works  of  Paine  and  Voltaire 
sown  broadcast  among  the  people.  While  we  can  look  with 
indulgent  compassion  upon  the  humiliating  mummeries  of  hea 
then  idolatry,  a  people  whose  mission  is  to  inculcate  the  prin 
ciples  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  whose  government  rests 
upon  their  virtue  and  intelligence,  should  rescue  their  history 
from  contamination  and  hoot  all  such  impositions  beyond  the 
pale  of  society. 

American  independence  was  not  achieved  for  the  mere  pur 
pose  of  procuring  a  separation  from  the  British  crown,  but  that 
we  might  enjoy,  in  the  true  sense,  the  blessings  of  rational  free 
dom  ;  and  the  founders  of  our  system,  knowing  that  liberty 
must  dwell  with  purity,  intelligence,  and  truth,  inculcated  by 
precept  and  enforced  by  example  a  high  standard  of  intelli 
gence  and  of  national  and  individual  morality.  It  is  the  found- 


1853.]       ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE.  383 

ation  upon  which  rests  the  ark  of  our  political  safety,  and  should 
oe  guarded  by  that  sleepless  vigilance  which  alone  can  secure 
or  preserve  the  principles  of  liberty.  Others,  under  different 
circumstances,  have  lamented  the  absence  of  virtue,  because  of 
its  influence  upon  public  affairs  ;  and  even  Mirabeau,  that  gifted 
and  erratic  spirit,  whose  great  intellectual  power  did  not  com 
pensate  for  the  absence  of  moral  light,  who,  at  one  time,  held 
in  his  hand  the  terrible  elements  of  the  French  Revolution, 
declared  that  he  would  pass  through  a  heated  furnace  seven 
times  if  he  could  by  that  process  secure  a  good  personal  char 
acter. 

In  a  government  founded  like  ours  in  the  opinions  of  the 
intelligent  and  virtuous,  every  individual  is  charged  with  high 
and  responsible  political  trusts,  and  the  study  of  political  affairs 
is  one  of  the  first  duties  and  noblest  pursuits  of  the  citizen. 
Not  that  political  pursuit  which  creates  crawling,  base,  and 
superserviceable  partisans,  with  no  shame  but  in  defeat,  no 
principles  but  caucus  machinery,  and  no  aims  but  the  attain 
ment  of  office ;  but  the  pursuit  of  that  political  science  which 
inculcates  the  true  spirit  of  our  free  system,  which  familiarizes 
with  its  origin  and  history  and  teaches  how  it  may  be  best  up 
held,  and  most  successfully  administered  for  the  general  good. 

In  turning  back  our  thoughts  for  the  origin  of  the  day  we 
celebrate,  we  see  the  armies  of  -a  British  potentate  plundering 
our  seas,  ravaging  our  coasts,  burning  our  towns,  and  destroy 
ing  the  lives  of  our  people ;  and  the  fathers  of  the  Revolution 
declaring  and  achieving  an  independence  upon  principles  as 
broad  as  the  universe.  But,  where  are  they  by  whose  services 
and  whose  perils,  whose  valor  and  whose  blood,  this  precious 
boon  was  secured  ? — Where,  alas  !  where,  the  Revolutionary 
soldiers  ?  A  few  years  since  at  anniversary  gatherings,  con 
spicuous  in  the  procession  was  the  remnant  of  that  little  band 
with  tears  of  joy  streaming  down  their  furrowed  cheeks,  with 
thanksgivings  trembling  upon  their  aged  lips,  that  their  exer 
tions  in  the  cause  of  liberty  had  been  rewarded  by  such  ample 
fruition.  Now  the  bowed  and  attenuated  forms  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  Revolution  are  emphatically  like  angel  visits,  "  few  and 
far  between."  Here  and  there,  thank  Heaven,  one  still  lingers 
to  remind  a  too  ungrateful  people,  that  the  blessings  they  enjoy 
were  not  the  result  of  chance.  A  few  years  more,  and  the  last 


384 

of  these  faithful  sentinels  will  be  summoned  from  his  station  on 
the  ramparts  to  his  final  reward  and  rest,  "  The  bosom  of  his 
father  and  his  God  ;  "  and  the  little  mound  of  earth  that  covers 
his  illustrious  remains  will  be  held  as  sacred  from  the  intrusive 
foot,  because  it  marks  the  grave  of  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution. 
Dear  and  venerable  old  man !  many  sympathizing  hearts  have 
bled  over  the  recital  of  your  trials ;  many  bosoms  have  leapt 
with  joy  at  the  recollection  of  your  patriotism,  and  many  prayers 
Jiave  invoked  upon  your  revered  head  the  choicest  of  Heaven's 
bounties.  I  would,  before  you  depart  hence,  that,  like  a  patri 
arch's  son,  I  could  receive  from  your  aged  lips  a  patriarch's 
blessings.  May  the  remainder  of  your  days  be  days  of  pleas 
antness  and  peace,  and  when  it  shall  please  Him  who  "  doeth 
all  things  well,"  to  call  you  home,  may  some  gentle  hand  of  af 
fection  smooth  your  pillow  and  close  your  eyes  in  death  ;  may 
your  noble  and  immortal  existence  be  changed  to  the  mansions 
of  the  blessed,  and  may  a  double  portion  of  your  spirit  rest  upon 
those  who  survive  you. 

The  last  patriot  of  the  revolutionary  line  long  since  dis 
appeared  from  the  public  councils,  and  their  lessons  of  wisdom 
will  be  heard  there  no  more ;  and  recently  three  great  lights  in 
the  political  firmament,  which  no  mortal  power  can  relume, 
have  been  extinguished  forever.  The  lips  of  the  severe  and 
abstract  CALHOUN,  with  his  chaste  and  simple  logic,  his  strong 
analysis,  his  direct  and  concise  periods,  and  his  exhaustless 
sources  of  thought,  are  hushed  in  the  deep  tranquillity  of  the 
tomb. 

Silent  too  in  death  is  the  tongue  of  nature's  great  Orator 
of  the  West,  whose  eloquence  swayed  men's  hearts  and 
emotions  and  moved  them  to  mirth  or  tears  at  pleasure.  But 
the  recollection  of  his  patriotic  greatness  and  the  fadeless 
lustre  of  an  undying  name  are  all  that  is  left  to  earth  of  what 
was  HENRY  CLAY. 

And  prostrate  in  the  dust,  like  some  vast  classic  ruin, 
repose  the  mortal  remains  of  that  intellectual  Titan,  DANIEL 
WEBSTER,  whose  incomparable  mind  was  one  vast  storehouse 
of  knowledge,  and  who,  after  having  finished  his  course  on 
earth,  like  the  sun  at  evening,  seemed  largest  as  he  sunk 
to  rest. 

These  patriotic  names  are  indelibly  inscribed  upon  the  rec- 


* 

1853.]       ANNIVERSARY    OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE.  385 

ords  of  our  country's  fame,  and  their  great  memories  will  live 
long  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  an  admiring  and  grateful 
people.  The  eventful  life  of  each  in  his  day  served  as  a 
memorable  illustration  that, 

"  lie  who  surveys  the  mountain-tops  will  find 

The  loftiest  peaks  the  deepest  wrapt  in  snow; 
He  who  surpasses  or  subdues  mankind, 
Must  look  down  on  the  Late  of  those  below." 

But  they  had  survived  the  bitterness  of  party  conflict,  and 
were  esteemed  inseparable  from  our  country's  glory.  Their 
actions  will  be  cherished  as  among  the  brightest  passages  of 
our  history,  and  transmitted  to  posterity  as  a  common  her 
itage.  When  the  last  of  these  illustrious  men  closed  his  eyes 
on  earth,  I  was  painfully  reminded  of  the  first  words  it  was 
my  fortune  to  hear  from  his  lips  in  pronouncing  a  eulogy  upon 
a  late  colleague : 

"  True,  'tis  an  awful  thing  to  die, 
But  the  dark  vale  once  trod, 
Heaven  lifts  its  everlasting  curtains  high, 
And  wings  the  immortal  soul  away  to  God." 

In  the  present  condition  of  our  country  we  find  ourselves  a 
mighty  Republic  of  States,  each  free  and  independent  in  all 
that  concerns  its  domestic  polity,  but  joined  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos 
terity.  The  common  compact  which  constitutes  a  union  be 
tween  the  several  States  was  transmitted  by  our  fathers  as  an 
heir-loom  of  glory  to  our  common  country.  It  has  been  im 
measurably  more  successful  than  its  most  sanguine  friends  and 
enthusiastic  advocates  could  have  anticipated.  It  formed  a 
union  incomparably  more  perfect  than  the  feeble  confederation 
which  it  superseded,  and,  with  a  few  memorable  exceptions, 
has  been  hailed  by  the  whole  American  people  as  the  sheet- 
anchor  of  their  hope.  In  no  land  has  justice  been  more  per 
fectly  established  or  more  purely  administered,  nor  domestic 
tranquillity  better  secured.  Under  the  salutary  influences  of  a 
25 


386  DICKINSON'S  '  SPEECHES. 

free  Constitution,  the  strong  arms  and  patriotic  hearts  of  cit 
izen  soldiers  provide  for  a  common  defence ;  and  woe  be  to 
the  power  that  shall  call  them  to  take  up  arms  for  the  preser 
vation  of  the  liberties  and  honor  of  their  country. 

The  general  welfare  is  written  in  letters  of  light  upon 
every  temple  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  Almighty ;  it 
stands  out  in  every  institution  of  learning,  upon  every  place 
of  business,  in  every  cultivated  field,  upon  every  private 
dwelling ;  it  speaks  in  the  face  of  every  virtuous  citizen ;  it  is 
heard  in  notes  of  gladness  at  every  corner ;  it  is  echoed  in  the 
soothing  accents  of  woman's  voice,  and  rings  in  the  light 
laugh  of  childhood.  And  the  blessings  of  Liberty  too,  clus 
tering  in  golden  profusion  like  grapes  of  the  Land  of  Promise, 
have  been  secured  and  transmitted  to  us ;  and,  unless  we  prove 
faithless  to  the  trust  confided  to  our  care,  will  pass  unimpaired 
to  our  posterity. 

This  fraternal  compact,  then,  has  served  the  benign  purpose 
of  its  patriotic  authors.  It  has  brought  us  from  an  impover 
ished  and  precarious  existence,  while  yet  in  early  youth,  to 
the  zenith  of  political  success.  It  has  borne  us  with  honor 
and  triumph  through  two  wars,  which  we  were  forced  to  wage 
to  chastise  foreign  insolence  and  aggression.  It  has  withstood 
numerous  elections  of  a  Chief  Magistrate  when  the  political 
elements  were  madly  heated,  and  temporary  questions  lent  a 
virus  to  party  fury ;  but  all  was  again  calm  and  tranquil  when 
the  popular  will  was  indicated.  It  has  witnessed  the  death  of 
two  Presidents  of  the  United  States  during,  and  early  in  their 
official  terms  respectively,  with  no  other  results  than  a  nation's 
tears.  It,  too,  has  survived  the  assaults  of  intestine  foes  and 
can  tell 

"  How  sharper  than  a  serpent's  tooth  it  is. 
To  have  a  thankless  child ;  " 


and  yet  it  is  this  day  stronger  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of 
the  American  people,  in  all  its  several  parts  and  provisions, 
than  it  has  been  any  other  day  since  its  adoption.  Every 
year  that  has  been  added  to  its  existence  has  challenged  in 
creased  admiration.  Every  trial  through  which  it  has  passed 
has  proved  it  equal  to  the  emergency.  Every  blow  which  has 


1853.]        ANNIVERSAKY   OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE.  387 

been  aimed  at  its  integrity  has  served  to  exhibit  its  strength 
and  beauty,  and  develop  its  symmetrical  framework. 

Oh  !  glorious  tree  of  Liberty,  placed  in  Freedom's  soil,  in 
Freedom's  holy  land  !  consecrated  by  the  blood  and  nurtured 
by  the  tears  of  self-sacrificing  patriotism!  How  many  op 
pressed  and  abject  of  Earth's  children  have  been  sheltered  by 
thy  protecting  branches,  and  subsisted  upon  thy  fruits  !  How 
many  have  there  found  refreshment  and  repose,  who,  but  for 
thee,  might  have  exclaimed  with  Him  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake :  ':  Foxes  have  holes,  the  birds  of  the  air  have 
nests,  but  the  Son  of  Man  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head  !  " 
Who  would  desire  to  see  this  glorious  emblem  of  Liberty 
uprooted,  or  stand  seared  and  blasted, — a  naked  and  sapless 
trunk — its  foliage  withering,  and  bereft  of  its  branches? 
Who  would  destroy  a  fountain  from  which  so  much  goodness 
flows,  to  revel  in  dreamy  speculations  of  visionary  philan 
thropy  ?  What  modern  Erostratus  would  raise  the  incen 
diary's  torch  to  the  dome  of  this  temple  consecrated  to  the 
best  hopes  of  man  ?  If  there  be  any,  may  the  God  of  Mercy 
forgive  them;  for,  like  them  who  crucified  the  Saviour  of  men, 
they  know  not  what  they  do. 

Mighty  as  has  been  the  growth  of  free  principles  in  this 
hemisphere,  they  are  yet  in  comparative  infancy.  The  rays  of 
light  which  shot  athwart  the  heavens  from  the  star  of  liberty, 
like  those  that  shone  out  from  the  star  of  Bethlehem,  have 
fallen  upon  the  vision  of  the  wise  men  of  the  East.  The  great 
problem  of  human  government  so  successfully  solved  by  the 
American  people,  has  shaken  with  terror  the  crowned-headed 
revellers  of  the  old  world,  as  the  hand-writing  upon  the  wall 
did  the  King  of  Babylon  at  his  impious  banquet.  Monarchy 
throughout  the  earth  is  silently  but  fearfully  struggling  with 
the  painful  throes  whicli  betoken  dissolution,  and  the  spirit  of 
popular  revolt  has  reached  the  children  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
who  are  turning  from  the  alternate  beating  and  worshipping 
of  their  hideous  divinities,  to  prosecute  an  intestine  war,  under 
circumstances  where  change  cannot  fail  to  be  improvement. 
And  still  our  mission  is  upward  and  onward. 

Look  out  upon  the  vast  expanse  dedicated  to  the  cause  of 
freedom,  stretching  as  it  were  from  the  rising  to  the  setting 
sun ;— mark  its  length  of  coast,  its  magnificent  harbors  upon 


3SS  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

two  mighty  oceans ; — observe  its  great  inland  seas — its  majes 
tic  rivers — its  sublime  mountain  ranges  ; — look  along  its  glad 
green  vallies — upon  its  gilded  hill-tops — up  its  sunny  slopes ; — 
contemplate  its  variety  of  climate,  from  the  stern  winters  of 
the  north  to  the  land  of  perpetual  flowers  and  sunshine,  and 
its  corresponding  variety  of  productions  ; — see  the  cattle  upon 
a  thousand  hills — the  fields  teeming  with  abundance, — and 
agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  manufactures,  and  every  industrial 
pursuit  rewarded  with  unexampled  success.  Hear  the  worship 
of  its  temples,  vocal  with  invocations  to  Heaven.  Consider 
its  free  and  universal  system  of  education,  and  above  all  the 
moral  and  social  condition  of  its  blessed  and  happy  people. 
From  occupying  a  narrow  belt  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  they 
have  passed  beyond  the  great  cluster  of  northern  lakes  to  the 
river  which  separates  liberty  from  monarchy,  and  planted 
towns  and  cities  and  happy  homes  in  the  lair  of  beasts  of 
prey ; — they  have  climbed  the  Alleghanies  and  crossed  the 
Mississippi — have  scared  the  eagle  from  his  crag  in  the  passes 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  now  stand  upon  the  golden 
sands  of  the  Pacific.  Their  spirit  of  enterprise  is  mirrored  in 
the  Western  lakes,  and  the  hum  of  their  busy  industry  is 
echoed  upon  the  St.  John's,  Columbia,  and  Rio  Grande.  But 
our  course  is  onward  still,  and  our  country  destined  to  fructify 
in  increased  development  in  all  that  can  advance  the  interests 
of  civil  liberty.  The  resistless  current  of  destiny  will  ere 
long  expel  all  other  powers  from  American  soil,  and  an  entire 
continent  be  ours  to  subdue  and  fertilize ; — its  various  races 
ours  to  civilize,  educate,  and  absorb,  and  increased  duties  will 
be  presented  and  new  triumphs  spread  out  for  us  to  achieve  in 
the  cause  of  human  progress.  All  this  has  been  rendered  inev 
itable  by  a  decree  beyond  the  influence  of  human  agency,  and, 
whoever  will  turn  back  upon  the  history  of  the  past  and  look 
forward  upon  the  future,  must  see  that,  in  the  fair  ratio  of 
previous  advancement,  before  the  close  of  the  present  century 
this  continent  will  teem  with  a  free  population  of  a  hundred 
million  souls. 

This  glorious  realization  and  these  glowing  prospects, 
under  the  favor  of  heaven,  are  the  fruits  of  the  happiest  form 
of  government  ever  vouchsafed  to  man — a  government  of  the 


1853.]        ANNIVERSARY    OF  AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  389 

people — a  family  of  free  and  independent  States,  which  sym 
pathy  made  one  in  a  common  Union. 

And  such  a  State  is  the  Empire  of  the  Confederacy ;  an 
empire  in  the  moral  grandeur  of  her  people — in  her  institu 
tions  of  religion — in  her  colleges,  academies,  and  schools — in 
her  perfection  of  the  arts  and  sciences — in  her  magnificent 
internal  improvements — in  her  agriculture,  mechanism,  and 
manufactures — in  her  commercial  transactions,  twice  greater 
than  those  of  her  thirty  sister  States  combined,  in  her  collec 
tion  of  two  thirds  of  the  vast  revenues  of  the  general  govern 
ment  ; — an  empire  whose  greatness  is  the  subject  of  universal 
admiration,  and  whose  voice  in  the  sisterhood  of  States  is 
potential  for  good  or  evil.  Clothed  with  such  potent  attri 
butes,  and  holding  such  ample  prerogatives,  she  is  charged,  as 
she  should  be,  with  corresponding  responsibilities ;  and  her 
precepts  and  her  example  will  be  wide-spread  in  their  influen 
ces.  It  is  clearly  her  highest  duty,  as  it  must  be  her  proudest 
privilege,  to  move  onward  in  that  course  which  has  received 
the  smiles  of  Heavenly  approbation,  and  brought  her  and  her 
sister  States  to  their  present  exalted  position ;  to  be  first  and 
foremost  in  upholding  with  her  gigantic  power,  and  the 
influence  of  her  great  name,  that  sacred  charter  of  liberty 
upon  which  reposes  our  national  existence,  to  preserve  from 
the  corrosions  of  sectional  distrust,  the  assaults  of  mad 
fanaticism  and  the  schemes  of  unchastened  ambition,  our 
country's  Constitution ;  to  establish  between  the  several 
States  of  the  Union  that  fraternal  regard  which  the  Father  of 
his  Country  inculcated,  and  to  frown  determinedly  upon  every 
eflbrt  calculated  to  plant  a  canker  at  the  root  of  our  national 
felicity,  or  to  sow  broadcast  among  our  people  the  seeds  of 
bitterness  and  strife. 

This  State  was  left  to  the  enjoyment  of  its  own  wise 
policy,  undisturbed  by  the  officious  intermeddling  of  other 
members  of  the  Confederacy,  or  their  people ;  and  we  are 
this  day  enjoying  the  benefits  of  that  enlightened  legislation 
which  is  the  voluntary  emanation  of  the  intelligent  and  free. 
Let  us  then  believe  the  people  of  our  sister  States  as  wise, 
virtuous,  and  humane  as  ourselves,  and  leave  them,  as  they 
left  us,  to  discharge  their  own  responsibilities  in  their  own 
good  time  and  manner;  answering  to  their  own  consciences 


390  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

and  to  Him  who  rules  the  destinies  of  nations,  for  the  faithful 
discharge  of  their  duty. 

As  Individuals  we  occupy  but  a  point  of  space  upon  the 
broad  current  of  time.  In  a  few  years,  we,  who  as  a  people 
are  the  repository  of  power  and  sway  the  destinies  of  govern 
ment,  shall  all  lie  in  the  dust ;  but  our  descendants,  through 
the  long  track  of  future  time,  will  be  here,  inspired  with  the 
same  instincts  of  liberty,  and  animated  by  the  same  hope  as 
ourselves.  The  free  principles  which  were  purchased  so  dearly 
and  bequeathed  to  us  baptized  in  blood,  are  not  ours  to 
destroy — to  jeopard  by  mad  experiments — or  to  waste  in 
sickly  sentimentality ;  but,  to  improve  and  enjoy  in  our  day 
and  generation  like  rational  responsible  beings,  and  to  leave 
in  unimpaired  vigor  to  our  children.  We  have  little  to  fear 
from  violence.  Our  institutions  would  stand  the  combined 
assault  of  a  world  in  arms  unshaken.  But  to  preserve  them  in 
their  purity  and  strength,  we  should  cherish,  by  every  means 
and  faculty  which  God  has  given  us,  that  fraternal  spirit 
between  the  several  members  of  the  Confederacy,  which  moved 
them  to  unite  as  a  people  in  severing  the  chains  which  linked 
them  to  despotism.  The  sons  of  our  sister  States  poured  out 
their  blood,  together  with  those  of  our  own,  and  their  bones 
whitened  the  same  battle-fields.  They  Avere  with  us  in  woe; 
let  us  not  cast  them  off  in  weal. 

In  discussing  the  relations  of  the  American  colonies  during 
the  Revolution,  a  British  peer  declared  with  eloquent  signifi 
cance  that,  robbed  of  so  precious  a  jewel  as  America,  the 
King  might  still  wear  his  crown,  but  that  it  would  not  be 
worth  his  wearing ;  and  although  the  American  Union  might 
endure  all  the  assaults  which  the  enemies  of  free  principles 
and  gibbering  fanatics  combined  could  bring  against  it,  unless 
it  can  be  maintained  in  that  confiding  spirit  becoming  the 
sons  of  revolutionary  sires— in  the  same  generous  feeling 
which  framed  it,  it  will  exist  only  in  name  and  stand  a  delu 
sive  mockery — the  lifeless  and  mouldering  remains  of  a  con 
ventional  Union,  after  the  spirit  which  gave  it  interest  and 
animation  has  departed. 

No  creation  of  earth  can  be  perfect  in  its  construction  or 
perpetual  in  duration.  Destruction  and  decay  are  written 
upon  all  terrestial  things.  The  destroying  spirit  which  frowns 


1853.]       ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE.  391 

in  the  storm  strikes  the  fatal  blow  in  sunshine,  and  those  who 
survive  the  rudest  shocks  unscathed,  fall  in  a  moment  of 
apparent  security  and  repose.  The  forest  oak  which  has 
withstood  unshaken  the  blasts  of  an  hundred  winters,  and 
which  even  the  fury  of  the  thunder-gust  has  not  smitten 
down,  falls  a  prostrate  ruin  when  not  a  leaf  is  rustled  by  the 
breeze,  under  the  insiduous  influences  of  the  worm  that  is 
gnawing  at  its  heart ;  and  the  tree  of  liberty,  towering  proudly 
to  heaven,  shooting  deep  its  roots  and  spreading  wide  its 
branches  in  defiance  of  hostile  elements,  will  wither  and  die 
when  cankered  with  internal  disease. 

In  the  benign  effort  to  brighten  the  chain  of  Union,  and 
renew  offices  of  friendship  between  brethren  of  the  same 
national  household,  how  replete  with  interest  is  the  position 
of  the  Central  City  of  the  first  State  in  the  Confederacy — a 
city  which  in  the  full  development  of  vigorous  maturity 
leaped  into  existence  like  the  goddess  from  the  brain  of  Jove, 
and  yet  rejoices  in  all  the  elasticity  of  childhood,  and  buoyancy 
and  hope  of  youth.  In  her  commanding  attitude  she  is  as  a 
city  on  a  hill,  which  cannot  be  hid.  By  the  influence  of  her 
local  advantages,  interchanging  sentiments  daily  with  every 
section  of  our  country ;  by  the  spirit  of  enterprise  which 
characterizes  her  vast  business  relations,  and  the  hi^h  social 

O 

position  for  which  her  people  are  proverbial,  she  must  do 
much  to  gladden  the  hearts  or  embitter  the  feelings  of  her 
brethren  throughout  the  Union.  In  looking  over  the  wide 
area  of  freedom,  and  contrasting  its  condition  with  what  it 
would  be,  torn  and  distracted  by  intestine  broils  and  disjointed 
by  sectional  hate,  she  will  not  "  forsake  this  fair  and  fertile 
plain  to  batten  on  that  moor."  Her  incomparable  growth 
partakes  of  all  that  can  elevate  and  adorn  a  people,  and  her 
exalted  grandeur  tells  us  that  she  was  a  legitimate  offspring  of 
Freedom — the  fruit  of  a  holy  political  Union,  and  filial  duty 
and  affection  will  alike  inspire  her  to  the  discharge  of  the 
kind  offices  which  so  interesting  a  relation  imposes.  She  has 
experienced  in  her  own  proud  and  glowing  history  the 
blessings  which  flow  from  our  free  and  happy  system,  and  will 
lend  her  voice  and  aim  to  preserve  from  desecration  the  ark  of 
our  political  covenant. 

By  improvements  in  physical  science,  we  are  placed,  as  it 


392 

were,  at  the  doors  of  our  brethren  in  remote  sections  of  the 
Union.  We  converse  with  them  at  pleasure,  and  words  are 
conveyed  and  returned  with  the  velocity  of  light.  We  desire 
their  society,  and  fly  by  the  mysterious  power  of  steam,  at  a 
rate  that  annihilates  space.  The  facility  for  the  exchange  of 
friendly  offices,  for  the  mutual  assurances  of  friendly  sen 
timents,  between  different  sections,  if  suitably  improved,  will 
serve  to  form  and  preserve  enduring  friendships  and  to  mit 
igate  unfounded  prejudices ;  to  teach  us  that  we  are  all  chil 
dren  of  a  common  father  and  alike  interested  in  preserving  a 
common  Union.  The  trials  through  which  our  institutions 
have  passed  have  served  to  illustrate  the  sovereign  rights  of 
States  ;  to  purify  the  atmosphere,  and  to  teach  the  necessity 
as  well  as  value  of  fraternal  regard.  The  great  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  have  spoken  upon  the  subject  of 
the  American  Union,  in  a  voice  not  to  be  mistaken  or  dis 
regarded  with  impunity,  and  they  will  now  go  on  their  mis 
sion  of  freedom  and  good-will  to  man  rejoicing,  and  few  indeed 
will  seek  to  stir  up  sectional  strife  or  fan  the  embers  of  social 
discord. 

Some  there  are  and  must  be  in  a  land  of  freedom,  who, 
drinking  lightly  at  its  fountain,  its  shallow  draughts  intoxi 
cate  ;  they  view  society  through  a  reversed  medium,  and 
judge  it  by  the  standard  of  their  own  perverted  intellect. 
They  can  see  nothing  good  or  glorious  in  our  system,  and 
would  hurl  it  down  to  anarchy  and  chaos,  because  they  can 
discover  a  single  speck  of  darkness  upon  the  sun's  disc.  They 
are  objects  of  deep  commiseration  and  pity,  and  their  neces 
sities  demand  the  interposition  of  a  more  elevated  philanthropy 
than  their  own.  True  conventional  freedom,  under  a  govern 
ment  of  Constitutional  Law,  is  unsuited  to  their  natures. 
Designed  for  some  other  sphere,  but  transferred  to  a  land  of 
rational  liberty  by  some  mysterious  dispensation  of  Provi 
dence,  like  the  sea-shell,  which  murmurs  ever  of  the  ocean 
and  the  storm,  these  political  Cassandras  are  filled  with  evil 
auguries,  and  unite  their  voices  with  the  croaking  despotisms 
of  earth,  in  denunciation  of  the  land  which  feeds,  shelters,  and 
protects  them.  Blind  like  Samson,  they  regard  all  the  friends 
of  constitutional  liberty  and  law  as  Philistines,  and  would 
feign  pull  down  the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  liberty,  that  all 


1853.]       ANNIVERSARY   OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  393 

might  perish  together.  But  a  generous  and  patriotic  people 
will  cherish,  uphold,  and  protect  it  from  their  puny  parricidal 
hands,  and  will  protect  too  these  same  graceless  and  degenerate 
children  from  their  own  worst  enemies — THEMSELVES. 

In  the  commencement  of  our  history  as  a  people,  we  saw  a 
frail  bark  launched  upon  a  tossed  and  troubled  ocean,  to 
cruise  in  the  cause  of  freedom  as  an  untried  experiment.  How 
many  perils  has  that  devoted  vessel  escaped  between  the 
Scylla  and  Charybdis  which  threatened  her  pathway  !  How 
many  vicissitudes  has  she  endured !  How  many  battles  of 
blood  has  her  patriotic  crew  sustained  against  the  navies  of 
the  world  !  How  many  prayers  have  been  offered  up  for  her 
safety  and  deliverance  !  What  precious  interests  were  con 
fided  to  her  keeping ;  what  priceless  treasures  committed  to 
her  care  !  And  Oh  !  to  see  her  now,  when  she  has  out-ridden 
every  storm,  and  vanquished  every  foe,  with  her  sails  full  set, 
her  ensigns  streaming,  and  her  joyous  crew  all  buoyant  with 
hope,  deep-freighted  with  the  destinies  of  mankind,  and  riding 
lightly  before  a  prosperous  breeze  —  who  will  not  bid  her 
God-speed  upon  her  errand  of  mercy?  Who  will  not  hail  her 
with  gladness  and  thanksgiving,  and,  in  the  language  of 
poetic  invocation,  exclaim  : 

"  Sail  forth  into  the  sea,  O  ship  ! 
*       Through  wind  and  waves  right  onward  steer, 
'    The  moistened  eye,  the  trembling  lip, 

Are  not  the  signs  of  doubt  or  fear.  / 
******** 

In  spite  of  rack  and  tempests'  roar, 

In  spite  of  false  lights  on  the  shore, 

Sail  on,  nor  fear  to  breast  the  sea, 

Our  hearts,  our  hopes  are  all  with  thee ; 

Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 

Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 

Are  all  with  thee — are  all  with  thee !  " 


SPEECH 


DELIVERED    AT   A   DEMOCRATIC     RATIFICATION     MEETING,     HELD 
AT   ROCHESTER,    N.    Y.,    OCTOBER    6,    1853. 

[It  will  be  sufficient  explanation  of  this  speech  to  state,  that,  at  the 
Democratic  State  Convention  held  recently  before  its  delivery,  the 
"  Free  Soilers  "  and  the  Democrats  proper,  after  a  union  of  some  form 
and  fashion  since  1849,  again  divided,  held  separate  conventions,  and 
made  nominations  independently  of  each  other.  A  contest  in  regard 
to  this  convention  first  took  place  throughout  the  State  over  the  elec 
tion  of  delegates.  The  organization  of  the  convention,  on  its  assem 
bling,  was  then  sharply  contested,  and  carried,  as  was  claimed,  by  the 
Democrats  (the  "  Softs  "  acting  with  the  "  Free  Soilers  "),  when  an 
opposing  organization  in  the  same  hall  was  attempted,  and  the  conven 
tion  was  finally  broken  up  by  the  violent  conduct  of  a  band  of  rowdies, 
roughs,  bullies,  or  "short  boys,"  from  New  York  city,  alleged  to  have 
been  brought  for  the  purpose  by  procurement  of  some  of  the  "  Free 
Soil "  leaders. 

In  the  party  nomenclature  of  the  day,  the  "Free  Soilers"  were 
those  who  went  off  from  the  Democratic  party  in  1847-8.  Their  dis 
tinctive  creed  was  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  and  they  styled  themselves 
"Free"  or  "  Eadical  Democrats."  The  ''Softs"  or  "Soft-shelled 
Democrats"  were  those  who,  after  the  secession,  were  anxious  to  bring 
about  a  re-union,  particularly  upon  candidates.  The  "  Hards,"  "  Hard- 
shelled  Democrats,"  "  Adamantines,"  or,  as  they  called  themselves, 
"National  Democrats,"  regarded  the  "Free  Soilers"  as  deserters,  and 
opposed  any  union  with  them  except  upon  the  basis  of  the  creed  of  the 
party  as  adopted  in  its  national  conventions.] 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW  DEMOCRATS  :  To  the  enlight 
ened,  progressive  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  is  the  country 
indebted  for  its  present  eminent  position  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  and  for  its  domestic  happiness  and  repose.  This 
policy,  under  the  teachings  and  guidance  of  a  Jefferson  and  a 
Jackson,  extended  our  boundaries  by  the  acquisition  of  Louisi 
ana,  Florida,  Texas,  California,  and  other  territories ;  opened 


1853.]  DEMOCRATIC    RATIFICATION    MEETING.  395 

an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  earth,  of  every  clime,  by  a  lib 
eral  system  of  naturalization,  and  gave  the  death  blow  to 
monopoly  and  privilege  in  the  shape  of  national  banks,  pro 
tective  tariffs,  and  a  public  debt. 

Since  the  organization  of  political  parties  in  the  United 
States,  the  administration  of  affairs  has  more  than  three-fourths 
of  the  time  reposed  in  Democratic  hands  ;  and  the  policy  of 
the  party  is  written  in  every  chapter  of  the  country's  history, 
and  interwoven  with  every  fibre  of  its  political  framework. 
This  policy  originated  in  the  loftiest  conceptions  of  statesman 
ship;  it  was  intended  to  inculcate  in  temporal  affairs  a  politi 
cal  New  Testament,  bringing  tidings  of  freedom  and  good 
will  to  all  men.  It  was  founded  in  the  purest  principles  of 
well-defined  morality,  and  destined  to  stand  in  hereditary  an 
tagonism  to  violence,  fraud,  and  usurpation,  through  all  com 
ing  time.  Its  true  votaries  would  as  soon  commit  a  fraud  in  a 
commercial  transaction  as  in  an  election,  and  as  soon  resort  to 
violence  to  extort  money  as  to  gain  political  success. 

The  practice  of  these  principles  attracted  the  honest  masses 
of  the  people,  who  saw  in  their  simplicity  justice,  equality, 
and  freedom  ;  and  they  rallied  in  their  support  and  established 
the  Democratic  party  upon  broad  and  deep  foundations.  This 
party,  like  all  other  human  organizations,  has  from  time  to 
time  suffered  by  the  defection  and  decay  of  portions  of  its 
members,  and  been,  like  other  bodies,  recruited  by  fresh  sup 
plies  from  healthy  sources ;  so  that  it  has  experienced  no  per 
manent  detriment  from  the  desertion  of  the  timid,  the  mach 
inations  of  the  treacherous,  or  the  daggers  of  the  revengeful. 
Those  who,  hungering  for  the  flesh-pots  of  the  treasury,  or  de 
siring  the  consequence  of  place,  could  not  wait  to  have  their 
merits  discovered,  but  became  restive,  were  permitted  to  sig 
nalize  their  defection  by  a  desertion  to  the  enemy ;  and  whe 
ther  the  number  was  large  or  small,  and  the  deserters  of  high 
or  humble  degree,  it  was  called  defection  /  and  if  afterwards 
they  chose  to  return,  they  were  sent,  like  other  deserters,  to 
the  rear.  We  then  had  no  "  divisions,"  no  political  hybrids, 
and  no  "  harmonizing  "  by  contract. 

But  in  1847-8,  because,  as  all  know,  the  Democratic  party 
declined  to  revive  the  lease  of  a  particular  claimant  of  the 
highest  place  of  confidence  and  power  in  the  nation,  a  defec- 


396 

tion  the  most  base,  heartless,  treacherous,  and  malignant,  took 
place,  having  its  head  and  its  chief  field  of  operations  in  this 
State ;  and  by  force  of  the  influence  and  position  which  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  been  accumulating  from 
favors  lavished  by  the  Democratic  party,  that  party  was  de 
feated  in  both  the  State  and  the  nation ;  and  this  defection, 
because  it  was  so  shameful  and  brazen,  was  gingerly  dignified 
by  many  as  "  an  unfortunate  division  of  the  Democratic  par 
ty"  The  London  Punch  says,  when  the  prince  gets  intoxi 
cated  the  papers  call  it  "  elated"  when  a  lord  gets  fuddled 
they  say  he  was  "  elevated"  but  when  a  farmer,  merchant,  or 
mechanic  gets  so  they  call  him  "  druiik"  So  when  Democrats 
of  ordinary  clay  desert  their  faith  and  party,  it  is  "defection  /" 
but  when  those  who  have  been  both  pampered  and  trusted 
walk  over  into  the  enemy's  ranks  and  play  abolition,  it  is  "  di 
vision"  The  "free  soil"  faction  organized  in  1847,  upon  the 
rejection  of  its  "  corner-stone,"  because  it  was  claimed  to  be  of 
great  importance  that  a  canal  commissioner  should  believe  in 
the  "  proviso,"  and  threw  the  State  government  into  Whig 
hands ;  and  in  1848,  keeping  on  foot  the  same  factious  organi 
zation,  it  promoted  and  joined  the  motley  Buffalo  convention, 
defeated  General  Cass,  and  gave  the  national  administration 
also  to  the  Whigs. 

In  1849,  having  glutted  its  revenge  and  exhausted  its  power 
of  mischief,  it  sought  means  of  gaining  re-admission  into  the 
Democratic  camp.  Unfortunately,  we  had  in  our  ranks  a  few 
political  mendicants — men  wanting  principle,  and  wanting  con 
sequence — some  of  them  realizing,  doubtless,  that  the  Demo 
cratic  party  had  so  long  bestowed  upon  them  its  highest  hon 
ors  that  a  new  dispensation  was  to  be  expected, — that  new  is 
sues  and  other  men  were  gaining  public  consideration,  and 
that  their  "  fogy  ism "  could  no  longer  count  upon  a  monop 
oly  of  official  honors  and  emoluments ;  others,  whose  ambi 
tion,  like  stinted  Indian  corn  which  ears  prematurely,  .dis 
covered  their  capacity  in  advance  of  the  public,  and  foresaw 
that  their  only  chance  of  preferment  was  through  some  back 
door  process;  and  both  of  these  classes,  acting  in  meretricious 
concert,  entered  into  an  arrangement  to  betray  the  true  men 
and  true  principles  of  the  Democratic  party  into  the  hands  of- 
the  "  free  soil  "  traitors  of  1848 — they  christening  the  baseco- 


1853.]  DEMOCEATIC    RATIFICATION    MEETING.  397 

alition  as  the  "  union  and  harmony  "  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  receiving  as  their  wages,  not  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  but 
its  equivalent  in  official  rewards ;  and,  in  return  for  "  free 
soil  "  confidence  and  support,  these  self-constituted  "  harmoni 
ous  "  negotiators  were  to  procure  full  absolution  for  "  free 
soil "  leaders, — were  to  aid  in  striking  down  such  national 
Democrats  as  these  leaders  should  designate,  and  in  further 
ance  of "  union  and  harmony "  to  induce  the  Democratic  or 
ganization  to  leave  its  national  principles  in  the  background, 
and  speak  in  its  resolutions  and  address  upon  national  ques 
tions,  in  a  language  so  oracular  that  it  could  be  read  either  way. 
Such  was  this  most  foul  conspiracy,  as  has  been  abundantly 
proved  by  the  developments  of  time ;  and  up  to  the  present 
moment  it  has  pursued  with  surpassing  hate,  all  old  line  Dem 
ocrats  who  vrould  not  prostitute  themselves  to  the  embrace 
of  "  free  soilism."  In  an  unguarded  moment  these  men — some 
of  them  standing  high  at  that  time  with  the  Democratic  par 
ty — aided  by  others  who,  in  perfect  good  faith,  had  been  in 
duced  to  enter  upon  this  unfortunate  experiment,  procured 
the  call  of  two  conventions — one  of  the  Democrats,  and  the 
other  of  the  "  free-soilers  " — to  be  held  at  Rome,  in  August, 

CT?  / 

1849,  for  the  purpose,  as  was  openly  admitted,  of  uniting  or 
ganizations  and  dividing  offices.  I  had  the  honor  of  attending 
as  a  delegate  to  the  former,  with  the  determination  and  for  the 
purpose,  on  my  own  part,  and  in  accordance  with  the  desire  of 
those  who  sent  me,  to  prevent  all  spoils-seeking  coalitions,  and 
any  union  of  organizations,  except  upon  the  single  ground  of  a 
union  in  sentiment.  The  humiliating  farce  was  performed — 
prominent  Democrats,  who  had  long  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
the  party,  were  there  urging  on  a  coalition,  which  they  termed 
a  "  union,"  and,  as  subsequent  developments  have  shown, 
urged  it  at  the  expense  of  the  Democratic  party,  for  their  own 
personal  advantage  :  and  although  I  had  not  the  full  sympa 
thy  of  a  majority  of  the  convention  to  which  I  was  a  delegate, 
and  although  in  furtherance  of  its  object  it  passed  resolutions 
to  which  I  was  opposed,  and  against  which  I  voted,  yet  the 
organizations  were  not  united ;  and  I  have  at  all  times  be 
lieved,  with  much  pride  and  gratification,  that  I  exercised  my 
fall  share  of  influence  in  preventing,  for  that  time,  the  con 
summation  of  a  most  beastly  coalition. 


398  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

But  the  humiliation  was  only  postponed,  to  be  consum 
mated  a  few  days  later  at  Syracuse,  by  a  convention  held 
there,  under  circumstances,  if  possible,  more  discreditable  than 
had  been  proposed  at  Rome.  At  this  convention  the  Demo 
crats  passed  resolutions  which  they  call  national,  and,  after 
placing  in  nomination  a  full  ticket,  resolved  that  the  "  free 
soil "  convention,  which  was  about  to  sit  at  Utica,  might  strike 
from  the  Democratic  ticket  one  half  the  names,  and  supply  their 
places  with  "free  soil"  candidates,  and  thus  form  a  "  united" 
and  "  harmonious  "  ticket !  The  Utica  "  free  soil "  convention 
met,  and  "  harmoniously  "  displaced  half  the  names  from  the 
Democratic  ticket,  and  supplied  their  places  with  an  equal 
number  of  "  free  soil  "  candidates ;  passed  a  set  of  resolutions 
which  were  out-and-out  in  their  abolitionism,  and  thus  the 
very  antipodes  in  sentiments,  with  no  object  in  common,  ex 
cept  office  and  power,  were  connected — not  united ;  and  this 
is  the  "  union  of  the  party  " — heaven  save  the  mark  ! — over 
which  so  many  peans  have  been  chanted  by  consecrated  or 
gans,  and  to  the  high  priest  of  which  the  smoke  of  so  much 
incense  has  ascended. 

That  many  entered  upon  the  experiment  in  the  most  per 
fect  honesty  and  good  faith,  believing  it  to  have  originated  in 
pure  motives  and  to  be  susceptible  of  favorable  results,  I  have 
never  doubted ;  but  I  opposed  it  from  the  beginning,  as  long 
as  opposition  could  avail,  and  then  acquiesced  under  protest, 
and  patiently  awaited  the  moment  when  it  would  be  over 
thrown  by  its  inherent  elements  of  destruction.  That  time, 
thank  heaven,  has  transpired,  and  the  day  on  which  it  had  de 
velopment  should  be  celebrated  hereafter,  not  only  by  Demo 
crats,  but  by  all  honest  men,  as  a  day  when  the  Democratic 
party  was  emancipated  from  a  vassalage  ten  times  more  abject 
than  the  worst  form  of  negro  servitude.  And  now  that  it  is 
gone,  I  may  be  permitted  to  hope,  if  the  party  is  to  be  gov 
erned  by  contract,  instead  of  opinion,  hereafter,  that  we  pay 
off  the  free-soilers  foy  their  services  as  farmers  pay  who  take 
sheep — a  pound  of  wool  a  head. 

All  Democrats  who  distrusted  the  healing  influences  of 
this  puissant  "  union  "  were  denounced  as  being  opposed  to 
what  was  drawled  out  in  appropriate  whine  as  "the  union  and 
harmony  of  the  party  • "  and  I  have  been  denounced  both  by 


1853.]  DEMOCRATIC    RATIFICATION    MEETING.  399 

the  coalition  at  home  and  its  apologists  abroad,  as  being  op 
posed  to  a  "  Democratic  union."  If  by  that  is  meant  that  I 
have  been  and  am  opposed  to  all  hollow  and  heartless  bargains 
for  the  spoils,  under  any  and  every  guise — to  all  banding  to 
gether  of  Democrats,  "  free-soilers  "  and  political  hucksters,  to 
hunt  together  like  wolves  for  prey,  that  they  may  wrangle 
over  its  division  afterwards — then  I  am  opposed  to  it.  But  if 
it  is  intended  to  say  or  mean  that  I  am  opposed  to  a  cordial 
and  healthy  union  of  the  Democratic  masses,  upon  the  pure 
and  sublime  principles  of  the  party,  making  doctrines  the 
primary  object  of  its  pursuit  and  office  an  incident, — the 
charge  is  unfounded. 

Perhaps  no  better  evidence  of  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
coalition  u  harmonists  "  could  well  be  exhibited  than  the  con 
tinued  disregard  of  truth  and  fairness  which  they  have  at  all 
times  exhibited,  and  still  exhibit  to  every  true  Democrat  who 
has  uniformly  refused  to  bow  the  knee  to  their  "free-soil "  co 
alition  Baal.  Although  from  the  first  dawn  of  the  sectional 
agitation  upon  the  slavery  question  it  was  well  known  that,  as 
a  Senator  in  Congress,  I  spoke  and  voted  against  "  free-soil " 
abolitionism  in  every  form,  and  upon  every  occasion ;  and  al 
though  for  this  I  was  hunted  down  in  every  lane  of  life, — pur 
sued  by  their  minions  and  vile  presses,  with  the  ferocity  of 
evil  beasts, — their  papers  sent  into  my  house  to  wound  the 
feelings  of  unoffending  women  and  children,  laden  with  every 
epithet  in  the  catalogue  of  Billingsgate, — subjected  to  every 
calumny  which  depravity  could  invent — threatened  with  vio 
lence  and  pursued  to  the  retirement  of  my  own  fireside  be 
cause  I  resisted  their  hypocritical  crusade  against  the  Southern 
States ;  yet  since  the  doctrines  which  I  advocated,  and  for 
which  I  was  persecuted,  have  become  popular,  and  been  ac 
cepted  by  the  great  majority  of  the  American  people,  it  has 
suited  the  purposes  of  this  same  faction  and  its  aiders  and 
abettors,  before  the  disruption  at  Syracuse,  too,  and  while  I 
was  in  the  quiet  prosecution  of  my  private  pursuits,  to  at 
tempt  to  show  that  I  once  accorded  with  them  in  free-soil  sen 
timents  ;  and  they  forthwith  employed  scavengers,  who,  scis 
sors  in  hand,  entered  upon  the  manufacture  of  evidence,  know 
ing  its  falsity,  from  speeches,  which,  at  the  time  they  were 
made,  caused  them  to  open  upon  me  all  the  flood-gates  of 


4:00 

"abolition  "  bitterness  and  "free-soil55  malignity.  That  envi 
ous  miscreant,  Hainan,  could  not  enjoy  the  honors  which 
awaited  him  because  he  saw  Mordecai,  the  Jew,  sitting  at  the 
King's  gate ;  but  these  zealous  harmonists,  more  vindictive 
still,  could  not  see  me  peaceably  sitting  at  my  own. 

I  refer  to  these  things  not  because  they  are  matters  of  an 
noyance  to  me,  but  as  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  times ;  as  is 
my  right  and  duty.  I  refer  to  them  as  matters  of  history, 
merely  to  confound  the  falsehoods  of  the  guilty.  Who  does 
not  remember  that  day  when  the  country  was  arrayed  in  sec 
tional  conflict,  in  all  but  in  the  conflict  of  arms — when  light 
nings  flashed — when  thunder  roared,  and  the  storm  descended 

O  7 

in  dark  and  fearful  density ; — when  our  fabric  trembled  to  its 
foundations,  and  its  battlements  rocked  with  domestic  convul 
sion  ?  Who  then,-  associated  with  fugitive  slaves  and  renegade 
politicians,  stimulated  on  this  accursed  and  fiendish  spirit  and 
cried  out  disunion  ! — and  who  bared  his  head  to  the  "  pitiless 
peltings  "  of  the  storm — when  the  fanatic  gnashed  his  teeth, 
the  hypocrite  groaned,  the  demagogue  blustered,  when  the 
bad  persecuted  and  reviled,  the  good  trembled,  the  timid 
fled,  and  even  friends,  like  the  Priest  and  Levite,  passed  by  on 
the  other  side  ?  Let  these  questions  be  answered,  and  let  fac 
tion  too  remember,  that  it  is  yet  quite  too  early  to  enter  upon 

the  falsification  of  this  chapter  in  our  history. 
********* 

ISJ"o  good  ever  came  of  this  most  unfortunate  coalition.  It 
filled  our  State  halls  with  "  harmonious  "  conflict — with  crimi 
nation  and  recrimination — our  Legislature  with  plots,  conspira 
cies,  persecutions  and  political  jobbery.  It  has  left  not  one  sin 
gle  train  of  utility  behind  it,  but  its  dark  and  devious  pathway 
is  strewn  with  exhibitions  of  conflict,  malice  and  ill-will,  and  a 
train  of  dishonorable  remembrances  and  demoralizing  influences, 
which  a  generation  cannot  obliterate.  The  honest  masses,  who 
in  1848  were  misled  by  traitorous  leaders,  would  long  since 
have  rallied  to  the  national  Democratic  standard,  but  for  the 
coalition  which  placed  fidelity  and  treachery  upon  a  par.  Those 
who  have  not  already  done  so,  will  now  speedily  return  to  their 
early  and  cherished  faith,  with  an  experience  which  will  enable 
them  to  persevere  to  the  end.  We  shall  be  relieved  of  a  few 
dilapidated  leaders,  who  went  out  for  "  wool  and  came  home 


1853.]  DEMOCRATIC    RATIFICATION    MEETING.  401 

shorn,"  if  they  do  come  home  ;  but  the  chances,  fortunately,  are 
that,  having  gone  to  huxter  with  Abolitionists,  like  fur  traders, 
who  first  go  out  to  traffic  with  the  Indians,  find  themselves  in 
the  pappoose  business  before  they  are  aware  of  it,  and  finally 
remain  and  marry  among  them,  and  raise  up  a  generation  of 
half-breeds.  They  will  be  unexpectedly  detained  like  the  soldier 
on  a  battle-field,  who,  when  the  armies  came  into  conflict,  rushed 
into  the  enemy's  ranks,  and  seizing  his  man,  cried  out,  "  Captain, 
captain,  I  have  taken  a  prisoner."  "  Well,  bring  him  along,"  said 
the  captain.  "  I  can't,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well,  then,  come  back 
yourself."  "  I  can't  get  away — the  prisoner  won't  let  me  go," 
said  he. 

The  assembling  of  the  late  Democratic  Convention  at  Syra 
cuse,  if  the  pathway  to  it  had  not  been  for  the  last  five  years 
paved  by  "free  soil "  which  no  Democrat  could  safely  travel, 
and  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  softened  by  broken  pledges, 
and  repaired  only  by  renewed  coalitions,  furnishes  abundant 
evidence  that  the  Democratic  party  could  no  longer,  with  either 
safety  or  honor,  tolerate  the  connection.  It  cannot  be  denied 
with  a  semblance  of  truth  that  the  national  Democrats  there  had 
a  majority  of  the  delegates.  The  Hon.  M.  C.  Story,  chairman 
of  the  State  Committee,  called  the  Convention  to  order,  as  it 
was  both  his  privilege  and  duty  to  do.  He  nominated  Ira  P. 
Barnes  for  chairman — put  the  question  to  vote,  and  upon  the 
vote  declared  it  carried.  There  was  no  appeal  from  his  decision 
to  that  of  the  Convention,  and  Mr.  Barnes  therefore  stood  as 
chairman.  Nor  does  it  change  the  fact  that  another  individual, 
not  even  a  member  of  the  State  Committee,  subsequently  nomi 
nated,  and  amid  yells  from  a  gang  of  ruffians,  declared  another 
person  elected.  Mr.  Barnes  was  still  the  duly  elected  chairman 
of  the  Convention.  But  the  Convention  could  not  transact  its 
business  with  either  decorum  or  safety.  In  addition  to  a  nu 
merous  corps  of  public  officers,  State  and  national,  with  the  bri 
bery  of  office  and  the  threats  of  expulsion,  there  were  there,  by 
free-soil  procurement  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Con 
vention,  the  spawn  of  a  general  jail  delivery  from  the  city  of 
Xew  York,  the  black  vomit  of  the  Tombs  and  BlackAvell's  Isl 
and  ; — the  hare-lips,  slitted  ears,  broken  noses,  blear  eyes  (and, 
on  an  average,  only  about  two  whole  ones  to  three  men) ; — crea 
tures  ragged  as  Lazarus,  murderous  as  Cain,  depraved  as  the 
26 


402  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

hardened  thief,  mottled  with  disease,  foul  with  stench,  creep 
ing  with  vermin,  shaggy  with  drunken  ferocity,  and  armed 
with  the  implements  of  their  trade,  slung-shot  and  bowie-knives 
— they  were  there  under  the  control  of  public  officers  to  force 
respectable  Democrats  and  peaceful  citizens  into  "  harmonious  " 
concert,  with  those  who  brought  them  there !  The  result  is 
known, — the  base  ligament  was  severed  forever ;  and  I  glory 
more  in  this  one  act  of  the  Democratic  party  of  this  State,  than 
in  every  other  act  which  has  characterized  its  recent  domestic 
policy. 

Those  out  of  the  State  who  have  quite  too  officiously  cen 
sured  the  Democratic  party  for  its  refusal  to  continue  a  humili 
ating  and  degrading  coalition,  inquire  with  much  complacency, 
why  the  Democrats  cannot  sustain  an  association  which  has  had 
a  few  years  existence,  and  especially  since  the  free-soil  wing 
have  adopted  a  national  platform  ?  It  is  a  homely  though  sig 
nificant  proverb  that  he  who  has  a  refractory  wife  understands 
how  to  manage  the  difficulty  better  than  any  of  his  neighbors  ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  those  who  generously  received 
back  a  treacherous  faction,  under  the  promise  and  hope  of  ref 
ormation,  and,  after*  five  years'  painful  experience,  find  its  viru 
lence  as  great  as  ever — its  war  upon  the  faithful  men  and  just 
principles  of  the  party  as  vindictive  as  in  1848  ;  and  finally,  that 
in  'its  desperation  to  control  public  affairs,  after  repeated  acts 
of  violence,  it  has  madly  resorted  to  the  employment  of  common 
felons  with  murderous  weapons,  and  introduced  them  into  a 
deliberative  convention  in  the  face  of  day, — are  as  good  judges 
of  their  own  rights  and  their  own  dignity  and  of  the  true  in 
terests  of  the  Democratic  party  withal,  as  those  who  are  looking 
upon  us  through  a  jaundiced  medium  from  abroad. 

The  adoption  of  a  national  platform  by  this  faction  should 
deceive  no  one.  The  evil-one  adopts  the  Gospel  platform  when 
ever  it  suits  his  purpose,  and  becomes  an  angel  of  light  when 
ever  lie  can  turn  it  to  advantage.  They  found  it  necessary  to 
their  purposes,  and  having  no  impertinent  scruples  of  conscience 
as  a  body^  bolted  it  down  forthwith  ;  but  the  managing  spirits 
either  openly  dissented  from  it  or  evaded  it,  not  having  had 
time  to  read  it.  The  Surveyor  of  the  Port  of  New  York,  a  con 
spicuous  free-soiler,  who  up  to  a  very  recent  moment  had  strenu 
ously  resisted  national  sentiments,  seized  an  early  opportunity 


1853.]  DEMOCRATIC    RATIFICATION    MEETING.  403 

in  the  Convention  to  declare  that  he  was  authorized  (by  whom 
it  did  not  appear)  lo  say,  that  all  who  did  not  come  up  to  a  na 
tional  platform,  including  the  fugitive  slave  law,  would  not  be 
recognized  as  Democrats. 

After  this  declaration,  it  is  not  surprising  to  any  one  who 
has  understood  the  sincerity  of  this  forlorn  hope — sincere  in 
nothing  but  the  pursuit  of  spoils — that  they  should  have  adopted 
a  national  platform,  fugitive  slave  law  and  all ;  although  a  few 
weeks  before  some  of  them  had  pronounced  the  doctrines  of  the 
President's  Inaugural  "  damnable,"  and  others  fled  from  resolu 
tions  introduced  into  the  assembly,  simply  endorsing  it  in  the 
President's  own  language,  as  Lot  fled  from  the  approach  of  tire 
and  brimstone.  But  when  told  the  spoils  could  only  be  pro 
cured  by  endorsing  such  sentiments,  they  would  have  swallowed 
the  fugitive  slave  law  platform,  with  the  fugitives  on  it,  if  re 
quired.  They  would  have  taken  all  this  down,  and  then  have 
sworn  to  their  belief  in  the  divinity  of  Jemima  Wilkinson  and 
Joe  Smith.  So  far  from  this  somersault  having  made  their  asso 
ciation  more  acceptable  than  before,  it  is  the  reverse ;  as  all 
know,  from  the  history  of  the  actors  past  and  present — the  con 
duct  of  their  leaders  and  the  tone  of  their  presses — that  the 
adoption  of  this  platform  was  a  cheat  and  a  fraud,  and  adds  this 
to  their  former  catalogue  of  sins.  Their  sympathy  with  such  a 
declaration  of  principles  is  about  as  deep  as  that  of  the  Lon 
don  editor  who  published  an  obituary  notice.  A  friend  of  the 
deceased  calling  to  pay  for  it,  on  inquiring  the  amount  of  the 
charge,  was  told  five  shillings.  "But,"  said  the  gentleman, 
"  you  published  one  for  another  friend,  a  few  days  since,  as 
long  as  this,  and  charged  him  only  three  shillings."  "Ah," 
said  the  publisher,  "  that  was  a  case  where  we  merely  said,  we 
regret  to  announce,  &c. ;  this  is  a  case  where  we  said,  we  sin 
cerely  regret,"  &c.  And  these  harmonists  will  increase  their 
sincere  protestation  in  proportion  to  the  spoils  in  expectation. 
Let  those  who  choose  to  be  gulled  by  an  empty,  paper,  spoils- 
hunting  declaration,  justified  by  no  antecedents,  but  contradicted 
by  all — repudiated  by  their  own  presses,  and  disowned  or 
evaded  by  their  most  conspicuous  leaders,  do  so ;  but  the 
masses  of  honest  men  who  have  seen  and  known  the  whole  his 
tory  of  the  matter,  will  not  be  deceived  by  it.  Their  platform, 
like  the  Irishman's  pigeons,  is  on  paper,  and  on  paper  only. 


404: 

Such  was  the  coalition  of  1849,  and  such  have  been  its  fruits 
— such  its  rise,  progress,  decline,  and  fall,  never  to  rise  again. 
And  while  political  hucksters  may  well  clothe  themselves  in 
garbs  as  sable  as  their  associations,  every  true  Democrat  may 
cry  out  with  the  plebeians  on  the  death  of  Ca3sar — "  Liberty  ! 
Freedom  ! — tyranny  is  dead  ! — run  hence  ! — proclaim  ! — cry  it 
about  the  streets  !  "  The  old  financial  issues  have  ceased  to 
exist — the  bank  is  asked  for  by  no  one,  and  the  excellence  of 
the  independent  treasury  is  admitted  by  all — the  tariff  and  in 
ternal  improvement  are  more  local  than  general ;  but  the  great 
absorbing  question,  the  integrity  of  our  national  Union,  upon 
which  the  last  presidential  question  was  decided,  has  in  the  in 
tensity  of  public  interest  overshadowed  all  others,  and  is,  and 
for  years  to  come  will  be,  the  great  controlling  issue  of  the 
times.  It  becomes  every  Democrat  and  every  patriot,  of  what 
soever  party,  to  stand  by  this  issue,  for  the  end  is  not  yet. 

Equally  faithless  and  unsound  in  State  and  national  policy 
have  been  and  are  the  coalitionists  from  whose  associations  we 
are  relieved.  The  great  canal  policy,  the  pride  and  glory  of 
this  State,  which,  by  the  aid  of  a  Clinton's  genius,  was  made 
ours,  was  yet  in  infancy,  and  it  became  the  policy  of  the  people 
of  this  State  to  enlarge  it  so  as  to  meet  the  necessary  demands 
of  trade  not  by  a  tax  upon  the  land  and  labor  of  our  citizens, 
but  by  constitutionally  anticipating  the  tolls  so  as  to  defray  the 
cost  from  the  tonnage  of  the  west.  A  majority  of  the  candi 
dates  for  State  offices  were  found  as  ready  to  make  pledges  as 
to  disregard  them  afterwards.  A  candidate  for  Governor,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State,  went  upon  the  stump 
in  his  own  behalf,  and  gave  assurances  of  his  friendship  for  the 
measure  ;  but  both  himself  and  the  State  officers  resisted  to  the 
utmost  of  their  influence,  personal  and  official,  and  by  every 
species  of  management,  the  demands  and  expectations  of  the 
people,  and  it  was  only  by  the  energy  of  a  Cooley,  Bristol,  Van- 
derbilt,  and  their  associates,  that  the  measure  wras  carried  pro 
posing  to  enlarge  the  canal  speedily,  by  Constitutional  amend 
ment,  and  without  taxation.  To  resist  this  measure,  all  Demo 
crats  were  denounced  as  Whigs  who  favored  this  "  breaking  of 
the  Constitution  and  violation  of  that  sacred  instrument,"  and 
the  coalition  forces  in  both  Houses  resisted  it  to  the  last  gasp, 
but  were  finally  overborne  by  the  true  friends  of  the  enlarge- 


1853.]  DEMOCRATIC   RATIFICATION    MEETING.  405 

ment,  and  the  amendments  were  carried ;  and  now,  forsooth, 
they  claim  not  only  to  be,  but  to  have  been,  the  especial  friends 
of  this  particular  enlargement  policy,  with  an  assurance  that 
shows  they  have  become  insensible  to  shame. 

The  "  short  boy  "  experiment  of  harmonizing  Democrats  into 
compliance  having  failed,  it  is  now  asserted  by  their  drill  sergeants 
that  all  officers  upon  the  canals  who  do  not  submit  to  the  soften 
ing  process  are  to  be  forthwith  decapitated.  A  political  Mil- 
lerite  in  Oneida,  too,  has  had  a  revelation,  and  prophesied  the 
removal,  by  the  President,  of  Collector  Bronson  and  District 
Attorney  O'Connor  for  their  manly  sentiments  upon."  short  boy  " 
morality,  and  fixed  on  Wednesday,  the  5th,  already  passed,  for 
the  accomplishment  of  his  prediction.  I  can  answer  all  these 
petty  and  officious  threats  as  an  old  gentleman  from  Cape  Cod, 
in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  did  the  glowing  speech  of  a 
youthful  Federal  member  from  Boston,  upon  the  power  of  Great 
Britain,  about  the  time  of  the  war  with  that  nation.  The  mem 
ber  having  enlarged  upon  her  naval  and  military  strength,  and 
shown  with  great  eloquence  and  power  how  she  would  burn  our 
towns,  destroy  our  commerce,  defeat  our  army  and  navy,  and 
desolate  our  country,  was  overthrown  and  laughed  out  of  coun 
tenance  by  the  country  member's  speech,  which  was  as  follows  : 
"  Mr.  Speaker,  Mr.  Speaker,  who's  afear'd  f  " 

But  we  are  charged  by  "  free-soilers  "  and  petty  officials 
with  opposing  the  national  administration.  Fine  subjects  to 
defend  an  administration  which  came  into  power  in  spite  of 
their  pernicious  doctrines !  We  are  the  supporters  and  upholders 
of  the  administration,  not  by  base  toadying  for  the  spoils  of 
office — but  by  supporting  the  great  principles  upon  which  the 
President  came  into  power,  and  to  which  he  stands  committed 
before  the  world  in  his  inaugural.  The  doctrines  are  not  only 
his  but  ours,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
this  support  is  not  the  newborn  zeal  of  yesterday  or  to-day  but 
the  settled  principle  of  our  lives. 

It  is  high  time,  as  Mrs.  Caudle  would  say,  when  State  of 
ficers  play  the  dictator,  to  inquire  whether  they  control  the 
people,  or  the  people  them.  I  supposed  they  were  creatures 
and  not  creators  of  the  people.  When  William  Penn  was  Gov 
ernor  of  Pennsylvania,  having  occasion  to  transact  some  busi 
ness  in  the  interior  of  the  colony,  he  went  in  company  with  a 


406 

brother  Quaker,  and  in  their  travels  met  with  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  who,  not  knowing  them,  nor  receiving  from  them  as 
much  deference  as  he  thought  his  dignity  required,  said,  "  I 
presume  you  don't  know  who  I  am.  I  am  justice  of  the  peace, 
commissioned  by  the  Governor."  "  Oh  yes,  "  said  the  Quaker, 
"  we  know  thee ;  Friend  William  makes  such  things  as  thou 
art."  If  they  suppose  they  can  coerce  the  sentiment  of  a  free 
people  by  the  puny  threats  of  a  few  removals  from  office,  they 
will  live  long  enough  to  see  what  contempt,  derision,  and  scorn 
such  threats,  whether  put  in  execution  or  not,  will  receive  from 
those  who  fear  them  as  little  as  they  regard  them.  Because  the 
people  propose  to  discharge  these  faithless  servants,  they  are 
going  to  be  revenged  by  turning  out  the  people.  Like  the 
Bashaw  of  Tripoli,  who,  when  his  town  was  blockaded  by  one 
of  our  frigates,  said  he  was  shortly  to  have  a  frigate  of  his  own, 
and  then,  unless  this  blockade  was  immediately  withdrawn,  he 
intended  to  blockade  America  ! 

The  day  of  littleness,  coalitions,  and  broken  pledges  is  over. 
The  Democratic  party,  purified  as  by  fire,  is  upon  its  ancient 
footing,  with  candidates,  one  and  all,  who  have  been  true  and 
faithful  to  the  Constitution  in  moments  of  fearful  national  ex 
citement,  and  faithful  to  the  great  interests  of  this  State  when 
imperilled  by  enemies  open  and  disguised.  It  is,  my  friends,  a 
new  and  promising  era  in  the  affairs  of  the  Democratic  party. 
It  can  now  again  meet  in  convention  without  associating  with 
ruffian  violence — it  can  speak  out  its  sentiments  without  sugar 
ing  them  over  to  suit  the  taste  of  free-soil  squeamishness,  or  to 
inquire  who  among  its  members  can  be  tempted  to  sell  out  for 
"  free-soil "  favors.  It  can  enjoy  its  self-respect  and  challenge 
the  respect  of  all  honest  men  ;  it  can  spurn  the  associations  and 
defy  the  power  of  all  the  votaries  of  coalition ;  it  can  inscribe 
excelsior  upon  its  banner ;  it  can  appeal  to  the  integrity  of  the 
masses  and  rally  them  around  its  standard  as  in  the  palmiest 
days  of  Jeiferson  and  Jackson,  until,  glorying  in  its  success,  the 
people  with  one  accord  shall  exclaim : 

"  Bound  in  its  ADAMANTINE  chain, 
The  softs  are  taught  to  taste  of  pain, 
And  ' free-soil '  tyrants  vainly  groan, 
With  pangs  before  unfelt,  unpitied  and  unknown." 


ADDRESS 

TO  THE   JURY   IN   THE   CASE    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES 
COLLIER,  LATE  COLLECTOR  AT  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA. 

DELIVERED  AT  NEW  YORK,  May  2,  1854. 
[Reported  by  EDWARD  F.  UNDERBILL,  of  the  N.  Y.  Daily  Times.] 

[This  case  was  tried  in  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York,  before  Hon.  Samuel  E.  Betts,  sitting  as  Circuit  Judge,  and  a 
Jury  ; — Hon.  Charles  O'Conor,  U.  S.  District  Attorney,  appeared  for  the 
United  States.  The  circumstances  out  of  which  it  arose,  and  the  points 
involved  in  the  controversy,  fully  appear  in  the  argument.  Notwith 
standing  the  very  large  amount  claimed  by  the  government,  the  trial 
resulted  in  favor  of  the  defendant.  The  case  subsequently  went  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  where  it  was  argued  by  Attor 
ney-General  Black,  for  the  United  States,  and  by  Mr.  Dickinson  for  Col. 
Collier,  and  the  finding  below  was  confirmed.] 

TUESDAY  MORNING,  May  2d. 

The  Court  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Hon,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  proceeded  on  the  part  of  the  de 
fendant  to  address  the  Jury.  He  said  : 

IF  THE  COURT  PLEASE,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  JURY: — It  was 
declared  by  the  founders  of  this  federal  government,  in  the  re 
cital  of  the  instrument  by  which  it  was  formed,  that  one  of  its 
leading  objects  was  "  to  establish  justice."  In  its  erection  that 
object  was  accomplished,  and  justice  established  upon  broad 
and  deep  foundations, — tribunals  were  organized  for  its  admin 
istration,  and  in  this  conflict  between  the  government  and  the 
citizen  we  only  desire  that  it  shall  be  judged  by  such  princi 
ples  as  it  has  established  for  the  government  of  others.  The 
rights  of  every  citizen  are  dear  and  sacred,  and  it  is  the  duty 
and  the  business  of  the  sovereign  power  to  cherish  and  sustain, 


408  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

and  not  to  persecute,  trample  upon,  and  crush ;  and  it  boots 
but  little  indeed,  if  the  citizen  is  to  be  prostrated  and  ruined, 
whether  it  be  in  a  despotism  or  a  democracy,  or  whether  by 
the  application  of  the  knout  or  the  bowstring,  or  by  the  slow 
and  consuming  process  of  legalized  persecution. 

TLe  government,  as  you  will  perceive,  in  the  contest  with 
the  citizen,  in  matters  of  this  kind,  has  great  and  marked  ad 
vantages.  It  cannot  be  sued.  The  citizen  may  have  a  claim 
against  his  government,  but  he  cannot  arraign  it  in  a  court  of 
justice;  he  cannot  demand  before  the  judicial  tribunals  that  it 
respond  to  him  in  damages  and  redress  his  grievances,  however 
great  or  deep  his  cause  of  complaint ;  but  he  is  compelled  to 
resort  to  other  agencies — its  established  executive  or  legislative 
departments  for  redress,  and  await  their  pleasure.  If  it  has  a 
real  claim  against  the  citizen,  or,  as  in  this  case,  a  pretended  one, 
it  has  only  to  certify  its  balance,  and  is  its  own  witness,  its 
own  judge,  and,  I  may  add,  its  own  executioner;  and  the  citizen? 
no  matter  how  just  or  sacred  his  demand,  in  answer,  is  com 
pelled  to  bring  witnesses  to  establish  his  defence.  When  gov 
ernment  has,  or  fancies  it  has  a  claim,  it  has  but  to  say,  let  it  be 
done,  and  it  is  done.  One  of  its  own  appointees,  at  his  desk, 
states  an  account,  either  true  or  erroneous,  purporting  that  an 
agent  of  the  government  owes  a  certain  sum  of  money ;  and 
upon  that  the  alleged  debtor-  can  be  prosecuted  and  the  state 
ment  of  the  account  is  prima  facie  evidence  of  its  truth.  Not 
only  can  he  be  prosecuted  upon  that  statement,  and  a  judgment 
be  recovered,  but  the  statement  can  be  used  as  evidence  in  a 
criminal  charge,  and  the  citizen  be  indicted,  thrown  into  prison, 
convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  upon  an  alleged  balance, 
stated  by  the  government  appointee  to  be  due.  We  do  not 
complain  of  this,  because  it  is  a  law  extended  to  all  citizens 
who  act  as  government  agents ;  but  we  desire  that  it  may  be 
remembered  upon  what  dissimilar  terms  we  meet  here  for  trial. 
In  tracing  the  history  of  this  controversy,  you  will  see  that  it 
is  an  exhibition  on  the  part  of  the  government  which  demands 
both  of  the  court  and  the  jury  a  rigid  restriction  upon  this  broad 
governmental  license.  It  is  a  case  which  calls  for  our  severest 
criticism  upon  a  rule  so  alarming,  I  had  almost  said  so  mon 
strous. 

James  Collier,  the  defendant  in  this  case,  was  appointed 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.   JAMES   COLLIEE.  409 

Collector  at  San  Francisco,  in  the  district  of  Upper  California, 
on  the  3d  of  April,  1849.  He  forthwith  took  the  oath  of  office, 
filed  his  official  bonds,  and  was  ready  to  enter  upon  the  dis 
charge  of  his  duties.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  that  time, 
although  the  revenue  laws  had  recently  been  extended  over 
that  distant  country,  the  broad  rcgis  of  American  law  had  not 
been  vouchsafed  to  that  people,  nor  the  fabric  of  social  order 
erected  there ;  that  not  only  the  business  interests,  but  the  des 
perate  enterprise  of  the  world,  the  adventurous  spirit  of  the 
young,  the  ambition  of  the  middle-aged,  and  the  cupidity  of  the 
old,  were  flocking  there  for  the  purpose  of  partaking  of  the 
mineral  wealth  which  had  been  recently  discovered. 

Mr.  Collier,  the  defendant  here,  was  not  permitted  to  pro 
ceed  to  California  over  the  customary  route,  and  by  the  usual 
mode  of  travel,  but,  for  the  purposes  of  the  government,  and 
not  for  purposes  of  his  own,  he  was  directed  to  report  himself 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  a  military  station,  and  thence  proceed 
across  the  country  under  an  escort,  to  subserve,  I  repeat,  the 
purposes  of  the  government,  which  purposes,  when  they  are  fully 
published  to  the  country,  will  form  a  curious,  if  not  an  interest 
ing  chapter  in  our  political  history.  He  proceeded  upon  his 
journey.  You  have  heard  of  the  delays,  the  perils,  the  sick 
nesses,  and  the  varied  vicissitudes  which  beset  his  footsteps, 
consuming  his  time  from  the  month  of  April,  until  the  month 
of  November,  before  he  reached  his  destination.  He  escaped, 
to  be  sure,  the  stings  of  the  adders  which  lurked  in  his  path 
way,  the  fangs  of  the  wild  beasts  which  prowled  around  his 
slumbers,  the  tomahawks  of  the  savages  who  were  upon  his  trail ; 
more  fortunate  than  some  of  his  associates,  he  reached  his  post, 
discharged  his  duties,  and  returned,  having  escaped  all  the  dan 
gers  of  his  journey,  only  to  be  calumniated  in  his  good  name, 
and  have  his  reputation  assailed  and  lacerated  by  the  govern 
ment  he  had  served. 

On  his  arrival  at  San  Francisco  he  reported  himself  to  the 
government.  He  tells  his  story  with  the  eloquence  and  power 
of  truth,  in  a  letter,  which  he  himself  has  read  to  you,  written 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  two  days  after  he  reached 
there.  Go  with  me  for  a  moment  and  note  the  condition  of 
things  as  they  existed  there,  and  see  how  different  from  affairs 
at  the  Atlantic  ports.  There  was  no  law  but  the  revenue  law, 


4:10  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

which  had  recently  been  extended  over  the  country,  and  the 
feeble,  sickly,  and  dying  remains  of  the  laws  which  were  left 
by  a  conquered  people.  The  statutes  were  declared  by  the  dirk 
and  the  bowie-knife,  and  Colt's  revolvers  were  the  common  law. 
It  required  a  man  of  high  moral  and  physical  courage  to  execute 
the  revenue  laws  there,  and  the  government  seems  to  have  been 
most  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  this  agent.  He  entered  upon 
his  duties, — duties  upon  which  few  would  have  ventured,  and 
which  scarce  any  other  man  could  have  discharged,  and  which 
he,  with  all  his  intrepidity,  manly  daring,  and  heroic  nature, 
would  have  been  unable  to  execute  but  for  his  sons,  who  ac 
companied  and  aided  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  arduous  ser 
vices.  Bound  to  him  by  ties  stronger  than  those  of  gold — by 
ties  of  affection  as  well  as  of  interest,  they  rallied  around  him, 
stood  by  him,  and  sustained  when  all  others  forsook  him.  And 
at  the  close  of  this  perilous  service,  after  having  brought  order 
out  of  confusion,  and  paid  into  the  Treasury  a  large  amount  of 
money,  when  he  returned  home  he  found  himself  beset  by  the 
government  he  had  so  faithfully  served,  and  officially  held  up 
from  one  extreme  of  the  country  to  the  other,  as  a  defaulter  to 
the  amount  of  nearly  a  million  of  dollars.  Some  defalcations  a 
few  years  since  aroused  the  attention  of  the  people,  and  have 
given  peculiar  emphasis  and  ready  currency  to  the  word  "  de 
faulter;  "  and  no  sooner  was  this  alleged  delinquency  proclaimed 
by  the  government,  than  it  took  wings  and  flew  to  the  utter 
most  parts  of  the  earth  ;  and  although  it  was  contradicted,  yet 
it  had  been  published,  and  we  well  know  that  the  contradiction 
never  overtakes  the  rumor;  for,  according  to  the  proverb, 
"  Error  will  encompass  the  world  with  falsehood,  while  Truth 
is  putting  on  her  sandals." 

It  was  very  well  with  the  Treasury  Department  that  James 
Collier  could  be  published  as  a  defaulter :  could  be  arrested  for 
crime ;  when  eight  civil  suits  were  brought  against  him  and 
his  sureties,  and  he  was  indicted  and  seized  as  a  criminal ; — it 
was  all  well ;  there  was  no  one  on  the  part  of  the  government 
to  complain ;  but  when,  brought  into  Court,  he  seeks  to  vindi 
cate  himself  from  these  aspersions,  and  to  show  that  the  balan 
ces  are  in  his  favor,  then  the  learned  counsel  opposed  to  us, 
acting  under  the  instructions  of  the,  Treasury  Department, 
"  does  not  wish  a  case  for  the  newspapers."  Nor  do  we  ;  but 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIEE.  411 

after  procuring  this  defendant  to  be  published  as  a  defaulter  in 
every  newspaper  in  the  land,  from  the  copious  dailies  of  the 
cities  to  the  blue  7  by  9  sheets  beyond  the  mountains,  when 
our  time  to  publish  an  authentic  account  arrives,  they  hate  a 
newspaper  as  the  devil  hates  holy  water.  After  the  causeless 
and  cruel  wrong  visited  upon  the  defendant,  they  dislike  to 
see  him  justified  before  the  public,  even  upon  the  most  unques 
tionable  evidence,  lest,  perchance,  the  vindication  shall  be  pub 
lished.  We  have  prepared  and  proved  our  cause  for  the  con 
sideration  of  this  court  and  jury,  and  upon  our  proof  we  expect 
your  verdict.  We  have  addressed  no  other  tribunal.  We  glory 
in  the  day  which  enables  us  to  meet  face  to  face,  and  confront 
our  opponents,  so  far  as  we  can  face  a  government,  and  contest 
the  question  whether  James  Collier  is  a  defaulter,  or  whether 
the  government  is  indebted  to  him. 

You  have  seen  the  vast  difficulties  under  which  the  defend 
ant  performed  his  official  duties,  and  I  believe  you  will  see  with 
me,  and  with  every  good  citizen,  that  if  there  was  ever  a  case 
where  a  faithful  public  officer  was  entitled  to  the  thanks  of 
those  he  had  served,  it  is  this.  But  so  far  from  regarding  his 
conduct  with  anything  like  generous  liberality  or  common  jus 
tice,  it  has  seemed  to  us  that  he  was  set  up  as  a  mark,  and  has 
been  pursued  from  that  time  to  the  present  moment,  in  a  spirit 
of  persecution  as  unjust  as  it  is  active,  keen,  and  unyielding. 

Various  questions  arise  for  consideration,  which  will  be  no 
ticed  in  their  order ;  and  if  his  Honor  please,  I  will  discuss  these 
questions  of  law  and  fact,  so  closely  connected,  together ;  in 
tending  the  legal  arguments  entirely  for  the  Court.  They  are 
so  interwoven,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  separate  them  in  an 
argument  upon  the  whole  case. 

And  first.  What  was  to  be  the  defendant's  compensation  ? 
What  was  he  entitled  by  law  to  receive  ?  As  I  proceed,  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  give  not  only  our  own  views  of  the  case 
in  this  respect,  but  also  those  the  government  officers  them 
selves  entertained  in  relation  to  it.  He  was  appointed  under 
an  act  of  the  3d  March,  1849,  by  which  the  revenue  laws  were 
extended  over  the  district  of  Upper  California.  ]STo  other 
laws  had  been  extended  there.  It  was  provided  that  the  Col 
lector  of  the  District  should  be  allowed  "  a  corripensation  of 
81,500  per  annum,  and  the  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by 


412  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

law."  That  comprises  the  whole  question.  He  was  to  be  en 
titled  to  "  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum,  and  the  fees  and  com 
missions  allowed  by  law."  And  this  compensation  is  all  that 
he  ever  claimed,  and  is  all  that  he  claims  now.  What  did  the 
expression  "  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by  law,"  mean  ? 
We  know  what  was  intended  by  the  salary  of  $1,500,  and  the 
language  w  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by  law "  was  no 
more  difficult  of  interpretation.  The  acts  of  1793  and  1799, 
the  Collection  and  Coasting  Acts,  fixed  and  provided  what 
they  were.  The  law  has  never  been  repealed,  nor  essentially 
altered  or  amended.  It  is  as  well  understood  what,  by  law, 
"fees  and  commissions"  are,  as  it  is  what  currency  has  been 
established  by  the  constitution  and  laws ;  and  when  it  is  said, 
that  he  shall  have  the  "  fees  and  commissions,"  it  is  as  well 
understood,  in  legal  and  legislative  parlance,  as  is  the  fact 
that  one  hundred  cents  will  make  a  dollar,  when  it  is  said  he 
shall  receive  a  salary  of  $1,500. 

The  Treasury  Department  has  taken  various  views  of  this 
question,  and  so  various  that  they  are  sufficiently  amusing  to 
demand  a  rehearsal.  We  will  see  what  they  said  of  the  case, 
as  the  first  exhibition  of  their  legal  profundity,  and  what  they 
then  held  was  to  be  his  compensation.  He  was,  in  the  first 
place,  instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  the  time 
he  was  about  to  depart  for  San  Francisco,  to  enter  upon  his 
office,  in  an  official  letter,  what  his  duties  would  be ;  and  he 
was  favored  by  that  officer  with  information  on  various  topics 
beyond  the  scope  of  official  relations.  In  this  letter,  among 
other  things,  fees  and  commissions  are  spoken  of.  The  Acts 
of  1793  and  1799  are  cited,  and  the  Secretary  adds,  "  you  will 
be  entitled  by  law  to  a  compensation  of  three  thousand  dol 
lars."  This  information  conveyed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  though  doubtless  well  intended,  was  somewhat  offi 
ciously  erroneous,  as  he  subsequently  said  by  fixing  a  different 
rate,  and  as  his  successors  have  said  by  their  practice  from 
that  time  to  the  present.  Thus  in  April,  1849,  on  giving  him 
instructions,  among  other  volunteer  information,  he1  was  advis 
ed  that  he  would  be  entitled  to  a  compensation  of  three  thou 
sand  dollars  per  annum,  commencing  with  the  time  when  he 
took  the  oath  and  filed  his  bond,  and  that  time,  you  will  re 
member,  was  on  the  third  of  April,  1849.  ISTow,  the  Secretary 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIEE.  4:13 

of  the  Treasury,  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department,  with 
which  we  are  dealing  (and  which  I  intend  to  treat  as  a  De 
partment  of  the  government,  and  not  to  try  the  personal  mer 
its  of  the  very  numerous  and  respectable  gentlemen  who  have 
since  1849  held  the  office),  after  advising  Mr.  Collier  that  he 
would  be  entitled  to  a  salary  of  $3,000,  commencing  in  April, 
1849,  in  reviewing  his  account  prior  to  March,  1853,  allowed 
him  a  salary  at  the  rate  of  $1,500  per  annum  only,  commencing 
the  12th  of  November,  1849,  the  date  of  his  taking  possession 
of  the  office  at  San  Francisco,  one  half  the  amount  first  stated, 
and  commencing  upwards  of  seven  months  after  the  time  first 
fixed. 

In  the  letter  of  the  Commissioner  of  Customs,  another  high 
Treasury  officer,  to  the  defendant,  dated  Nov.  26th,  1851,  he 
says,  that  whenever  the  defendant  renders  an  account  of  his 
emoluments,  the  subject  of  compensation  will  be  lib&rcMy 
treated!  The  Treasury  authorities  were  then  about  to  be  not 
merely  just,  but  liberal  and  generous.  Would  to  God  they 
had  so  continued  ;  but  all  things  below  the  sun  are  transitory 
and  fleeting,  and  especially  the  views  of  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  show.  "Well,  after  they 
had  concluded  to  be  liberal,  to  cut  loose  from  the  statutes  alto 
gether,  though  they  possessed  no  more  authority  to  make  laws 
than  you  have,  being  themselves  creatures  of  statutory  crea 
tion,  with  only  power  to  administer  the  laws  of  Congress, 
they  changed  again  with  the  season,  and  stated  still  another 
rate  of  compensation.  , 

In  a  statement  of  the  7th  of  March,  1853,  the  Commissioner 
of  Customs,  in  rejecting  the  defendant's  charges  for  commis 
sions,  says,  "  they  are  disallowed — when  the  late  Collector  shall 
have  rendered,  as  required  by  the  12th  section  of  the  Act  of 
7th  May,  1822,  and  called  for  by  the  Commissioner  of  Cus 
toms,  a  statement  of  account  of  his  official  fees,  the  sum  of 
86,000  per  annum,  the  maximum  fixed  by  the  Act  of  3d 
March,  1851,  will  be  allowed  out  of  said  fees  and  commissions." 
Here  they  had  become  liberal,  indeed ;  but  they  had  found 
another  statute  tinder  which  they  "ascertained  his  compensation. 
When  he  should  render  an  account  of  his  fees  and  commissions 
$6,000  would  be  allowed  him.  Now,  I  submit  if  he  was  enti 
tled  to  a  compensation  of  $6,000  per  annum,  he  was  entitled  to 


414 

it  whether  returning  an  account  of  his  fees  or  not,. as  required 
by  the  Department.  They  claimed  that  the  compensation  was 
fixed  by  the  Act  of  the  2d  March,  1851,  and,  if  so,  the  defend 
ant  was  entitled  to  it  absolutely,  and  did  not  forfeit  it  by  a 
neglect  to  make  the  required  return.  The  Departmont,  if  right, 
might  perhaps  seek  redress  by  action  for  a  penalty,  but  have 
no  right  upon  their  own  showing  to  curtail  his  compensation 
as  settled  by  law.  In  fixing  the  date  of  the  act,  they  how 
ever  made  a  mistake  of  ten  years,  it  being  an  act  of  1841  in 
stead  of  1851 — a  very  slight  one,  indeed,  for  the  Treasury  De 
partment,  as  we  shall  see  in  examining  its  magnificent  system 
of  book-keeping. 

The  next  account  made  up  at  the  Treasury  Department  is 
that  of  3d  September,  1853.  The  Commissioner  of  Customs 
then  credited  for  maximum  compensation,  by  order  of  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  at  the  rate  of  $3,000  per  annum  from 
the  3d  of  April,  1849,  to  13th  February,  1850,  over  and  be 
yond  the  amount  previously  credited,  and  for  increased  salary 
under  the  act  of  September  28th,  1850,  at  the  rate  of  $10,000 
per  annum.  The  act  of  the  28th  of  September  was  that  which 
divided  the  State  into  six  collection  districts,  after  California 
had  been  admitted  into  the  Union,  and  fixed  the  salary  of  the 
Collector  of  the  district  of  San  Francisco  at  $10,000  per 
annum,  whoever  he  might  be.  It  was  not  this  defendant, 
because,  though  he  was  nominated  for  the  office,  under  the 
clamors  which  had  been  falsely  raised  against  him  he  was  re 
jected. 

Here  are  all  these  phases  which  the  Treasury  Department 
has  taken  upon  the  question  of  compensation — the  various 
shapes,  mutations,  and  contortions  into  which  it  has  been  forc 
ed  ;  not  one  statement  right,  and  no  two  alike — changing  as 
often  from  one  point  to  another  as  the  pen  is  put  to  paper 
upon  the  subject,  and  that  quite  often  indeed. 

'We  have  now  reached  the  question  whether  we  are  entitled 
to  commissions.  I  have  said  that  the  term,  (C  fees  and  commis 
sions  allowed  by  law,"  was  understood,  and  that  Congress 
knew  full  well  what  was  intended  when  it  referred  to  fees  and 
commissions.  "We  will  take  the  legislation  of  Congress  since 
the  acts  of  1793  and  1799,  and  see  how  it  has  regarded  and 
treated  the  subject  of  fees  and  commissions.  Various  collec- 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  415 

tion  districts  have  been  established  since  that  time,  and  almost 
every  kind  of  provision  has  been  made  in  relation  to  allowing 
compensation  by  way  of  fees  and  commissions.  I  shall  trouble 
the  Court  and  jury  for  a  moment  while  I  cite  some  of  these 
various  statutes,  to  show  what  the  legislation  has  been  upon 
the  subject  of  the  compensation  of  Collectors,  and  the  history 
of  fees  and  commissions. 

[Mr.  Dickinson  here  read  from  Gordon's  Digest,  edition  of 
1850,  the  several  acts  organizing  numerous  collection  districts, 
&c.] 

Now,  here  we  have  a  long  history  of  legislation,  commenc 
ing  in  1808  and  coming  down  to  1849,  and  even  subsequent  to 
that  period,  if  we  chose  to  pursue  the  subject  further,  tending 
to  show  that  Congress  has  always  legislated  specially  upon 
this  subject,  and  said  what  it  intended.  We  have  not  only 
this,  but  we  know  the  condition  of  California  at  that  time,  and 
it  is  fair  to  presume  that  Congress  did  not  send  out  this,  defend 
ant  to  collect  the  revenue  in  that  country,  under  the  circum 
stances,  for  $1,500  per  annum,  wrhile  from  the  evidence  it 
appears  that  was  the  lowest  price  for  which  the  services  of  a 
cook  could  be  secured.  Nor  did  it  send  him  out  for  a  maxi 
mum  compensation  of  $3,000,  because  no  one  could  Lve  upon 
that  sum  ;  nor  for  a  maximum  of  $6,000,  either ;  but  we  have 
a  right  to  presume  that  Congress,  in  fixing  this  compensation, 
took  into  consideration  all  the  facts  and  circumstances  con 
nected,  belonging  to  the  subject.  It  had  regard  to  the  country 
as  it  was,  unsubdued,  unorganized,  beset  with  danger  and  dif 
ficulties ;  with  every  article  of  provision  and  the  wages  of 
labor  tenfold  more  expensive  than  here ;  and  if  we  were  to 
speculate,  we  should  say  it  designed  to  provide  the  means  ad 
equate  to  enable  him  to  collect  the  revenue.  And  we  complain 
that  after  this  provision  was  made  by  Congress,  and  this  great 
amount  of  revenue  had  been  collected  and  brought  into  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States  by  this  defendant,  that  the  Treas 
ury  Department  should  require  him  to  furnish  his  whole  tale 
of  brick,  and  seek  to  deprive  him  of  the  straw  necessary  for 
their  construction.  The  Treasury- seeks  to  cut  down  the  Col 
lector's  compensation  to  the  compensation  given  at  the  Atlan 
tic  ports,  which  Congress  could  not  have  intended,  and  which 
if  it  had  intended,  knowing  the  circumstances,  it  would  have 


416 

been  regarded  as  a  body  of  madmen.  The  act  does  not  say  it 
shall  be  given  for  salary.  It  says,  u  he  shall  be  given  a  salary 
of  81,500,"  and  what  further?  "and  the  fees  and  commissions 
allowed  by  law."  In  every  other  case,  and  where  Congress 
designed  to  limit  the  compensation,  it  has  done  so,  as  you  will 
remember,  in  specific  terms.  In  some  cases  it  has  allowed 
commissions  and  fees  only ;  in  others,  fees  and  commissions  and 
a  salary ;  sometimes  a  salary  with  neither  fees  nor  commissions. 
Where  it  intended  there  should  be  a  maximum  allowance,  it 
has  said  so.  But  in  no  other  case  has  it  said  his  compensation 
shall  be  $1,500  salary  and  the  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by 
law.  There  is  but  one  law  that  fixes  the  fees.  Suppose  the 
statutes  had  said  the  fees  and  commissions  under  the  acts  of 
1793  and  1799,  would  any  one  have  doubted  that  it  intended 
the  fees  and  commissions  thus  fixed  ?  There  would  have  been 
no  pretence  that  it  was  anything  else,  but  that  he  was  entitled 
to  the  fees  and  commissions  specified  there,  and  not  half,  nor 
a  quarter,  nor  three  quarters  ot  the  fees  and  commissions. 
Suppose  the  act  had  said  that  he  should  be  entitled  to  all  the 
fees  allowed  by  law ;  it  would  not  have  strengthened  the 
case,  nor  have  changed,  in  the  least,  the  legal  import  of  the 
language. 

But  we  are  to  be  told  here  that  the  acts  commencing  in 
1822,  and  ending  in  1841,  limit  the  amount  and  provide  a  max 
imum  rate  of  compensation,  and  that  this  Collector's  was  lim 
ited  accordingly.  I  deny  that  it  has  any  application  here,  what 
ever.  These  statutes  do  not  embrace  this  special  subsequent 
legislation,  as  Congress  has  repeatedly  shown  in  the  most  sig 
nificant  manner,  by  travelling  over  the  whole  ground,  and  ex 
hibiting  its  sense  of  construction  in  every  phase  possible.  It 
has  shown  that  those  acts  limiting  compensation  do  not  apply. 
It  has  given  its  own  construction,  and  made  its  own  applica 
tion.  Wherever  it  has  sought  to  restrict,  it  has  restricted  in 
terms,  and  not  by  far-fetched  implications.  Remember  that 
here  was  a  great  experiment  about  to  be  tried,  and  that  of  it 
self  is  a  great  fact  in  the  case.  Here  was  a  country  recently 
brought  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  not  yet  organ 
ized,  without  a  government  of  any  kind.  Here  was  a  collec 
tor  going  out  upon  a  coast  where  it  was  expected  that  vessels 
from  every  part  of  the  world  would  trade.  It  was  known  that 


1854i]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  417 

it  would  be  a  great  commercial  entrepot;  and  it  was  intended, 
for  such  time  as  it  should  remain  in  this  unorganized  condi 
tion,  to  give  this  unusual  compensation.  The  legislation  was 
but  temporary.  It  was  seen  that  the  great  influx  of  popu 
lation  there  would  soon  make  it  a  State  of  the  Union  ;  that  it 
would  then  require  further  legislation ;  that  that  wide  expanse 
of  country,  with  its  numerous  ports,  would  require  to  be 
divided  into  several  districts,  and  it  was,  within  one  year, 
so  divided  into  six  districts.  This  hasty  legislation,  organizing 
the  one  district,  was  intended  to  be  temporary,  to  give  this 
compensation  in  this  great  experiment  of  attempting,  for  the 
first  time,  to  collect  the  revenue  on  the  Pacific. 

In  determining  this  question,  we  have  a  right  to  regard  the 
history  of  these  times  ;  to  look  too  at  the  construction  the  De 
partment  gave  it  themselves,  or  attempted  to  give,  for  they 
adopted  every  kind,  as  I  have  already  shown,  except  the  true 
one ;  not  examining  it  with  that  care  and  attention  which  be 
comes  a  leading  department,  and  especially  one  so  exacting ; 
and  hastily  expressing  opinions  with  regard  to  it,  that  were 
based  upon  no  sound  principles,  and  no  just  construction  of 
the  statute.  But,  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  amidst  all  their 
shifts,  they  never  charged  the  defendant,  in  any  of  the  numer 
ous  accounts  they  fabricated,  with  the  fees,  until  the  account 
of  September  22,  1853,  and  here  they  make  an  allowance  too, 
which  was  never  before  made  (for  increased  salary,  &a.),  and 
never  claimed  by  the  defendant. 

Now,  we  humbly  submit  that  we  are  entitled  to  just  what 
we  have  charged,  contended  for,  and  insisted  upon ;  a  salary 
of  81,500,  and  "  the  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by  law." 
It  was  known  to  us,  to  the  country,  and  to  the  Department, 
what  was  the  state  of  things  at  San  Francisco.  The  depart 
ment  was,  besides,  early  officially  advised  upon  the  subject, 
and  it  is  said,  as  an  apology  for  the  numerous  shapes  taken  at 
the  Treasury,  that  Congress  took  off  the  restriction  upon  sal 
aries  in  California,  February  14,  1850,  and  that,  therefore,  we 
were  entitled  to  increased  compensation.  Congress  did  pass 
a  joint  resolution  suspending  the  restrictions  on  salaries  in 
California,  under  the  following  circumstances:  On  the  3d  <of 
March,  1849,  an  act  was  passed  limiting  the  expense  of  col 
lecting  the  revenue  to  $1,600,000.  It  was  decided  by  the 
27 


418  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Treasury  Department  that  it  took  effect  from  the  first  of  Jan 
uary,  1850,  and  it  was  insisted  that  it  was  too  restrictive. 
Gen.  Taylor,  the  then  President,  made  immediate  legislation 
upon  the  subject  the  occasion  of  a  special  recommendation 
to  Congress,  and  the  Treasury  Department  applied  to  have  a 
relaxation  of  that  restriction,  and,  by  a  joint  resolution  of  Feb 
ruary  14th,  certain  further  provisions  were  made,  and  in  addi 
tion  to  specific  appropriations,  for  the  collection  of  the  reve 
nues,  all  restrictions  upon  salaries  in  California  and  Oregon 
were  removed,  until  the  further  action  of  Congress — upon 
"salaries,"  and  not  upon  the  receipt  of  fees  and  commissions. 
This  resolution  was  clearly  designed  to  reach  the  employees, 
deputies,  and  under  officers  of  the  Collector's  Department,  for 
it  would  have  been  of  very  little  advantage  to  the  Collector, 
indeed,  to  have  had  the  restriction  upon  his  salary  removed, 
which  formed  so  inconsiderable  an  item  of  his  compensation. 
The  removal  of  the  restriction,  we  submit,  had  no  relation  to 
the  compensation  of  the  Collector ;  if  it  had,  it  had  the  effect 
to  increase  his  salary ;  it  gave  him  no  compensation  in  fees  and 
commissions,  and,  by  crediting  him  with  both  a  portion  of  the 
time,  the  department  so  far  adopted  our  construction  of  the 
law. 

The  Collector  has  charged  but  one  compensation  from  the 
beginning,  and  that  was  his  salary  of  $1,500,  and  "  the  fees 
and  commissions  allowed  by  law."  They  say  he  has  not  re 
turned  his  fees.  He  says  he  was  under  no  obligation  to  re 
turn  them,  for  they  formed  a  portion  of  his  compensation.  His 
salary  formed  so  small  a  part  of  his  compensation  that  it  could 
scarcely  be  taken  into  the  account  where  the  necessaries  and 
conveniences  of  life  ranged  at  so  high  a  figure.  The  fees  were 
his  own,  and  he  was  not  bound  to  return,  much  less  to  account 
for  them.  The  amount  of  commissions  could  be  easily  ascer 
tained,  because  they  were  computed  upon  the  amount  of  mon 
eys  received  by  the  Collector  as  duties,  and  such  amount  of 
duties  was  returned  quarterly ;  but  the  account  of  fees,  the 
government  had  no  interest  in  receiving,  except  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  operations  of  the  Treasury  De 
partment.  It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  that  question  now,  be 
cause  whether  we  are  or  are  not  entitled  to  the  fees,  our  neglect 
to  make  returns  gives  them  no  new  rights  here.  If  we  are 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.   JAMES   COLLIER.  419 

bound  to  return  an  account  of  the  fees,  they  must  seek  their 
remedy  against  us  for  delinquency  in  not  making  such  return, 
and  when  they  put  that  in  issue  we  shall  be  ready  to  answer. 
The  only  question  here  is,  were  we  entitled  to  these  fees  as  a 
part  of  our  compensation  ?  I  have  already  argued,  insisting 
from  the  statute  creating  the  office,  from  analogy  and  the 
history  of  legislation,  that  we  were. 

It  is  unnecessary,  gentlemen,  that  I  should  either  fatigue 
you  or  myself,  or  consume  the  time  of  this  honorable  court,  in 
threading  all  the  intricacies  of  this  question  of  fees  and  com 
missions.     In  short,  this  theme  has  so  much  element  in  it  tend 
ing  to  fortify  my  positions,  that  I  can  expect  to  do  but  little 
more  than  to  present  the  most  plain  and  obvious  evidences,  and 
leave  the  ten  thousand  clustering  considerations,  that  might  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  it,  to  your  good  sense  and  judgment  in 
making  up  your  verdict.     I  have  already  shown  you  that  the 
Treasury  Department  was  in  most  lamentable  confusion  upon 
this  subject  of  compensation ;   that  they  started  gratuitously, 
advising  that  we  should  have  a  compensation  of  $3,000  per  an 
num,  and  that  to  commence  on  3d  April,  1849;  that  the  first 
time  they  made  up  their  accounts  they  allowed  us  but  $1,500, 
from  November  12,  1849,  instead  of  April  3d;  that  they  then 
promised  to  be  liberal  with  us,  as  if  we  were  mendicants  before 
the  Treasury  Department,  and  craving  its  charity  for  the  com 
pensation  which  the  law  had  given,  and  the  Collector  had  most 
dearly  earned.     No,  may  God  help  him  whom  abject  necessity 
requires  to  look  to  the  charity  of  the  Treasury  Department  for 
its  liberality.     When  they  disallowed  his  charge  for  commis 
sions,  they  simply  said  it  was  disallowed ;  but  that  when  he 
should  return  a  statement  of  his  fees,  they  would  allow  him  at 
the  rate  of  $6,000  per  annum.    When  they  made  up  the  account 
of  September  22d,  upon  this  subject,  the  Commissioner  credited 
him  with  $3,000  as  the  maximum  compensation  to  be  allowed 
from  3d  April,  1849,  to  February  14,  1850,  having  forgotten  he 
promised  to  make  it  $6,000,  which  amount  he  was  entitled  to 
under  all  circumstances,  if  under  any.     But  they  came  down  to 
$3,000  at  that  date,  in  addition  to  the  amount  before  credited, 
and  allowed  additional  salary,  at  the  rate  of  $10,000  per  annum, 
under  the  act  of  28th  September,  1850,  which  divided  the  State 
of  California  into  six  collection  districts.     By  that  act  the  sum 


420  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  $10,000  was  fixed  as  the  salary  of  the  Collector  of  the  district 
of  San  Francisco,  that  sum  including  the  entire  compensation. 
But  there  were  five  other  Collectors  in  the  other  districts  of  the 
State,  to  help  perform  the  duties,  w^hile  Mr.  Collier  was  the  Col 
lector  of  the  whole  six  districts  in  one,  comprising  the  then  dis 
trict  of  Upper  California.  The  new  Collector  had,  too,  a  naval 
officer,  appraisers,  and  all  the  aids  and  assistants  Collectors  have 
at  the  Atlantic  ports.  But  the  Treasury  Department,  in  fixing 
Mr.  Collier's  compensation  after  the  act  of  28th  September, 
1850,  credits  him  at  the  rate  of  $10,000  to  the  time  of  leaving 
his  office.  He  had  never  charged  or  sought  any  such  compen 
sation,  but  claimed  his  salary  at  the  rate  of  the  original  bargain 
that  he  made  with  them,  the  government  proposing  and  he  ac 
cepting.  No .  new  or  other  arrangement  was  consented  to  by 
him,  and  according  to  the  adage  "  it  takes  two  to  make  a  bar 
gain,''  and  that  bargain  was  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum,  and 
"  the  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by  law."  They  not  only 
credit  him  with  the  salary  at  the  rate  of  $10,000  per  annum, 
after  September  28th,  1850,  but  to  show  the  absurdity  of  their 
views,  credit  him  with  fees  and  commissions,  as  they  term  it, 
from  February  14th,  1850,  to  September  28th,  1850.  This 
amount  they  had  never  credited  before,  and  they  call  it,  in  the 
credit,  fees  "  per  contra,"  amounting  to  $29,105  06.  They  had 
the  means  of  knowing  what  those  fees  were  substantially.  They 
had  the  returns  of  his  successor,  Mr.  King,  and  of  the  five  other 
districts,  before  them  in  the  Department,  which  we  have  pro 
duced  here  in  court,  which  returns  showed  that  the  fees  in  the 
whole  of  the  six  collection  districts  of  California  amounted  to 
only  $1,600  per  month.  Young  Mr.  Collier,  the  cashier,  through 
whose  hands  all  the  fees  passed  during  his  father's  administration, 
swears  that  the  fees  received  by  the  defendant  did  not  exceed 
in  amount  $1,500  per  month.  He  kept  a  memorandum  of  them. 
But,  with  Mr.  King's  report  before  them,  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  charge  Mr.  Collier  with  fees  to  the  amount  of  $3,898  per 
month,  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  they  really  were  ;  yet  Mr. 
King  and  the  other  Collectors,  with  far  greater  advantages,  col 
lected  a  million  of  dollars  more  of  revenue  in  about  the  same 
time,  and  the  fees  in  the  six  districts  only  amounted  to  $1,600 
per  month.  As  an  offset  to  this  enormous  charge  against  us, 
they  credit  us  with  the  fees  at  the  rate  of  $3,898  per  month, 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  421 

from  February  14th,  to  September  27th,  amounting  to  $29,- 
105  06.  Generosity  unparalleled!  We  are  credited  for  fees 
during  a  period  of  seven  months,  which  amount  to  more  than 
the  amount  we  received  in  fourteen  months,  and  charged  with 
them  fourteen  months  at  the  same  rate !  But  this  is  not  all. 
With  their  hearts  waxing  warm  with  liberal  impulses,  they 
credit  us  with  $30,831  39  for  commissions  during  seven  months, 
being  about  one-half  the  time  that  we  are  legally  entitled  to 
them.  The  entire  amount  of  fees  which  they  charge  against  us 
(including  the  seven  months'  fees  for  which  they  give  us  credit) 
is  $55,091  72,  they  being  computed  at  the  rate  of  $3,898  per 
month.  To  be  sure  they  accompany  their  account  with  a  note 
saying  that  when  they  shall  be  satisfied  that  the  fees  are  not 
accurate,  they  will  reduce  them  ;  but  why  rear  so  great  a  fabric 
upon  such  extravagant  guess-work,  with  the  means  before  them 
of  knowing  better,  unless  it  be  to  swell  up  the  accounts  of  this 
defendant,  to  crush  him  down  and  ruin  his  reputation  ?  I  de 
mand  emphatically,  why  is  this  ?  How  did  they  know  that  the 
fees  amounted  to  $3,898  ?  They  say  they  obtained  it  from  Mr. 
Rodman's  report.  Where  is  Mr.  Rodman's  report,  and  where 
is  Mr.  Rodman  ?  The  Treasury  Department  has  come  here  by 
its  representatives  and  with  its  accounts,  and  Mr.  Rodman  is 
here  too.  Why  do  they  not  call  him  on  the  stand  to  tell  us 
what  his  report  was,  and  upon  what  state  of  facts  it  was  based  ? 
Why  does  not  the  Treasury  Department  give  us  an  explana 
tion  of  this  extravagant  effort  to  swell  so  egregiously  the  debt 
of  this  defendant  ?  Why  did  they  not — unless  it  was  their  de 
termination  to  pursue  him  and  hold  him  up  to  public  execration 
as  a  defaulter,  one  who  had  embezzled  and  squandered  the  pub 
lic  money  ?  It  is  no  pleasant  thing,  gentlemen,  to  be  accused 
of  embezzlement ;  and  you  heard  the  learned  counsel  in  his 
opening,  after  stating  the  grave  allegations  of  the  Department, 
say  that  unless  the  Collector  could  vindicate  himself,  he  would 
stand  before  the  public  in  no  enviable  attitude.  But  how  stands 
the  government  in  dealing  with  its  citizen  and  agent,  that  shall 
publish  him  in  advance  as  a  defaulter,  and  shall  pursue  him  with 
extravagant,  exorbitant,  and  unfounded  charges  ;  by  false  ac 
counts  which  are  of  themselves  evidence ;  and  set  on  foot  a  cry 
against  him,  which  follows  him  here,  and  by  some  sinister  and 
designing  agency  endeavor,  through  the  public  press,  concealing 


422  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  hand  which  strikes  the  blow,  to  drive  the  assassin's  dagger 
into  the  victim's  heart  ?  We  know  not  whence  it  comes,  but 
we  see  in  it  that  this  defendant  is  pointed  out  as  a  mark  for  the 
finger  of  scorn,  as  a  defaulter,  and  worthy  only  of  reproach  and 
shame.  Whence  comes  all  this  ?  What  enemy  is  it  that  thus 
pursues  this  man?  Whence  arises  this  malignity?  Where 
shall  we  rest  the  responsibility  ?  Not  upon  the  respectable 
public  prosecutor — not  upon  the  respectable  government  officers 
who  are  here — but  the  blow  falls,  and  the  defendant  feels  its 
influence,  if  he  cannot  describe  its  source.  It  is  murderous  to 
him  whether  the  author  be  known  or  unknown.  If  it  be  poison 
which  is  presented  to  the  lips,  it  matters  little  by  whom  the 
chalice  has  been  drugged.  With  the  evidence  at  hand  to  esti 
mate  the  fees  received  by  the  defendant  truly,  again  I  ask  why 
did  not  the  Department  approach  somewhere  into  the  neighbor 
hood  of  truth  ?  Why  charge  nearly  treble  the  real  amount,  un 
less  it  was  to  keep  this  defendant  before  the  public  as  a  de 
faulter  ?  I  will  not  inquire  what  particular  motives  induced 
this  action,  nor  by  whose  particular  agency  it  was  set  in  motion, 
nor  whether  the  defendant  has  suffered  most  by  the  timidity 
of  one,  or  the  ambition  of  another — nor  whether  some  new- 
fledged  official  wished  to  flesh  his  sword  in  this  man's  heart — 
whether  the  grand  idea  prevailed  that  it  would  be  a  prosperous 
commencement  if  some  late  Collector's  blood  could  be  made  to 
smoke  from  the  sacrificial  altar  ;  but  I  do  know  and  assert  that 
there  has  been  a  most  unjust  and  vindictive  eifort  to  present 
him  to  the  public  as  a  defaulter,  and  that  even  these  items  have 
been  swollen  up  without  any  authentic  basis  whatever  to  start 
from,  in  order  to  attain  that  result. 

On  the  22d  of  September  they  charged  us  wTith  fees  to  the 
amount  of  $55,091  72,  and  credited  us  with  $59,936  64  com 
pensation,  which  includes  the  amount  of  fees  allowed  us  "  per 
contra,"  $29,105  06 — when  our  view  from  the  beginning  has 
been,  when  the  design  of  Congress  was,  and  when  the  law  says, 
that  we  shall  have  a  salary  of"  $1,500  per  annum,  and  the  fees 
and  commissions  allowed  by  law." 

But  that  is  not  the  only  item  in  the  controversy.  The  fines, 
penalties,  and  forfeitures  for  seized  goods  and  vessels  form  a 
considerable  item  in  the  issue — some  $34,000  and  upwards,  be 
ing  one-half— the  Collector's  share  of  the  net  proceeds  of  their 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIEE.  423 

sale.  The  learned  counsel  in  his  opening,  acting  under  the  in 
structions,  not  of  his  superiors,  but  of  the  Department,  tells  you 
that  this  defendant  saw  fit  to  seize  goods  and  vessels,  and  rep 
resents  him  as  a  rapacious  man,  who  went  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  for  his  own  purposes,  his  own  gain,  and  his  own 
advancement,  and  seized  these  goods  and  vessels  to  such  an  ex 
tent,  and  under  such  circumstances  that  the  sovereigns  of  the 
world  had  been  compelled  to  cry  out  against  him,  and  to  call 
upon  the  sovereign  power  of  our  great  nation  to  prevent  such 
outrages,  and  to  treat  their  citizens  trading  at  our  ports  more 
like  merchants  engaged  in  that  laudable  enterprise  than  as 
pirates  cruising  against  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Verily, 
gentlemen,  this  is  the  first  official  commentary  I  ever  heard  from 
the  Treasury  Department  in  favor  of  smuggling ;  and  if  they 
take  it  to  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington,  I  have  no  doubt 
they  will  be  able  to  secure  a  patent  for  a  new,  if  not  a  useful 
invention.  The  government  vindicating  smuggling — a  little 
thing,  a  mere  technical  violation  of  the  law  !  This  defendant 
sees  fit  to  seize  vessels  and  goods  and  appropriate  them  to  his 
own  use  !  He  is  almost  likened  to  the  pirate  ensconced  in  the 
Isle  of  Pines,  who  starts  out  under  his  dark  flag  and  cross- 
bones,  and  amid  blood  and  carnage,  to  prey  upon  the  commerce 
of  the  high-seas. 

But  what  was  seized — who  was  it  seized  by,  and  under 
whose  instructions  ?  "  lie  saw  fit  to  seize"  says  my  learned 
friend,  using  the  Treasury  dialect  upon  the  subject.  Why,  the 
act  of  1799  says  the  Collector  "shall  seize  and  secure"  vessels 
or  goods  liable  to  seizure.  Although  he  had  been  dragged  for 
months  across  the  vast  intervening  country,  the  oath  of  office 
was  yet  warm  upon  his  lips,  when  by  law  he  did  seize,  as  he  was 
bound  to  seize,  and  as  he  had  sworn  to  seize,  and  as  his  official 
bond  required  him  to  seize.  And  yet  the  learned  counsel  says 
he  "  saw  fit "  to  seize  the  vessels  and  goods  of  these  poor,  in 
nocent  men,  who  were  only  smuggling  and  breaking  the  laws, 
of  the  country  just  a  little  !  A  first-rate  plea,  upon  the  Treas 
ury  Department  invention,  where  the  law  was  only  a  little 
broken.  The  breach  of  a  single  law  brought  death  into  the 
world,  and  yet  that  law  was  only  a  little  broken.  The  revenue 
laws  form  one  of  the  principal  foundation  stones  upon  which 
the  fabric  of  our  political  safety  reste.  The  subject  has  engaged 


424:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  attention  of  the  first  minds  from  the  dawn  of  civilization 
down  to  the  present  moment.  And  now  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment,  the  agency  through  which  they  are  executed,  comes  for 
ward  as  the  advocate  of  smuggling !  "Not  only  did  the  law 
require  these  seizures — not  only  did  the  defendant's  oath  require 
them — but  he  went  out  armed  with  instructions  from  the  Treas 
ury  Department  to  make  them  ;  and  to  enable  him  to  seize  ef 
fectually,  a  revenue  cutter  was  sent  in  advance,  and  its  captain 
instructed  to  act  in  connection  with  the  Collector,  and  with 
great  vigilance  to  guard  the  coast  against  smuggling.  The 
Collector,  in  one  of  the  first  despatches  that  he  sent  home  to  his 
government,  dated  the  29th  November,  1849,  advised  the  Treas 
ury  Department  of  the  great  press  of  smuggling  and  illicit  trade 
on  that  coast ; — he  called  attention  to  it,  and  asked  instructions, 
and  suggested  some  legal  questions  that  might  well  have  been 
taken  into  consideration  by  the  Department.  "  What  shall  I  do 
for  courts  ?  Here  I  am  a  new  beginner,  without  courts, 
without  legal  advisers,  without  the  aids  and  assistants  that  other 
Collectors  have,  and  here  the  whole  illicit  trade  of  the  world  is 
beginning  to  centre.  What  shall  I  do  ?  The  law  allows  me  to 
condemn  vessels  only  in  Oregon  and  Louisiana.  By  what  pro 
cess  am  I  to  get  them  there  ?  Can  the  marshal  of  Louisiana 
appoint  his  deputy  here  in  California  ?  "  He  asked  all  these 
questions  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  they  rendered  him 
for  an  answer — silence.  The  only  instructions  they  sent  him 
were  to  be  vigilant,  and  try  to  prevent  this  illicit  trade.  Mr. 
Walker  had  written  to  Captain  Frazer  who  had  been  sent 
around  in  command  of  the  revenue  cutter  Lawrence.  Mr.  Mere 
dith  had  sent  his  circular  of  the  26th  July,  1849,  directing  him 
to  guard  with  particular  vigilance  those  attempts  to  violate  the 
revenue  laws.  And  yet  we  are  told  now  by  the  Treasury  De 
partment  that  Mr.  Collier  "  saw  fit  to  seize  "  those  vessels  and 
goods  !  This  circular  of  the  Treasury  Department  was  designed 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  Collectors  to  an  abuse  that  existed 
in  the  importation  of  distilled  liquors  and  spirits.  He  tells  them 
that  "  it  is  unlawful,"  in  the  following  language  : 

"TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,     i 
July  26th,  1849.  ] 

"  It  is  represented  to  this  Department  that  in  some  of  the  ports 
of  the  United  States  the  erroneous  practice  prevails  of  admitting  the 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  425 

importation  of  gin  and  other  distilled  spirits,  in  cases  or  vessels  of  less 
capacity  than  ninety  gallons. 

"  By  the  provision  of  the  103d  section  of  the  General  Collection 
act  of  2d  March,  1799,  the  importation  of  any  distilled  spirits  (arrack 
and  sweet  cordials  excepted),  unless  in  casks  or  vessels  of  the  capacity 
of  ninety  gallons,  wine  measure,  and  upwards,  subjects  the  said  spirits 
to  forfeiture,  together  with  the  ship  or  vessel  in  which  it  is  imported.  The 
act  of  3d  March,  1827,  makes  a  further  exception,  as  it  relates  to 
BRANDY,  admitting  that  article  in  casks  of  a  capacity  no  less  than  fifteen 
gallons ;  but  with  this  single  modification,  the  prohibitory  provision 
of  the  act  of  1799,  above  cited,  remains  unrepealed,  and  must  therefore 
~be  strictly  enforced. 

"  It  is  due  to  the  importers  within  those  collection  districts  where 
the  erroneous  practice  referred  to  has  existed,  that  they  be  immediately 
apprised,  by  a  public  notice  from  the  Collector's  office,  of  the  views  of 
this  Department  in  regard  to  importations  of  the  article  in  question. 

"  W.  M.  MEREDITH, 

"  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. n 

"  Strictly  enforced."  Here  are  the  instructions  of  this  De 
partment,  and  yet  they  say  that  he  "  saw  fit  to  seize."  Mr. 
Walker's  directions  to  Captain  Frazer,  commanding  brig  Law 
rence,  in  the  revenue  service,  were  these  : 

"  You  will,  however,  enter  and  examine  all  the  different  harbors 
which  are  now  or  which  may  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  and  exercise  the  greatest  vigilance  in  the  prevention  and  detec 
tion  of  illicit  trade,  and  in  bringing  offenders  against  the  revenue 
service  to  justice.  Should  you  be  officially  notified  of  the  extension 
of  the  revenue  laws  over  California,  and  the  appointment  of  a  Collector 
for  that  district,  that  being  the  point  where  the  greatest  amount  of 
commerce  will  be  directed,  you  will  transfer  your  accounts  to  that  Col 
lector,  and  make  the  point  of  his  location  your  principal  rendezvous." 

These  are  the  directions  given  to  Captain  Frazer,  who,  you 
will  remember,  was  upon  the  stand,  and  testified  in  relation  to 
these  matters,  and  who  was  sent  to  the  Pacific  for  the  purpose 
of  aiding  and  assisting  in  the  prevention  of  this  very  smuggling 
about  which  we  are  speaking. 

Captain  Frazer,  in  writing  from  San  Francisco,  under  the 
date  of  November  1st,  1849,  to  Mr.  Walker,  a  few  days  before 
Mr.  Collier  arrived  there,  says  : 


426  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

"  There  is  no  question  that  a  great  amount  of  illicit  trade  is  prose 
cuted  in  this  bay,  and  that  the  most  vigilant  measures  are  necessary  to 
prevent  it" 

And  yet  it  is  made  a  matter  of  complaint  against  the  de 
fendant  by  the  Treasury  Department  that  he  made  seizures, 
when  the  law  required  him  to  make  them,  when  it  was  his  duty 
to  make  them,  and  when  no  revenue  could  be  collected,  as  is 
here  proved,  and  as  the  common  sense  of  the  case  proves,  unless 
the  seizures  were  made.  What  would  have  been  the  effect, 
Gentlemen  of  the  Jury,  if  the  Collector  had  not  acted  in  the 
matter  precisely  as  he  did  ?  What  would  be  the  effect  in  this 
great  city,  if  burglary  was  to  go  unpunished — if  the  breaker 
of  houses,  shops,  banks,  and  stores,  should  be  permitted  to  go 
unwhipped  of  justice  ?  The  effect  would  be  to  legalize  his  acts, 
as  it  were,  and  every  one  not  restrained  by  moral  influences 
would  enter  upon  the  commission  of  crime.  Here  this  new 
country,  with  its  vast  mineral  treasures,  had  invited  the  illicit 
trade  of  the  world,  and  it  was  pressing  upon  that  single  point, 
and  seeking  to  land  its  cargoes  ;  and  it  required  the  great  and 
extra  vigilance,  which  Mr.  Walker  had  directed  Captain  Frazer 
to  exert,  the  same  vigilance  which  Secretary  Meredith,  in  his 
circular  of  July,  1849,  directed  should  be  exercised,  and  in 
which  he  instructed  that  the  laws  should  be  "  strictly  enforced." 

Still  it  is  made  a  matter  of  complaint  that  the  Collector 
seized ;  but  when  you  come  to  examine  this  history  of  seizures, 
you  all  see  that  so  far  from  being  governed  by  rapacity,  or  a 
desire  to  put  money  into  his  own  pocket  for  unlawful  gain,  he 
released  with  a  liberal  discretion  a  large  number  of  vessels  for 
feited  to  the  United  States.  His  duty  was  to  seize  and  he  did 
seize.  The  goods  were  abandoned.  They  were  generally  brandies 
imported  in  quantities  of  less  than  fifteen  gallons,  which  the  law 
prohibited,  and  sometimes  in  bottles.  Their  importation  was 
a  fraud  upon  the  revenue^  a  fraud  upon  fair  dealers,  and  a  fraud 
upon  our  own  merchants  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  who  paid  their 
duties.  These  traders  came  there  as  mere  adventurers,  and  at 
tempted  to  land  their  goods  to  compete  with  the  merchants  of 
the  United  States,  who  had  paid  the  duties  on  their  importa 
tions.  The  merchants  complained  of  this  state  of  things,  and 
they  might  well,  complain,  and  this  defendant  performed  his 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  427 

duties  and  enforced  the  laws.  The  Treasury  Department  made 
no  complaints  then.  The  report  of  seizures  was  made  from 
time  to  time  to  the  Department,  stating  the  date  and  particulars 
of  the  transaction.  All  went  well,  so  long  as  the  United  States 
of  America,  with  its  thirty  free  and  independent  members,  was 
receiving  the  money ;  and  it  was  only  when  Mr.  Collier,  the 
defendant,  who  had  perilled  his  life  in  enforcing  the  laws  ;  who 
had  breasted  that  mighty  storm  of  anarchy,  and  secured  this 
treasure  to  the  government ;  it  was  only  when  he  claimed  his 
half  of  the  amount  and  insisted  on  having  it,  that  the  United 
States,  through  its  Treasury  Department,  became  conscientious, 
and  said  no.  Then  they  said,  you  have  not  proceeded  according 
to  law.  But,  said  he,  I  have  done  precisely  as  I  told  you  I  was 
going  to  do,  and  was  doing.  I  could  not  go  to  Louisiana  or 
Oregon — these  forfeited  goods  were  condemned  by  the  owners 
themselves,  or  their  agents  who  brought  them.  Here  is  case 
upon  case  reported  to  the  Department,  where  both  the  vessel 
and  the  cargo  were  forfeited,  and  where  the  Collector  released 
the  vessel  and  seized  and  sold  only  the  cargo,  or  only  that  por 
tion  of  the  cargo  that  was  prohibited — generally  liquors,  and 
that  by  the  written  consent  of  the  owners. 

The  Treasury  Department  took  its  share  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  forfeited  liquors,  but  when  Mr.  Collier  claims  his,  it  is  all 
wrong,  and  they  turn  round  and  pronounce  an  eulogy  upon  the 
smuggler,  and  it  only  remains  as  a  suitable  finale  for  the  Treas 
ury  officers  and  the  smugglers  to  drink  each  other's  health  in 
smuggled  brandy!  What  should  the  defendant  have  done? 
Could  he  go  to  Oregon  or  Louisiana?  The  law  which  ap 
pointed  him,  required  him  to  be  there  at  his  post.  Could  he 
send  his  deputy?  He  could  not  get  a  deputy,  except  those 
bound  to  him  by  ties  of  kindred  and  affection,  because  the  at 
tractions  of  the  mines  were  stronger  than  any  amount  that 
could  be  offered,  and  we  have  seen  that,  but  for  the  aid  of  his 
sons,  he  could  not  have  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office.  He 
told  the  Treasury  Department  from  time  to  time  of  the  state 
of  affairs  there,  describing  them  as  he  went  forward.  They 
made  no  objection — they  expressed  no  dissent.  He  told  them 
that  these  articles  were  not  condemned  by  the  courts,  but  that 
they  were  condemned  by  the  parties  themselves.  The  parties 
waived  a  condemnation  by  the  courts,  stating  that  it  was  a  legal 


428 

forfeiture  ;  and  the  cheapest  and  best  way,  as  the  parties  could 
not  go  to  Louisiana  or  Oregon,  was  to  sign  articles  of  condem 
nation,  to  allow  them  to  be  sold ;  doubtless  that  they  might 
buy  them  in  again,  and  take  them  to  the  mines.  The  smuggling 
was  persisted  in,  the  goods  were  forfeited,  seized  in  pursuance 
of  law,  and  sold,  and  the  returns  duly  made  to  the  Department. 
One  half  of  the  proceeds  was  retained  by  the  Collector,  as  his 
share,  and  no  objection  was  made  by  the  Department  to  receiv 
ing  their  half,  and  none  to  the  course  he  was  pursuing,  until 
after  the  Collector  returns  from  his  post,  and  seeks  a  final  set 
tlement,  when  they  claim  the  whole  of  the  proceeds ;  and  be 
cause  he  refuses  to  give  up  to  the  Department  that  to  which  he 
is  legally  entitled  as  his  own,  they  brand  him  as  one  guilty  of  a 
violation  of  his  duty,  of  rapacity,  of  wrong-doing  scarcely  less 
than  that  of  a  pirate ;  and  all  because  he  seized  contraband 
liquors,  and  by  the  direction  of  the  owners,  and  with  the  con 
sent  of  the  government,  sold  them  and  divided  the  proceeds 
precisely  as  the  law  directs. 

They  could  take  and  hold  their  half,  but  he  cannot  hold 
his.  Let  us  look  at  the  moral  as  well  as  the  legal  proposition 
for  a  single  moment.  The  only  persons  interested  in  the 
matter,  adverse  to  the  government,  were  the  owners.  The 
only  object  of  a  condemnation,  I  submit  to  your  honor,  by  a 
proceeding  in  rem,  is  not  to  fix  the  title  to  the  things,  for  the 
forfeiture  fixes  that ;  it  is  only  to  declare  it  in  a  contest. 
When  one  merchant  holds  a  package  of  goods  and  another 
claims  it,  only  one  is  the  owner,  and  the  result  of  an  action  of 
replevin  declares  which  is  the  owner  upon  evidence.  It  does 
not  make  him  the  owner  who  was  not  the  owner  before. 
Here  is  a  package  of  forfeited  goods.  The  owner  of  the 
goods  says,  "  I  concede  that  they  are  forfeited.  I  give  them 
up."  Now,  I  understand  that  the  only  object  of  a  proceeding 
in  rem  is  to  declare  a  title ;  but  when  the  party  declares  the 
title  himself,  and  transfers  it,  either  verbally  or  in  writing 
(and  in  these  cases  it  is  by  writing),  he  relinquishes  all  claim, 
and  declares  it  to  be  as  it  is,  and  as  the  law  would  declare  it 
to  be,  the  property  of  the  government,  and  there  is  no  one 
else  to  complain  but  him ;  and  he  cannot  complain,  for  he  is 
estopped  by  his  own  voluntary  act.  The  very  moment  the 
party  violates  the  law,  the  title  passes  from  him  and  he  has  no 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  429 

longer  any  right  to  the  goods.  The  revenue  officer  seizes, 
and  the  proceedings  before  the  Court  are  to  determine  whether 
the  law  has  been  violated  or  not.  If  it  has  been  violated,  it 
is  then  conceded  on  all  hands,  that  the  things  are  forfeited ; 
but  if  the  party  voluntarily  says,  "  I  have  violated  the  law  of 
the  land — I  certify  to  my  abandonment  of  the  goods — I  do 
not  wish  to  go  before  Court  to  settle  the  matter — to  determine 
what  I  have  the  right  to  determine  for  myself,  and  to  say 
whether  there  has  been  a  forfeiture  or  not,"  there  is  then  no 
need  of  the  machinery  of  the  Court. 

The  Collector  reported  these  cases,  commencing  early  in 
February,  1850,  to  the  Department,  from  time  to  time,  as  the 
goods  were  seized,  and  a  disposition  made  of  them.  He  asked 
instructions  from  the  Department,  He  heard  no  complaint  of 
his  action  taken  on  the  premises,  though  some  of  the  seizures 
were  made  and  the  goods  forfeited  as  early  as  Xov.,  1849. 
But  now  they  proclaim  us  wrong-doers — "  You  had  no  right 
to  take  this  property  and.  sell  it,  without  first  having  it 
regularly  condemned  by  the  Courts ; "  and  they  say  this 
with  one  half  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  crammed  in  their 
capacious  pockets,  and  entertaining  a  wish  to  get  the  other 
half.  With  what  grace  can  they  come  into  Court,  and 
condemn  the  conduct  of  the  Collector,  after  receiving  one-half 

"  O 

of  the  money  ?  They  must  have  forgotten  the  old  philosophical 
epigram : 

"  Says  the  earth  to  the  moon,  I  don't  envy  your  state, 

That  you  steal  from  the  sun  is  beyond  all  belief; 
But  the  mild  moon  replied,  madam  earth,  hold  your  prate — 
The  receiver's  as  bad  as  the  thief." 

They  say  we  have  no  equities.  What  equities  has  the 
Treasury  Department?  We  rendered  the  service — perilled 
life  and  limb  and  liberty ;  we  seized  the  goods,  and  subjected 
ourselves  to  be  prosecuted  and  held  responsible  for  damages 
if  mistaken ;  and  they  ! — they  reposed  in  easy  chairs  upon 
their  official  carpets,  waiting  the  result,  and  now  say  we  have 
no  equities !  What  equities,  I  ask  again,  has  the  government  ? 
Set  them  forth.  Bring  them  in,  and  let  us  see  what  right  or 
title  you  can  assert  to  the  money.  But  they  say  we  are  going 
to  keep  the  money.  Yes,  keep  it — it  will  be  a  safe  and  per- 


430  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

manent  investment  if  they  get  it,  for  our  time  in  this  world, 
at  least.  There  could  have  been  seen,  within  the  last  three 
years,  aged  men,  dressed  in  small-clothes,  with  knee  and  shoe 
buckles — walking  up  and  down  the  halls  of  the  Treasury 
Department — who  came  there  when  that  costume  was  in 
fashion,  and  are  yet  waiting  their  turns  to  have  their  claims 
allowed.  We  demand  who  constituted  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  a  trustee  for  our  citizens,  or  the  citizens  of  other  nations? 
The  Treasury  Department  has  no  more  right  to  that  than  you 
have.  There  is  no  law  giving  them  any  right.  They  are  not 
trustees  of  us  or  of  the  claimants.  No  law  has  constituted 
them  trustees,  nor  has  any  usage.  The  Treasury  has  no  right 
to  this  money  under  the  revenue  laws,  until  it  is  distributed ; 
and  then  they  have  a  right  to  only  one  half,  except  when  the 
seizures  are  less  than  $100  in  value.  In  that  case,  when  the 
claimant  does  not  appear,  the  proceeds  go  into  the  Treasury 
Department,  and  remain  there  one  year,  under  certain  pro 
visions  ;  but  when  that  year  is  at  an  end,  they  come  back  into 
the  hands  of  the  Collector  for  distribution  ;  but  in  all  other 
cases  the  Treasury  Department  has  no  more  right  to  the 
money  than  any  individual  in  the  community.  When  the 
goods  are  seized,  they  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Collector. 
They  remain  there  until  disposed  of  by  the  Courts.  ISTow 
the  ordinary  course  of  proceeding  would  have  been,  if  there 
had  been  Courts,  for  the  Collector  to  seize,  and,  after  seizure, 
prosecute  these  goods.  The  party  could  have  gone  and  con 
tested  the  action  of  the  Collector  and  shown,  if  such  were  the 
facts,  that  the  law  had  not  been  violated,  so  that  if  this  were 
shown  the  goods  could  be  restored  to  the  claimant ;  if  not, 
they  would  be  condemned  and  taken  possession  of  by  the 
United  States  marshal  and  sold.  Then  where  would  the 
money  have  gone?  It  would  have  been  place .1  in  the  hands 
of  the  Collector,  and  by  him  distributed  according  to  law, 
giving  the  United  States  its  portion,  the  revenue  officers  their 
portion,  and  taking  to  himself  his  portion. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  thread  this  through  all  its  ramifi 
cations,  and  all  the  circumstances  attending  it.  It  is  sufficient 
to  know  that  the  money  does  not  get  legally  into  the  Treasury 
Department  until  it  is  legally  distributed,  and  that  it  is  right 
fully  in  the  possession  of  the  Collector  until  there  is  a  decree 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIEK.  431 

of  condemnation.  The  owner  of  the  goods  may  sue  the  Col 
lector  for  damages,  but  the  United  States  cannot  legally  touch 
or  interfere  with  us  in  our  action,  nor  lay  their  finger  upon  one 
dollar  of  that  money  until  such  decree  of  condemnation  be 
had.  This  payment  made  by  us  to  them  of  one  half  was  a 
gratuity,  unless  the  goods  were  virtually  condemned.  Of  the 
surrenders  made,  some  were  made  unconditionally  and  abso 
lutely.  In  other  cases  the  goods  were  surrendered  on  condi 
tion  that  the  subject  should  be  referred  to  the  Treasury  De 
partment  to  determine  whether  the  seizures  were  legal.  The 
Treasury  Department  did  so  decide,  and  now,  at  this  late  day, 
they  have  come  to  a  conclusion  between  the  Collector  and  the 
claimants,  not  unlike  that  of  the  Mohawk  justice  in  a  homely 
anecdote.  It  seems  that  a  couple  of  his  neighbors  embarked 
in  a  litigation  over  a  pig.  After  hearing  the  case,  the  justice 
decided  in  his  wisdom,  that  each  party  had  conducted  himself 
so  improperly  that  neither  was  entitled  to  the  property ;  he 
therefore  decided  that  he  would  take  the  pig  himself,  and  let 
the  constable  pay  the  costs.  Xow,  the  Treasury  Department 
decide,  under  this  submission,  that  the  goods  are  forfeited  to 
the  United  States  under  the  laws,  but  ask  for  the  whole  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  sales,  and  cry  out  against  us  because  we  retain 
the  share  to  which  we  are  legally  entitled,  as  if  we  had  been 
guilty  of  some  great  crime ;  when  we  simply  obeyed  instruc 
tions,  used  the  means  which  the  government  had  put  in  our 
hands  for  the  enforcement  of  the  revenue  laws,  pursued  the 
law  so  far  as  there  was  any  law  to  pursue,  and  when  there 
was  no  law,  pursued  the  course  that  was  agreed  upon  by  the 
parties  themselves.  Those  persons  that  were  attempting  to 
smuggle  goods  into  the  Territory  were  enterprising  men. 
They  did  mean  business  upon  a  high  figure,  and  the  forfeiture 
of  one  cargo  of  brandy  did  not  discourage  them  in  their  opera 
tions.  Time  with  them  was  literally  money ;  and  rather  than 
waste  time  over  these  questions,  and  knowing  that  these  ar 
ticles  were  legally  forfeited,  they  surrendered  them  like  men, 
and  went  about  making  money  in  some  other  way. 

Upon  that  branch  of  the  case,  so  far,  we  say  that  in  either 
aspect  the  government  cannot  complain,  nor  can  they  recover 
this  money  out  of  our  hands,  because  it  was  a  part  of  the  com 
pensation  allowed  by  Taw ;  and  in  distributing  the  proceeds  of 


432  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  forfeited  goods,  we  have  distributed  them  exactly  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  law;  and  nothing  is  lacking  in  the  case,  ex 
cept  that  here  was  no  decree  of  condemnation  by  the  courts, 
but,  in  its  stead,  a  decree  of  condemnation  by  the  parties 
themselves,  surrendering  them  to  the  Collector  to  be  sold. 
The  Collector  had  no  course  left  him  but  to  act  as  he  did,  and 
if  he  executed  the  revenue  laws  at  all,  he  could  not  have  done 
otherwise.  But,  so  far  from  showing  himself  to  be  rapacious, 
he  released  vessel  after  vessel  that  he  had  a  right  to  retain, 
although,  had  he  condemned  them,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  he 
would  have  received  half  of  the  proceeds.  There  was  no  dis 
cretion  then  vested  in  the  Collector  to  release  the  vessels,  and 
what  he  did  was  upon  his  own  responsibility.  There  are  pro 
visions  for  remission  of  forfeitures  where  the  violations  are  not 
wilful,  to  which  I  will  advert  hereafter.  In  these  cases  the 
smuggler  was  entitled  to  little  sympathy.  The  whole  history 
of  the  cases  shows  that  the  violations  were  clearly  wilful,  and 
many  of  them  were  acknowledged  to  be  so  by  the  parties 
themselves. 

The  right  to  a  distributive  share  does  not  become  fixed 
solely  by  a  condemnation.  The  condemnation  renders  a 
different  office.  It  determines  whether  by  reason  of  the  for 
feiture,  the  property  belongs  to  the  United  States,  to  be  dis 
tributed  under  the  law,  or  whether  it  belongs  to  the  individu 
al.  That  is  the  whole  office.  When  that  office  is  discharged 
by  the  only  one  who  can  complain  of  its  action  adversely  to 
himself,  there  is  no  necessity  of  proceeding  further,  and  es 
pecially  here,  while  we  made  our  returns  from  time  to  time, 
and  the  United  States  were  perfectly  aware  what  we  were  do 
ing  and  acquiesced  in  our  proceedings.  That  these  views  are 
the  view  of  others,  government  officers  too,  we  have  proof  upon 
record ;  for  it  appears  by  documents  that  the  Auditor,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  adjust  these  accounts,  made  these  allowances, 
and  construed  the  law  as  we  have  done.  We  cannot  claim 
this  as  conclusive  authority,  but  we  insist  that  this  endorse 
ment  of  our  views  is  entitled  to  great  respect  in  the  matter  re 
lating  to  their  item  of  $34,000,  and  upwards,  for  our  share  of 
forfeited  goods.  It  is  also  in  proof  that  the  acting  Commis 
sioner  originally  decided  the  same  way, — or  rather  he  ex 
pressed  his  opinion  in  the  same  way,  but  did  not  like  to  take 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  433 

the  responsibility  of  deciding  thus  without  the  sanction  of  the 
head  of  the  Treasury  Department.  Here  we  see  the  head  of 
one  Bureau  officially  recognizing  and  adopting  our  view  of  the 
matter,  and  that  of  another  sanctioning  it  by  his  opinion. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  power  of  remission  by  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury  was  only  in  cases  where  there  was  no 
wilful  violation  of  the  law.  We  hold  that  in  such  cases  he 
has  no  power  to  remit  after  the  money  is  distributed,  and  after 
the  Treasury  Department  receives  its  share.  If  the  distribu 
tion  be  not  approved,  they  should  not  acquiesce  in  it,  but 
should  dissent  and  decline  to  receive  it  into  the  Treasury  as 
the  money  of  the  government  until  the  matter  is  disposed  of. 
But,  if  they  once  take  possession  of  their  distributive  share, 
their  right  to  remit  is  lost. 

A  few  words  further  upon  this  subject  of  rapacity  in 
making  improper  seizures.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Col 
lector  Collier  left  for  California,  April  3,  1849,  going  across  the 
country,  as  he  did,  under  the  direction  of  the  government,  and, 
as  he  says  in  his  official  letter,  very  much  delayed,  not  by  his 
own  fault.  When  he  reached  there,  he  immediately,  and  on 
the  13th  of  November,  wrote  to  the  Treasury  Department, 
calling  attention  to  the  peculiar  state  of  things  in  that  coun 
try,  and  asking  for  instructions.  Among  other  complaints 
that  are  made,  is  that  he  especially  seized  French  ships  and 
French  brandies, — ships  that  had  violated  the  navigation 
laws — that  is,  where  ships  sailing  from  France,  and  touching 
at  Valparaiso  or  other  ports,  received  on  board  commodities 
not  of  the  growth  of  France,  and  brought  them  into  an  Ameri 
can  port.  The  Collector  seized  these  vessels,  as  he  had  been 
instructed  to  seize  them  by  his  government.  Now,  it  appears 
that  on  the  27th  of  June,  1849,  M.  Poussin,  the  French  Minis 
ter,  corresponded  with  Mr.  Meredith,  then  the  head  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  or  through  the  Department  of  State, 
upon  the  subject  of  French  vessels  being  admitted  into  the  Pa 
cific  ports.  He  assures  Mr.  Meredith  that  American  vessels 
are  allowed,  in  going  to  France,  to  stop  at  intermediate  ports, 
and  take  on  board  goods  not  of  American  growth  and  manu 
facture.  Upon  this  representation  as  to  the  law  of  reciprocity  in 
France,  Mr.  Meredith  tells  him  that  French  vessels  will  be  al 
lowed  the  same  rights  in  visiting  and  trading  with  our  coun- 
28 


434  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

try.  The  only  evidence  of  the  existence  of  that  French  law, 
is  a  certificate  of  three  what  he  terms  "  Merchant  Brokers,"  of 
Havre.  Now  France  is  an  exporting  nation,  and  she  does 
not  hang  her  commercial  rights  upon  such  slender  threads  as 
the  certificate  of  Messrs. — nobody  knows  whom, —  the  Mer 
chant  Brokers  of  Havre.  They  are  based  upon  substantial 
treaties,  and  reciprocal  laws,  all  known  and  published  in 
in  every  port  throughout  the  markets  of  the  world.  There  is 
no  doubt  but  that  that  certificate  was  the  veriest  pretence, 
though  it  matters  little  for  our  purpose,  one  way  or  the  other. 
Mr.  Collier  left  here  in  April,  and  did  not  reach  San  Fran 
cisco  until  November,  1849,  and,  on  the  10th  of  November,  im 
mediately  gave  public  notice  at  San  Francisco,  that  the  revenue 
laws  would  be  rigorously  enforced.  Here,  in  June  of  the  same 
year,  the  Treasury  Department  is  corresponding  with  the  French 
Minister,  in  relation  to  these  navigation  laws,  and  it  is  not  until 
February  12th,  1850,  seven  months  after  this  information  came 
to  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington,  that  the  slumber 
ing  genius  of  that  Department  aroused  from  his  Rip  Van 
Winkle  sleep  enough  to  snore  out  an  answer  to  the  Collector  in 
California,  which  would  reach  him  in  three  months  more.  After 
keeping  this  information  to  themselves  for  seven  months,  they 
now  complain  because,  during  that  intermediate  time,  he  did 
not  by  intuition  act  upon  the  law  that  had  never  before  been 
heard  of  outside  of  the  Treasury  Department.  The  Collector 
acted  upon  the  law  as  he  understood  it,  and  upon  the  law  which 
had  an  existence  up  to  July,  1849.  And  the  law  of  French 
reciprocity,  in  this  respect,  had  never  been  heard  of  until  it  was 
brought  out  by  the  Merchant  Brokers  of  Havre,  smugglers 
themselves,  probably,  or  indirectly  concerned  in  smuggling. 
The  Merchant  Brokers  of  Havre  are  they  who  brought  the  law 
to  the  notice  of  the  French  Minister, — the  representative  of  a 
great  manufacturing  and  commercial  nation,  alive  to  its  interest, 
with  all  the  quickening  instincts  so  peculiar  to  that  people. 
No,  Gentlemen,  there  was  no  such  law  ;  but  whether  there  was 
or  not,  its  existence  was  not  known  either  upon  the  Atlantic  or 
the  Pacific  coast,  when  Mr.  Collier  left  for  the  Pacific,  to  ad 
minister  the  law  in  California,  as  it  had  been  administered  there, 
and  he  did  so  administer  the  law.  Information  relative  to  the 
act  of  reciprocity  was  not  forwarded  on  its  way  to  him,  until 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  435 

February,  1850,  and  it  did  not  reach  him  till  May  following. 
Who  then  should  be  to  blame  ?  Was  it  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment's  neglect  of  duty,  or  did  Mr.  Collier  neglect  his  ?  Who 
slumbered  when  they  should  have  been  vigilant  ?  Gentlemen, 
I  leave  you  to  answer  these  questions  by  your  verdict. 

The  French  Minister,  in  a  correspondence  with  the  State 
Department,  in  1850,  says  that,  up  to  May,  1850,  no  news  of 
this  decision  had  reached  San  Francisco,  as  we  are  informed  by 
the  Vice-Consul  at  that  city ;  and  in  a  letter  of  the  French  Min 
ister,  of  March  21,  1850,  he  complains,  not  that  the  Collector  at 
San  Francisco  had  violated  the  law,  not  that  he  had  seized 
French  vessels  and  French  goods  wantonly  or  contrary  to  law, 
but  the  complaint  is  that  the  Collector  had  limited  himself  to 
the  most  rigid  provisions  of  the  law,  and,  as  he  expressed  it, 
"  limited  himself  to  the  strict  execution  of  the  instructions  of 
the  federal  government,"  seized  brandies  on  board  French 
ships,  &c.,  whereas  he  says  they  expected  that  there  would 
have  been  more  time  allowed  to  change  their  practice  in  the 
Pacific  ports.  He  complains  not  that  the  seizures  were  illegal, 
— they  expected  such  action  on  the  part  of  the  Collectors  of 
Atlantic  ports  ;  but  the  substance  and  essence  of  his  complaint 
is  that  the  French  merchant  expected  the  right  of  violating  the 
laws  a  little  longer  at  the  Pacific  ports  ; — "  that  the  Collector 
would  have  delayed  the  execution  of  the  laws  a  reasonable 
time."  But  he  shows  from  the  communication  from  the  Min 
ister  of  Foreign  affairs  of  France,  that  the  circular  of  the  26th 
of  July,  1849,  was  published  there  on  21st  September,  1849. 
He  says  that  the  strict  enforcement  of  these  rigorous  measures 
in  the  ports  of  the  Pacific  came  in  consequence  of  this  circular 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  whereas  he  expected  that,  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  more  lenient  measures  would  have  been  adopted  ; 
and  here,  again,  you  see  this  Collector — who  is  held  up  as  a 
wrong-doer,  as  a  rapacious  man,  laying  his  hand  on  the  com 
merce  of  the  country,  in  a  manner  which  compelled  the  sove 
reign  powers  of  the  world  to  call  upon  the  sovereign  power  of 
this  country  to  arrest  the  wrong — is  complained  of  for  adher 
ing  too  faithfully  to  his  instructions  and  the  law. 

Now  the  Treasury  Department  say  they  have  restored  a 
large  amount  of  money,  as  an  indemnification  to  parties  for 
o-oods  seized  and  sold  by  the  Collector.  The  learned  counsel 


436 

said  in  his  opening,  that  although  these  seizures  and  sales 
brought  a  considerable  amount  of  money  into  the  Treasury,  yet 
it  had  been  the  means  of  causing  a  vast  amount  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  Treasury.  We  will  show  you  that  it  has  not  taken  a 
single  dollar  out  of  the  Treasury,  unless  the  head  of  the  Treas 
ury  Department  has  neglected  his  duty,  and  paid  it  out  illegal 
ly  ;  and  if  they  have  paid  money  out  without  the  authority  of 
law,  we  certainly  are  not  to  be  held  responsible.  Under  the  old 
law  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  no  power  at  all  to  remit, 
until  the  matter  had  gone  through  the  process  of  the  courts. 
The  Treasury  Department  may  remit  their  share  without  law, 
if  they  choose,  but  they  cannot  remit  ours.  When  these  goods 
are  seized,  if  lawfully  seized,  we  have  a  vested  right,  even  if  we 
had  been  removed  from  office,  with  the  goods  upon  our  hands. 
The  courts  have  decided  that  we  had  a  vested  right,  which  we 
were  not  divested  of  by  going  out  of  office  ;  and  that  although 
our  successor  pursue  the  seizures  made  by  us  to  a  condemna 
tion,  we  are  entitled  to  our  share.  They  therefore  had  no 
power  under  that  law,  previous  to  the  act  of  remission,  of  1850, 
except  such  as  the  Secretary  derived  after  the  required  prelimi 
nary  proceedings  through  the  courts.  It  must  go  through  that 
process,  and  when  we  legally  seized  either  goods  or  vessels,  we 
had  a  valid  right  to  the  extent  of  our  interest,  and  we  cannot 
be  divested  of  that  right,  unless  by  our  consent,  or  duly  pro 
ceeding  in  the  courts,  as  directed  by  the  statute.  The  Secre 
tary  cannot  take  away  that  right  by  any  ex-parte  proceedings. 
When  the  Collector  seized  goods  or  vessels,  the  party  would 
consent  to  a  condemnation.  Why  ?  Because  there  were  none 
interested  to  prevent  condemnation  but  himself,  and  he  may 
therefore  consent  to  such  condemnation,  even  though  it  be  in 
formal,  and  especially  where  the  condemnation  is  acquiesced  in 
by  the  government,  and  the  proceeds  received  into  the  Treas 
ury.  Then,  we  insist,  they  are  estopped  from  saying  more. 

The  act  of  1850  authorized  the  Secretary  to  review  the 
proceedings  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  be  convenient,  and,  where 
there  are  not  wilful  violations,  he  may  remit.  That  provision 
relates,  however,  as  your  Honor  wTill  please  notice,  to  the  dis 
tricts  of  the  State  of  California,  and  the  Territory  of  Oregon, 
and  nothing  else.  We  say  that  the  first  branch  of  this  section 
has  no  application  at  all  to  these  seizures,  made  before  California 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  43 T 

was  admitted  as  a  State,  or  divided  into  districts ;  that  the 
proviso  to  the  section  authorized  the  Secretary  to  extend  relief 
to  cases  where  "  improper  seizures  "  have  been  made  by  the 
officers  of  the  customs  in  the  collection  districts  of  the  Territory 
of  Upper  California,  and  in  Oregon ;  and  that  is  the  only  part 
of  the  act,  we  say,  which  applies  to  our  case,  and  it  is  confined 
entirely  to  improper  seizures.  That  it  gives  no  power  to  the 
Secretary,  in  the  district  of  the  Territory  of  Upper  California, 
unless  the  seizure  was  an  improper  one,  and  that  where  it  is 
proper  and  according  to  law,  as  these  seizures  are  conceded  to 
have  been,  he  has  no  authority  under  that  law  whatsoever  ;  and 
such  will  be  found  to  be  the  law  upon  its  reading.  Your  Honor 
will  remark,  that,  previous  to  that  law,  the  Secretary  had  no 
power  except  to  go  through  the  courts.  To  get  rid  of  this  pro 
ceeding  with  California  cases,  that  law  was  passed,  which  gave 
him  power  over  the  new  districts  not  only  in  Oregon,  but  in  the 
several  districts  of  the  State  of  California  ;  and  in  order  that  it 
might  give  a  hearing  in  cases  happening  during  the  administra 
tion  of  Mr.  Collier,  it  provided  that  the  Secretary  might  afford 
relief  in  cases  of  u  improper  seizures." — Now  all  of  these  cases 
are  admitted  to  have  "been  proper  seizures.  There  is  no  pretence 
that  any  property  was  seized,  which  was  not  subject  to  seizure 
for  violation  of  the  law.  To  be  sure,  Mr.  Collier,  though  his 
conduct  was  approved  by  the  acquiescence  of  the  government, 
did  receive  one  very  pointed  reprimand,  and  for  a  moment  I  did 
not  know  but  the  Treasury  Department,  among  the  ponderous 
volumes  of  its  own  blunders,  really  had  found  one  mistake  on 
his  part.  They  rebuked  him  in  language  meant  to  be  severe 
for  selling  the  vessel  Collony.  The  cargo,  they  admitted,  had 
been  properly  seized,  but  the  vessel,  they  learned,  was  seized  im 
properly.  The  Department  was  seized  with  astonishment.  It 
had  rubbed  open  its  drowsy  eyes  upon  the  enormities  of  his 
conduct,  and  was  astonished  that  he  should  have  seized  the  ves 
sel,  and  trusted  that  he  would  not  be  guilty  of  such  a  breach 
of  the  law  again.  Well,  gentlemen,  it  turned  out  that  the  very 
document  before  the  Department  that  they  were  commenting 
upon  was  evidence  to  them  that  he  did  not  seize  the  vessel  at 
all,  but  only  seized  the  goods,  and  which  goods  they  themselves 
acknowledged  were  legally  seized !  That  is  the  only  occasion 
where  they  undertake  to  rebuke  him,  and  they  rebuke  him  there 


438  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

enough  for  all  his  errors,  real  and  imaginary,  for  seizing  a  vessel 
that  he  did  not  touch.  But  they  have  remitted  a  large  amount, 
they  say,  for  seized  property.  They  never  remitted  or  paid  a 
single  dollar  till  long  after  this  suit  was  commenced,  nor  until 
since  the  present  administration  came  into  power  ;  and  we  make 
this  point,  in  addition  to  other  points,  that  before  they  could 
be  entitled  to  recover  for  remissions  or  payments,  or  draw  this 
money  from  our  share,  they  should  show  that  the  remissions  or 
payments  were  made  before  the  commencement  of  the  suit. 
There  are  some  limits  even  to  the  action  of  the  Treasury  De 
partment  ;  and  some  laws  that  seem  to  have  been  framed  to  set 
bounds  to  its  operations.  But  I  am  not  yet  quite  through  with 
the  discrepancies  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury :  while  we  are  bound  by  the  ac 
counts  made  rip  by  the  Treasury  Department  (and  they  can 
any  day  certify  them  against  us,  and  show  that  we  have  em 
bezzled  the  money  of  the  government,  and  brmg  eight  civil 
suits  against  us,  and  endeavor  to  transport  us  to  California, 
upon  an  indictment),  we  will  look  a  little  into  the  history 
of  their  own  affairs,  and  show  how  much  credit  their  accounts, 
which  the  law  gives  so  high  a  character,  in  point  of  fact  are  en 
titled  to.  I  wish  to  show  you  how  many  times,  and  in  how 
many  ways,  they  have  stated  the  amount  of  the  proceeds  of  this 
seized  merchandise.  And  you  will  bear  in  mind,  that  the  only 
error  that  is  suggested  against  us,  in  their  whole  accounts,  in 
the  receipt  and  disbursement  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  is  the 
sum  of  $100,  which  they  say  we  had  paid  twice  for  the  Treasury 
Department,  and  for  which  we  had  rendered  regular  vouchers  ; 
but  the  amount  was  promptly  paid  by  us  to  save  all  question. 
The  statement  of  the  seized  merchandise,  sent  by  the  Collector, 
showed  the  gross  amount  to  be  $94,704  66,  of  which  he  claimed 
one-half,  $47,352  33.  This  is  the  plain  statement  of  the  facts, 
admitted  now  to  be  correct,  and  susceptible  of  being  easily  and 
plainly  understood.  In  the  report  of  the  Treasury  Department 
of  the  7th  of  August,  1852  (Senate  Exec.  Doc.,  Thirty-second 
Congress,  103),  we  read  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  seized 
goods  amounted  to  $57,902  13  ;  whether  it  is  the  gross,  or  the 
net  proceeds,  is  not  stated.  The  Auditor's  report  of  the  7th 
of  March,  1853,  states  the  amount  of  gross  proceeds  truly  at 
-$94,704  66,  and  makes  charges  against  it  of  storage,  lighterage, 


1854-.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  439 

and  other  items  of  $24-, 8 73  75,  leaving  the  net  proceeds  $69,- 
830  86,  of  which  one-half  is  $34,915  43.  In  the  statement  of 
Commissioner  Anderson,  of  8th  September,  1854,  he  makes  in 
his  detailed  statement  the  gross  amount  $83,043  13,  and  the 
net  proceeds  $58,536  72  ;  but  in  his  accompanying  report  of 
the  same  date,  he  truly  states  the  gross  amount  at  $94,704  66. 
In  a  letter  of  the  3d  November,  the  charges  against  the  fund 
are  stated  at  $27,296  50,  which  makes  the  net  proceeds  $67,408  26. 

You  will  see  from  these  statements  that  the  Treasury  De 
partment  took  about  as  many  views  as  they  made  figures  ;  still 
they  hold  the  issues  of  official  and  political  life  and  death,  prop 
erty,  reputation,  liberty,  and  have  the  power,  any  day,  Dy  cer 
tifying  to  an  account  against  the  Collector,  of  not  only  ruining 
him  in  his  fortunes,  but  of  destroying  his  character  ;  of  branding 
him  as  a  man  who  has  embezzled  the  moneys  belonging  to  the 
government,  and  as  a  felon  to  be  cast  into  prison.  You  will 
remember,  that  there  wTere  various  vessels  and  various  quanti 
ties  of  liquors  seized.  I  have  not  enumerated  the  vessels  nor 
the  quantities  of  liquors  seized,  nor  indeed  is  it  material  to  my 
purpose  to  do  so  now.  I  have  been  arguing  whether  after  the 
forfeiture,  after  the  sale  and  payment  of  one-half  of  the  proceeds 
to  the  government,  we  are  not  entitled  to  the  other  half.  The 
government  set  up  various  answers  to  this  claim  on  our  part, 
.and,  among  others,  they  claim  that  they  have  repaid  and  remitted 
to  the  claimants  a  large  amount  of  money  ;  under  what  law  we 
know  not,  but  suppose  under  the  law  of  1850,  which,  we  say, 
gave  them  no  such  power. 

Now  let  us  pursue  the  history  of  these  remissions.  We  had 
seized,  and  we  had  sold  with  the  consent  of  the  owners,  who 
agreed  that  the  goods  were  lawfully  and  properly  seized,  and 
who  desired  that  they  might  be  regarded  as  condemned,  and 
sold  in  order  to  save  any  further  trouble  and  any  further  litiga 
tion.  We  had  paid  one-half  of  these  moneys  to  the  government, 
and  had  taken  to  ourselves  the  other  half.  The  counsel  says 
that  we  "  got  somebody  to  consent "  to  these  forfeitures  and 
sales  ;  but  upon  what  assumption  or  upon  what  authority  is  that 
remark  based  ?  Who  knows  that  we  got  anybody  to  consent  ? 
Who  imputes  indirection  to  us  in  that  regard  ?  What  witness 
says  that  we  got  some  one  to  consent,  and  that  that  consent 
was  unreal,  or  untrue,  or  pretended  ?  The  suggestion  is  un- 


4:4-0  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

supported  by  any  evidence,  and  the  assertion  is  without  the 
least  foundation.  My  learned  friend  spoke  not  with  his  own 
tongue,  but  with  the  tongue  of  the  Treasury.  He  says  "  we 
got  somebody."  Whom  did  we  get,  and  whom  should  we  get 
but  the  owners,  or  those  having  possession  and  exercising  the 
rights  of  ownership  over  the  goods,  to  consent  ?  When  you 
purchase  any  article  you  desire,  from  whom  do  you  purchase 
it  ?  From  the  owner  or  the  one  claiming  to  be  the  owner,  and 
exercising  the  rights  of  ownership  over  it  ?  You  do  not  doubt 
but  you  get  a  good  title,  for  possession,  in  homely  parlance,  is 
said  to  be  "  nine  points  of  the  law."  It  was  a  fast  age  on  the 
Pacific  at  that  time,  and  it  was  difficult  to  wait  and  ascertain 
and  spell  out  all  the  intricacies  of  title  and  claims  of  owner 
ship  ;  but  we  dealt  with  persons  in  possession  and  exercising 
the  rights  of  ownership — men  of  reputation,  merchants  of 
standing,  who  claimed  this  right — officers  of  vessels,  and  others, 
who  came  to  the  Collector's  Department,  and  asked  that  this 
property,  being  forfeited  and  seized,  might  be  deemed  con 
demned  and  taken  by  the  government,  that  no  further  litigation 
might  be  had  concerning  it.  When  they  come  to  make  up  the 
account  of  the  remissions,  and,  by  the  way,  they  do  not  make 
up  any  until  long  after  this  suit  was  commenced,  we  aver 
(and  it  is  not  denied)  that  they  made  none  until  after  the 
present  administration  came  into  office,  on  March  4th,  1853.  I* 
call  your  attention  and  the  attention  of  the  Court,  to  the  history 
of  the  remission  of  these  seizures.  In  the  case  of  the  Surprise, 
they  awarded  and  paid  $1,677  50,  they  say.  Well,  the  defendant 
had  not  received  one  single  dollar  of  the  proceeds  of  the  Sur 
prise,  and  still  they  undertake  to  charge  the  award  in  favor  of 
the  Surprise,  over  to  a  fund  in  which  he  has  an  interest,  and  to 
a  share  of  which  he  is  entitled.  It  is  a  great  surprise  to  us, 
Gentlemen,  that  this  surprising  Department  should  undertake 
to  charge  over  to  us  the  payment  on  account  of  the  Surprise, 
when  we  had  not  one  single  cent  of  the  proceeds.  The  amount 
awarded  to  the  vessel  Jane  was  $10,000.  They  paid  $12,084  64. 
The  Alcibiades—foQ  amount  paid,  as  shown  by  the  abstract,  is 
$7,932  91— as  stated  in  Mr.  Anderson's  report,  $8,829.  The 
Edward — charged  as  paid  $3,000,  but  the  Collector  got  nothing 
from  this  vessel.  Duchess  of  Clarence — paid  $2,331 — net  proceeds 
were  $21317,  and  no  more,  of  which  the  Collector  has  his  half,  &c. 


1854]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  441 

These  certificates  of  abandonment  commence  November 
27th,  1849.  Now,  we  submit  in  the  further  prosecution  of  this 
inquiry,  that  they  had  no  right  to  surrender  or  remit  under 
the  old  law  or  the  new ;  that  they  had  no  right  to  pay  awards 
and  charge  the  same  to  us,  under  any  circumstances  ;  and  that 
if  they  originally  had  that  right,  they  had  it  only  for  payments 
made  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  suit,  not  to  carry 
these  subsequent  payments  into  our  accounts,  thus  making 
.  their  amount  a  part  of  the  original  balance  certified  against  us ; 
still  much  less  have  they  a  right  to  come  here  and  show  by 
their  certificates  that  they  have  paid  for  awards  made  for  the 
ships  which  we  never  returned,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with, 
and  charge  us  with  the  amount  they  have  paid  beyond  the 
awards,  and  paid  too  upon  ships  of  which  we  claimed  no  por 
tion  of  the  proceeds  whatever. 

Almost  every  one  of  these  seizures  took  place  previous  to 
the  time  when  the  act  before  referred  to  was  passed.  You  will 
perceive  that  it  was  passed  on  the  28th  of  September,  1850, 
while  the  Collector  left  his  office  January  14th,  1850;  that 
with  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  revenue  laws,  in  which  the 
Collector  was  assisted  by  Captain  Frazer,  this  great  press  of 
smuggling  on  the  coast  had  become  subdued,  and  the  parties 
had  undoubtedly  given  over  smuggling  in  the  face  of  day,  and 
that  the  new  act  therefore  can,  with  the  construction  we  place 
upon  it,  have  no  application  to  this  matter,  these  transactions 
having  taken  place  previous  to  its  passage ;  that  returns  were 
made  and  in  the  office  from  time  to  time,  and  if  they  had  in 
tended  to  rely  upon  it,  they  could  have  admonished  us  to  pur 
sue  a  different  course,  instead  of  acquiescing  with  a  part  of  the 
money  in  their  pockets.  They  could  have  made  out  and  stated 
their  account  against  us,  and  have  carried  it  in  against  us,  if 
they  had  intended  to  do  so.  But  there  is  another  evidence. 
It  will  be  perceived  that  here  Avere  not  only  seizures  of  liquors, 
but  also  a  number  of  vessels  were  seized  for  violations  of  the 
navigation  act  by  the  Collector  or  by  the  Revenue  Officers 
assisting  him,  the  entire  proceeds  of  these  vessels,  standing 
upon  no  higher  ground  than  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the 
seized  liquors — upon  no  other  or  different  rules  ;  that  the  De 
partment  gave  favorable  construction  to  this  proceeding  tl:em« 
selves  ;  they  not  only  received  their  share  of  the  proceeds  of 


442  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

these  seized  vessels,  and  carried  it  into  the  Treasury  account, 
but  they  received  and  sanctioned  the  accounts  of  the  Collect 
or,  which  accounts  showed  that  he  paid  Captain  Frazer  the 
share  belonging  to  the  Revenue  Officers  as  informers,  in  cases 
of  forfeiture  and  condemnation,  and  retained  his  own  share  oi 
the  amount  for  seizing  the  vessels.  The  Department,  we  say, 
thus  settled  and  sanctioned  all  these  accounts,  and  legalized, 
so  far  as  it  could  clo,  the  proceeding.  Then  we  shall  ask  our 
learned  friend  why  it  is  that  the  Department,  after  having  en 
tered  upon  an  accounting  partially,  quibbled  over  it,  audited, 
allowed,  and  sanctioned  a  part  of  the  items,  and  now  at  this 
late  day  reject  items  of  precisely  the  same  class,  and  cut  off 
the  balance  ?  No  effort  is  made  in  these  numerous  statements 
to  correct  the  fact  of  its  allowance.  They  take  their  share  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  seized  vessels — they  allow  the  Collector 
his  share — all  depending  upon  the  same  rule ;  seized  under  a 
kindred  statute ;  condemned  under  the  same  statute  and  by 
the  same  courts  ;  distributed  under  the  same  authority  and  in 
like  manner ;  without  any  change  either  one  way  or  the  other. 
Why  is  it,  we  repeat,  that  they  have  sanctioned  the  practice  as 
relates  to  the  vessels,  and  rejected  it  as  to  the  goods,  under 
precisely  similar  circumstances  ?  "  The  goods  are  not  con 
demned."  The  assertion  condemns  those  who  make  it — I  mean 
it  condemns  the  Treasury  Department.  It  cannot  be  other 
wise,  when  it  sanctions  a  rule  and  allows  an  officer  to  proceed 
upon  the  principle  involved  in  it,  and  then  turns  suddenly 
around  and  repudiates  the  rule  without  any  new  principle  of 
construction  entering  into  its  consideration.  We  say  that,  like 
courts,  departments,  in  the  construction  of  statutes,  are  bound 
by  the  principle  of  stare  decisis. 

This  is  a  suit  brought  by  the  government  against  the  Col 
lector,  to  recover  moneys  which  they  say  are  due  to  the  Treas 
ury  Department ;  and  we  are  authorized  to  set  up  every  legal 
and  equitable  claim.  It  need  not  arise  out  of  this  particular 
transaction,  but  all  our  equities  growing  out  of  this  and  other 
transactions  with  the  government  we  have  a  right  to  set  up 
here ;  and  it  is  outrageous,  and  certainly  grossly  inequitable, 
that  they  should  come  here  at  this  time  of  the  day,  and  set  up 
and  claim  against  us,  after  seeing  us  distributing  and  paying 
out  this  money  beyond  our  control  forever,  and  turn  round  and 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIEK.  443 

say  that  that  portion  of  money  which  is  in  our  hands  shall  be 
subjected  to  a  different  rule.  "  We  will  take  that  ourselves. 
We  will  lay  our  capacious  hand  upon  that,  and  will  retain  it 
until  it  shall  suit  our  own  will  and  pleasure  to  give  it  up." 
We  show  by  the  practice  of  the  Department  that  they  them 
selves  have  given  the  construction  for  which  we  contend. 
Their  mouth  is  closed.  They  have  marked  out  the  line  WG 
may  pursue,  and  have  settled  it  by  their  practice.  "  You  may 
seize,  and,  where  the  parties  themselves  agree  to  the  condem 
nation,  and  waive  a  legal  condemnation,  you  may  sell.  Of  the 
money  you  have  distributed,  we  will  receive  our  share — you 
may  retain  yours,  subject  only  to  your  peril,  perhaps  for  the 
whole  and  perhaps  for  your  half,  and  your  risk  of  being  called 
upon  by  the  true  owners."  But  they  now  say  this  abandon 
ment  was  not  by  the  true  owners.  We  say  it  was.  The  arti 
cles  were  just  as  much  the  property  of  those  having  charge  of 
them  as  were  the  vessels ;  and  we  ask  that  the  same  rule  of 
construction  which  has  been  made  to  apply  to  the  vessels  shall 
apply  to  the  goods. 

I  will  now  pass,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  to  another  branch 
of  this  case ;  and  that  is  the  statement  of  the  accounts  which 
they  claim — their  gross  claims — and  what  they  ask  us  to  do. 
In  the  statement  of  the  discrepancies,  I  came  near  leaving  out 
a  paper  (which,  though  it  has  no  official  seal,  I  know  comes 
from  the  Treasury  Department,  because  it  is  a  chapter  of  blun 
ders),  touching  the  payment  of  awards,  &c.  It  is  the  report 
of  the  Commissioner,  of  8th  September,  1853  ;  showing  the 
amount  estimated  of  the  charges  for  storage,  lighterage,  &c.? 
of  the  seized  liquors  and  vessels  in  certain  specified  cases,  and 
then  he  says,  "  should  the  proportion  hold  good  it  would  swell 
the  amount  to  $63,000,  and  that  amount,  being  deducted  from 
the  $94,000,  would  leave  the  amount  $31,134,"  to  be  divided 
between  us  and  the  United  States.  I  only  speak  of  this,  gen 
tlemen,  to  show  you  that  these  certificates  and  statements  of 
the  Department  are  no  better  evidence  than  they  should  be. 
Here  is  a  worthy,  careful  officer,  who  certifies  on  the  8th  of 
September,  1853,  that  there  are  only  six  of  the  certificates  of 
abandonment  in  the  possession  of  the  Department,  when  it  ap 
pears  that  twenty-seven  of  them  were  in  the  Department,  of 
which  we  produce  a  certified  copy,  certified  by  the  Secretary 


4A4:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  the  Treasury,  on  the  17th  of  September,  and  all  filed  as 
early  as  December  1st,  1851. 

Mr.  O'CoNOK.     Do  you  produce  a  transcript  of  them  ? 

Mr.  COLLIER.  We  produce  receipts  for  them,  signed  by 
the  Deputy  Secretary,  1st  December,  1851,  and  copies  of  them 
certified  to  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  1 7th  September, 
1853. 

Mr.  DICKINSON. — I  will  not  say  that  it  is  the  error  of  in 
dividuals,  but  set  it  down  in  charity  to  an  erroneous  system 
that  wants  a  most  vigorous  course  of  thorough  treatment — that 
wants  breaking  up  at  the  foundation,  curing  and  restoring  to 
health  ;  because  we  find  officers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  give  it  their 
best  attention,  are  utterly  unable  to  bring  anything  out  of  it 
but  error  and  confusion ;  the  same  officers  unable  to  make  on 
different  days  two  statements  alike,  from  the  books  of  the  Treas 
ury  Department. 

These  certificates  of  abandonment — twenty-seven  of  them 
— were  filed  as  early  as  Decsmber  1st,  1851,  and  yet  in  1853 
only  six  of  them  can  be  found,  says  the  Commissioner  of 
Customs,  and  none  others  are  known  to  exist ;  and  this  is  the 
Department  that  can  cast  a  man  into  prison,  and  blast  his 
reputation  by  being  empowered  to  state  a  balance  against 
him,  and  have  it  introduced  as  evidence.  The  Commissioner 
says  of  these  certificates,  it  may  be  presumed  they  were  all  of 
the  same  character.  If  so,  they  provide  that  the  question  re 
specting  the  legality  of  the  seizures  should  be  submitted  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  if  he  decided  the  seizures  were 
legal,  the  goods  were  to  be  sold  at  public  auction,  whereas  most 
of  the  agreements  on  file  in  the  Treasury  Department  surren 
dered  the  property  unconditionally. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury,  it  is  worthy  of  our  attention  for  a 
few  moments  to  consider  the  vast  contrast  between  these  per 
sons  who  are  administering  these  Departments  of  the  govern 
ment.  I  am  about  passing  to  a  new  branch  of  the  case,  that 
touching  the  general  accounts  with  the  Treasury  Department — 
the  claim  they  have  set  up  and  the  grounds  of  their  claim.  I 
have  been  discussing  the  question  of  fees  in  the  first  place,  and 
the  fines  and  the  forfeitures  which  relate  to  offsets  and  claims 
on  our  part,  and  I  now  come  to  the  claim  upon  the  part  of  the 
government,  and  the  way  they  make  it  up  ;  but  first  I  call  your 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.   JAMES   COLLIEK.  445 

attention  to  the  circumstances  under  which  these  different  par 
ties  were  placed.  Here  is  the  Treasury  Department,  organized 
at  the  foundation  of  the  government,  and  having  had  what  has 
been  regarded  by  the  various  political  parties  who  have  borne 
rule,  as  their  ablest  man,  placed  at  its  head.  It  has  had  a  con 
venient  building,  and  convenient  rooms,  desks  suited  to  its  pur 
poses,  books,  stationery,  and  ample  and  experienced  clerks,  to 
aid  in  carrying  out  its  arrangements,  and  every  facility  that 
human  minds  could  devise  to  give  its  energies  action,  has  been 
set  in  motion.  Here  was  this  Collector,  upon  the  Pacific  coast, 
sent  out  there  single-handed,  at  a  time  too  Avhen,  in  his  own 
language,  "  labor  controlled  capital,"  a  thing  that  was  never  be 
fore  heard  of  since  the  foundation  of  the  world.  There  he^vas, 
with  that  crude  and  wide  mass  of  material  thrown  together, 
where  business  men  and  desperate  outcasts  had  met  together. 
He  collected  large  amounts  of  money  without  suitable  buildings 
or  rooms,  without  convenient  books  or  desks,  arid  without  aids 
of  any  kind  ;  and  if  you  look  the  matter  over,  you  will  agree 
that  no  man  except  one  of  that  generous,  manly,  Western  dar 
ing,  could  have  collected  that  revenue  at  all — but  for  the  man 
who  could  sleep  with  his  head  upon  the  treasure,  and  his  hand 
upon  the  revolver,  could  it  have  been  collected  ;  and  but  for  the 
man  who  could  himself,  amid  the  excitement  of  an  exasperated, 
furious,  lawlesss  mob,  who  proposed  to  rifle  the  Custom  House, 
rush  to  the  Plaza,  and  there  declare  that  the  public  money 
should  not  be  taken  except  they  first  passed  over  his  lifeless 
body,  could  it  have  been  protected.  And  here  were  the  officers 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  comfortably  housed,  fed, 
clothed,  lodged,  cared  for,  and  literally  sleeping  upon  the  down 
of  cygnets  of  the  Ganges,  when  that  defendant,  afar  off,  was 
sleeping  upon  his  arms.  Under  such  dissimilar  circumstances 
were  his  accounts  and  the  accounts  of  the  Treasury  kept.  There 
are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  conceded  and  admitted 
errors  in  their  accounts,  to  where  they  can  suggest  a  single 
penny  in  his.  After  collecting  this  vast  amount  of  revenue  he 
comes  home,  and,  before  he  returns  to  his  family  fireside,  goes 
to  the  Department  and  bears  the  balance  of  his  accounts,  being 
for  the  fraction  of  the  month  from  the  1st  to  the  14th  of  Jan 
uary,  1851.  He  goes  there  first  to  render  an  account  of  his 
stewardship.  It  was  inconvenient  for  them  to  attend  to  it  then. 


446 

and  they  tell  him  to  go  home.  He  calls  shortly  after,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  going  away.  He  turns  the  matter 
over  to  his  subordinates,  and  directs  that  if  there  is  any  diffi 
culty  growing  out  of  it,  to  await  until  his  return.  From  that 
time  to  this — from  the  spring  of  1851 — from  the  time  of  his  re 
turn,  he  has  been  dancing  attendance  upon  this  Treasury  De 
partment.  He  is  now  here  with  his  counsel,  and  has  been  from 
that  time  to  the  present,  with  all  the  attending  annoyances 
and  expenses,  unable  to  settle  his  accounts,  and  they  are  yet 
unsettled. 

They  commenced  to  make  out  his  accounts  June  7th,  1851. 
They  rendered  him  his  first  balance  that  he  had  notice  of,  and 
how  much  do  you  think  it  was,  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury  ?  For 
there  has  been  nothing  paid  since,  except  the  $118,546  05,  for 
which  they  have  not  •  given  credit  (and  the  learned  District 
Attorney  tells  you  he  is  not  instructed  to  do  so).  The  balance 
they  then  made  out  against  him  was  $791,065  31,  and  for  that 
amount  James  Collier  wras  published  a  defaulter,  and  his  ene 
mies,  lookers-on,  scandalmongers  and  mischief-makers,  echoed 
the  charge  and  cried  "  havoc,  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war." 
From  that  time  he  has  been  hounded  down,  even  after  the  com 
mencement  of  this  very  trial.  On  the  2 7th  of  September,  1851, 
they  re-stated  the  account  at  $789,925  35.  November  28th, 
1851,  they  re-stated  the  account  again  ;  all  of  their  own  mo 
tion  too,  I  conclude,  because  they  allowed  nothing  of  any  con 
sequence  we  had  claimed ;  and  they  then  made  the  balance 
$750,933  80,  and  they  required  the  immediate  payment  into  the 
Treasury  of  $382,976  55,  leaving  suspended  $367,957  25.  De 
cember  29th  (you  observe  that  they  are  going  on  the  descend 
ing  scale,  what  we  used  to  call  "  reduction  descending") — they 
required  him  to  deposit  $343,985.  May  8th,  1852,  they  brought 
the  suit  against  the  Collector  as  a  defaulter,  in  which  they  claim 
ed  specifically  in  their  declaration,  the  sum  of  8791,065  31,  and 
this  is  the  very  suit  now  pending  and  being  tried.  They  sued 
for  that  amount,  and  claimed  it,  although  they  had  fallen  at 
one  time  as  low  as  $343,985,  all  they  required  to  be  paid.  Not. 
withstanding  all  this,  when  they  commence  suit,  they  go  up 
again — get  on  an  ascending  scale,  and  claim  $791,065  31. 
March  7th,  1853,  they  state  the  account  again  in  the  Auditor's 
office,  and  fix  it  at  $181,797.  But  the  Commissioner  of  Customs 


1851.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JAMES    COLLIEK.  447 

adds  to  the  debit  side  the  deducted  item  of  the  net  proceeds 
of  our  half  of  the  seized  liquors — $34,915  43,  which  the  Auditor 
had  allowed  to  us,  which  made  the  account  then  stand  at  $216, 
712  43.  The  account  of  $181,797,  I  have  shown  you,  was  cer 
tified  by  the  Auditor  to  be  true.  We  have  also  shown  you  that 
the  acting  Commissioner  of  Customs  concurred  with  the  Audi 
tor,  and  that  the  account  should  be  settled  upon  that  principle, 
although  the  opinion  was  not  acquiesced  in  by  the  Treasury 
Department.  We  have  also  shown  you  that  the  Solicitor  of 
the  Treasury  wrote  to  the  District  Attorney  of  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York — the  predecessor  of  our  learned  friend, 
now  opposed  to  us — and  sent  the  account  of  $181,797,  and  di 
rected  it  to  be  prosecuted  and  put  in  suit,  although  the  suit  had 
been  brought  months  previously  for  $791,000. 

The  contested  items — the  one  half  of  the  net  proceeds  of 
the  seized  liquors,  and  the  commissions  on  the  amounts  of  money 
collected,  being  disallowed,  these  disallowances  form  the  basis 
of  the  statement  of  the  7th  of  March — all  the  subsequent  state 
ments  seem  to  be  based  upon  that  principle.  The  net  proceeds 
of  the  seized  liquors  amount  to  $34,915  43.  which  being  added 
to  the  statement  of  the  Auditor,  $181,797,  makes  the  account 
stand  at  $216,712  43.  That  was  the  statement  of  March  7th. 
Mr.  Collier  admitted  that  $118,546  05  was  clue  to  the  Treasury 
Department,  if  no  credit  was  given  for  the  Monterey  money 
and  his  share  of  the  penal  duties  and  the  bonds.  He  proposed 
to  leave  these  matters  for  further  consideration — to  await  the 
action  of  Congress  with  reference  to  the  Monterey  money — to 
await  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  with  reference  to  the 
penal  duties,  and  await  the  collection  of  the  bonds — and  to  lit 
igate  in  Court  the  question  as  to  whether  he  was  entitled  to 
one  half  the  net  proceeds  of  the  seized  liquors,  and  to  charge 
the  commissions  allowed  by  law ;  and  he  further  proposed  to 
pay  $118,546  05  into  the  Treasury,  which  was  the  amount  ac 
tually  due,  if  no  credit  was  given  for  the  above  items.  He  ac 
cordingly  did  pay,  September  16th,  1853,  that  sum  upon  the 
basis  of  the  account  of  the  7th  of  March,  1853.  And  that  paid 
every  cent  the  Treasury  claimed,  except  an  amount  equal 
to  Mr.  Collier's  one  half  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  seized 
liquors,  andhis  commissions,  leaving  out  of  view  the  Monterey 
money,  the  penal  duties,  and  the  bonds.  You  will  see  that  his 


448  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

entire  object  was  to  throw  off  this  mighty  government  Jug 
gernaut,  that  rested  on  and  haunted  him,  that  consumed  his 
entire  time  and  energy,  and  which  did  more — which  hung  a 
cloud  over  his  reputation,  previously  as  spotless  as  the  sun  at 
noon-day. 

Up  to  this  time  no  claim  for  interest  had  been  made,  and  no 
claim  for  fees  had  been  asserted,  or,  if  they  had  been  asserted, 
had  never  been  carried  into  his  accounts.  Notwithstanding 
the  basis  upon  which  the  $118,000  and  upwards  was  paid, in  on 
September  16th,  strange  to  say,  on  September  22d  a  new  ac 
count  was  stated,  and  the  $118,000  was  not  credited,  although 
the  receipt  had  been  admitted  by  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  on  the  17th  of  September,  and  declared  to  be  satisfac 
tory  too,  yet  some  new  light,  in  the  mean  time,  had  shone  into 
the  Treasury  Department,  and  then  the  account  was  re-stated 
on  new  principles,  giving  us  credit  for  increased  salary  and  fees 
and  commissions  to  the  $63,761  49,  which  was  more  than  we 
had  ever  claimed,  and  which  had  never  before  been  allowed. 
But  this  credit  was  offset  by  a  charge  which  had  never  before 
been  made,  and  probably  never  before  thought  of.  They  charg 
ed  us  with  $59,091  72,  for  fees,  at  the  rate  of  $3,898  per  month, 
well  knowing  that  the  fees  were  not  half  that.  I  have  already 
commented  upon  that  item,  and  the  means  which  the  Treasury 
Department  had  for  knowing  what  the  fees  were.  Another 
item  which  they  charged  for  the  first  time — and  most  unaccount 
ably  charged — is  the  item  of  interest,  amounting  to  $33,286  81 
and  charged  upon  an  account  which  had  not  stood  still  over 
night,  scarcely,  from  the  time  they  had  commenced  to  make  it 
out,  and  which  had  never  been  made  twice  alike.  They  com 
puted  the  interest  from  January  14th,  1851. 

It  seems  that  they  made  out  another  account,  subsequently, 
November  2d,  which  they  do  not  now  present,  but  which  I 
will  notice  by  and  by.  The  balance  they  then  stated,  22d 
September,  was  $241,329  47,  giving  no  credit  for  the  $118,- 
546  05  which  was  certified  to,  and  sent  on  for  payment  or 
prison ;  but,  gentlemen,  under  what  code  of  morals  the 
Treasury  Department  certified  it,  I  do  not  know.  They  had 
$118,000,  and  upwards,  in  their  possession,  which  they  did 
not  credit,  and  being  officers  acting  upon  their  high  respon 
sibilities  and  oaths,  they  are  permitted  to  certify  their  ac- 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  449 

counts,  and  they  did  certify  that  to  be  their  account,  without 
crediting  us  with  the  $118,000,  which  we  had  paid  them,  and 
they  knew  it.  We  do  not  here  complain  so  much  of  this, 
because  we  have  their  receipt  to  prove  that  we  paid  it.  But, 
I  should  like  to  know  upon  what  principle  that  account 
of  $241,000  was  certified  upon  oath,  when  they  well  knew 
that  $118,000,  and  upwards,  was  in  their  possession.  It 
seems  from  a  letter  of  the  Commissioner  of  Customs,  that 
they  had  made  out  a  further  account.  They  did  not  content 
themselves  with  the  account  of  September  22d,  but  (as  appears 
by  a  letter  of  the  Commissioner,  which  has  been  given  in 
evidence)  proceeded  to  make  out  still  another  account. 
They  made  an  addition  of  $5,661,  which  they  said  was  for 
rents  of  reservation.  This  item  they  had  dropped  on  March 
7th,  as,  in  their  own  language,  "  improperly  charged."  But, 
since  this  trial  has  commenced,  our  learned  friend  has  an 
nounced  that  that  charge  has  been  dropped  again,  for  the 
present,  for  the  want  of  evidence,  and  I  suppose  the  govern 
ment  will  go  on  to  bring  another  suit  for  it,  making  the  ninth 
on  the  civil  side  of  the  calendar.  That  letter  of  the  Commis 
sioner  of  the  Customs,  of  2d  November,  1853,  increases  the 
claim  to  $246,990  47,  and  if  my  learned  friend  follows  the  in 
structions  of  the  Department  of  the  Treasury,  for  any  length 
of  time,  he  will  find  it  to  be  the  most  devious  pathway  that 
he  has  ever  attempted  to  tread.  Relative  to  that  increased 
balance,  two  letters  were  sent  on  to  the  defendant,  who  was 
then  at  his  home  in  Ohio.  One  was  written  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  himself,  and  the  other  by  the  Commissioner 
of  Customs,  by  order  of  the  Secretary.  Both  letters  were 
sent  together,  and  both  required  him  to  deposit  this  las't 
named  sum  of  money.  One  directs  him  to  pay  it  to  John 
Hastings,  Surveyor,  and  designated  Depositary  of  the 
Treasury,  at  Pittsburg,  and  the  other  to  pay  it  to  John  B. 
Guthrie,  who  bore  the  letter  to  him,  and  who,  as  the  Commis 
sioner's  letter  states,  is  authorized  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  receive  it.  This  was  asking  considerable  of  this 
defendant — requiring  him  to  deposit  this  large  sum  of  money 
immediately,  in  two  different  places,  with  two  different  per 
sons  ;  but  I  suppose  it  was  done  according  to  Col.  Benton,  on 
principles  of  Amphibiology.  Under  what  particular  clause 
29 


450 

of  the  Sub-Treasury  act  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
authorized  the  public  moneys  to  be  deposited  with  a  private 
citizen,  I  do  not  know ;  he  doubtless  can  tell.  The  Depart 
ment  are  now  forced  to  fall  back  upon  this  account  of  Septem 
ber  22d,  1853,  which  has  swollen  vastly  beyond  the  account 
of  March  7th,  1853.  But  the  whole  may  be  stated  in  tabular 
form,  as  follows : — 

Different  Statements  of  the  Accounts  of  James  Collier,  made 
at  the  Treasury  Department. 

1851.— June  7th,  they  state  and  claim  a  balance  of $791,005  31 

September  24        ",          "  "  789,92535 

26  November,  in  letter  of  this  date,  the  Commis 
sioner  writes  him  that  $406,948  80  is  suspended, 
and  he  is  required  to  deposit $372,479  12 


Which  would  make  gross  amount 779,427  92 

26  December,  balance  is  stated  at 750,933  80 

But  in  accompanying  letter  of  29th  December,  Collector  is  re 
quired  to  deposit  $343,985,  remainder  being  suspended. 
1852. — May  10th,  they  bring  this  suit,  and  claim  in  their  declaration 

the  original  amount  of 791,065  31 

1853. — March  7,  they  stated  the  account  on  a  new  basis — 

the  Auditor  making  the  balance $181,797  00 

But  the  Commissioner  adds  to  this  balance  the 
Collector's    share    of    seized   liquors,  an    item 

allowed  by  Auditor 34,915  43 

but  "suspended"  by  Commissioner  —  making 

his  balance 216,712  43 

When  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  enclosed  the 

account  to  the  District  Attorney,  in  March,  1853, 

he  writes  him  to  commence  suit  and  collect. . . .  $186,787  00 

In  this  account  of  the  7th  March,  the  item  charged 

for  commissions  which  we  say  are  "  allowed  by 

law,"  was  disallowed 63,250  95 

and  the  Collector's  share  of  net  proceeds  of 

seized  liquors,  "suspended,"  was 34,915  43 

If  these  were  credited,  98,166  38 


(Without  crediting  the  other  contested  items  of  the  Monterey 

money,  penal  duties,  and  bonds),  the  balance  would  be $118,546  05 

16th  September,  1853,  Mr.  Collier  paid  into  the  Treasury  this 

amount 118,546  05 

Which,  if  our  construction  of  the  act  of  1849  be 
correct,  satisfied  the  whole  balance  claimed  by 
the  Department,  on  their  own  showing,  and  left 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIEK.  451 

to  Mr.  Collier  his  unsatisfied  claims  against  the 
government,  for  the  money  of  which  the  Deputy 
Collector's  office  at  Monterey  was  robbed,  con 
fessedly  without  any  fault  or  negligence  either 
of  the  Collector  or  Deputy,  but  which  the 
Treasury  Department  nevertheless  required 

him  to  pay $8,110  29 

For  Collector's  share  of  penal  duties,  which  de 
pends  upon  the  construction  of  the  act — now 
before  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  in  a  suit  be 
tween  other  parties 14,000,00 


Making  the  balance  to  be  certified  in  his  favor,  as  claimed  by  us    $22,110  29 
Besides  his  share  of  certain  bonds,  which  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  say  are  still  uucollected,  but  which  it  is  their  business 
to  collect 12,300  00 


After  all  this,  the  Treasury  Department  state  a  new 
account,  22d  September,  1853,  and  in  this  they  charge  the 
Collector  with  what  they  choose  to  estimate  as  his  fees,  which 
they  claim  for  themselves,  although  expressly  given  to  the 
Collector  by  the  act  of  1849,  under  which  he  was  appointed, 
which  they  estimate  at  $3,898  per  month,  nearly  three  times 
the  true  amount,  as  it  is  proved  on  this  trial. 

In  this  new  account,  they  start  upon  the  same  basis  as  the 
account  of  7th  March $216,712  43 

They  add  these  estimated  fees,  never  before  charged,  at  $3,898 
per  month 55,095  72 

They  charge  us  with  interest,  upon  an  assumed  balance,  and 
never  before  claimed 33,286  81 


Making  aggregate  debit $305,090  96 

They  then  credit  for  additional  salary,  and  a  part  only  of  the 
commissions,  and  the  estimated  fees  from  14th  February  to 
27th  September,  1850,  no  part  of  which  was  ever  before 

credited 63,761  49 

And  state  the  balance,  ?,2d  September,  1853,  at 241,329  47 


In  this  statement  no  credit  is  given  for  the  payment  of 
16th  September,  $118,546  05,  although  we  show  receipt  of  the 
Assistant  Treasurer  of  that  date,  and  the  receipt  is  acknowl 
edged  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  his  letter  of  the 
17th,  and  the  Monterey  money,  penal  duties,  &c.,  are  still  dis 
allowed. 

Then  we  show  by  letter  of  Commissioner  of  2d  November, 


452  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

1853,  that  they  have  made  still  another  statement,  in  which 
the  item  for  reserved  rents  reappears,  $5,661,  charged  in  ac 
counts  prior  to  7th  March,  1853,  but  in  that  account  credited 
as  "  improperly  charged,"  and  now  abandoned  on  this  trial. 

In  this  last  statement  they  credit  the  payment  of  16th  Sep 
tember,  at  $118,546,  omitting  the  5  cents,  and  still  claim  a  bal 
ance  of  $128,444  47,  which  the  Collector  is  required  forthwith 
to  pay  to  two  different  persons,  and  at  different  places. 

Moreover,  the  account  now  furnished  to  the  District  At 
torney,  introduced  on  this  trial,  is  the  account  of  the  22d 
September,  1853,  which  omits  altogether  the  credit  of  the  16th 
September. 

[The  Court  here  directed  an  adjournment  till  Wednesday 
morning.] 

WEDNESDAY. 

The  Court  met  pursuant  to  adjournment,  when  Mr.  Dick 
inson  proceeded  with  his  argument,  as  follows : 

It  may  seem  unnecessary  to  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury, 
that  we  should  travel  over  the  vast  expanse  presented  by  this 
case  so  minutely ;  but  to  us  it  has  seeme-d  necessary  for  the 
proper  vindication  of  the  defendant  here.  We  could  not  do 
less  than  to  review  the  whole  ground  for  the  purpose  of  sub 
mitting  the  legal  and  equitable  considerations  which  are  pre 
sented  ;  and  although  I  am  only  able  to  touch  upon  the  lead 
ing  points  of  the  case,  and  must  leave  many  things  unsaid  that 
might  be  said  in  illustration  of  the  positions  which  we  assume, 
yet  it  consumes  much  time,  and  must  try,  if  not  sorely  weary, 
your  patience.  I  shall,  therefore,  make  myself  as  brief  as  pos 
sible  in  the  discharge  of  a  duty  that  I  owe  to  an  injured  man. 

When  I  closed,  yesterday,  I  was  commenting  upon  the 
vast  discrepancies  between  the  various  reports  and  statements 
made  from  time  to  time  by  the  Treasury  Department.  I  had 
taken  occasion  to  show  that  where  two  statements  were  made 
they  were  entirely  unlike,  and  that  their  various  statements 
and  reports  constituted  a  chapter  of  errors  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end ;  and  was  about  to  contend,  and  was  contending, 
that  where  a  government  makes  its  own  laws  and  prescribes 
such  a  high  position  for  itself,  that  in  rendering  its  accounts 
against  its  citizens — where  the  accounts  and  statements  are  of 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.  .  JAMES    COLLIER.  453 

so  grave  a  character  and  involve  such  serious  consequences — 
they  should  be  in  their  official  character  like  Caesar's  wife,  not 
only  pure,  but  unsuspected.  They  should  not  make  these  hap 
hazard  statements,  commencing  at  near  $800,000,  and  sinking 
down  through  every  point  of  gradation  to  $216,000.  A  state 
ment  made  out  under  such  high  authority — an  authority  al 
most  as  absolute  as  despotism  itself— should  be  made  up  upon 
the  most  sufficient  evidence.  It  should  be  complete ;  above 
all,  it  should  be  true ;  and  we  have  been  met,  at  every  stage 
of  this  case,  by  charge  upon  charge — one  fabrication  upon 
another — changing  oftener  than  the  phases  of  the  moon,  from 
the  time  they  undertook  to  make  this  defendant  out  a  de 
faulter,  up  to  the  present  moment.  I  mean  no  disrespect  to 
these  officers  of  the  Treasury  Department  when  I  say,  their 
system  is  either  erroneously  administered,  or  is  radically  and 
shamefully  defective.  They  may  attribute  it  to  what  cause 
they  please.  Whether  there  are  too  few  accountants  and  too 
many  politicians  in  the  Department,  I  do  not  know,  and  I  leave 
for  others  to  determine ;  but  I  will  say,  that  any  merchant 
who  should  thus  state  his  accounts,  whether  dealing  with  his 
factor  or  agent,  or  with  his  customer — who  should  commence 
the  statement  of  his  accounts  at  $791,000  and  upwards,  who 
should  make  numerous  statements,  and  in  every  re-statement 
vary  the  amount,  until  it  was  reduced  to  $216,000 — would  be 
deservedly  hooted  off  'Change  ;  his  books  would  have  no  more 
authority,  as  such,  than  the  contents  of  waste  paper,  and  would 
justly  be  discredited  as  false. 

I  had  occasion  to  show,  yesterday,  that  when  Gov.  Ander 
son,  the  present  Commissioner  of  Customs,  certified  that  there 
were  only  six  certificates  of  abandonment  in  the  Treasury  De 
partment,  there  were  twenty-seven.  How  comes  that  ?  I  do 
not  attribute  the  fault  to  Gov.  Anderson.  He  could  not  know. 
These  certificates  were  filed  in  another  Bureau  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  and  he  could  not  know,  except  as  the  fact  was  re 
ported  to  him  from  such  Bureau,  how  many  certificates  there 
were.  They  brought  to  him  only  six,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
certify  to  this  astounding  error ;  and  in  the  mean  time  the  de 
fendant  was  held  up  as  a  defaulter,  not  for  the  amount  of  in 
debtedness  really  claimed  by  the  government,  but  for  a  great 
and  ruinous  amount,  calculated  to  prostrate  his  credit  and  de- 


454  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

stroy  his  reputation.  What  would  have  been  the  condition  of 
James  Collier  if  he  had  attempted  to  pay  this  vast  amount 
which  they  first  claimed  ?  and  claimed  so  gravely- — a  sum  clear 
away  beyond  his  reach,  and  the  reach  of  all  his  friends  put  tc- 
gether.  It  would  have  consumed  their  money,  their  goods  and 
chattels,  lands  and  tenements,  and  then  still  have  left  him  a 
defaulter  to  a  very  large  amount.  Still  they  claimed  this  amount, 
and  insisted  that  he  should  pay  it  forthwith  into  the  Treasury. 
And  I  shall  show  you,  by-and-by,  that  it  may  be  material,  and 
in  short  that  it  is  material,  that  we  should  exhibit  the  state  of 
their  dealings  with  us,  and  the  various  shapes  and  phases  of  the 
accounts  they  made  up.  Upon  the  subject  of  fees,  I  reasoned 
to  you  of  the  facts,  and  to  this  honorable  Court,  of  the  law  in 
volved,  and  I  said,  and  I  now  repeat  it,  that  none  of  the  laws 
fixing  a  maximum  compensation  have  any  application  to  the  act 
under  which  the  defendant  was  appointed,  nor  to  his  compen 
sation,  and  were  not  intended  to  have ; .  that  where  Congress 
had  intended  to  fix  a  maximum,  they  had  in  all  cases  said  so, 
and  I  cited  a  large  number  of  Congressional  enactments  in 
proof  of  this  assertion,  and  clearly  proved  by  these  citations  the 
Legislative  and  Congressional  construction  which  had  been 
placed  upon  the  language — "  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by 
law."  But  it  is  said,  there  was  the  act  of  the  3d  of  March, 
passed  on  the  same  day  with  this  act,  requiring  all  moneys  to  be 
paid  into  the  Treasury,  and  I  suppose  it  will  be  claimed  that 
that  language  had  an  influence  upon  it.  Now  for  the  language 
of  that  act. 

[Mr.  Dickinson  here  read  the  1st  §  of  the  act  of  the  3d  of 
March,  1849,  Ch.  110.] 

That  act  did  not,  as  seems  to  be  supposed,  require  all  moneys 
to  be  paid  into  the  Treasury.  It  required  "  the  gross  amount 
of  all  duties  received  from  customs,  from  the  sales  of  public 
lands,  and  from  all  miscellaneous  sources  FOR  THE  USE  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,"  to  be  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  "  without  any  abatement  or  deduction  on  account  of 
salary,  fees,  &c."  Now  the  moneys  collected  for  fees  were  not 
collected  "  for  duties  nor  from  miscellaneous  sources  for  the  use 
of  the  United  States."  Neither  of  these  acts  limit  the  amount 
of  our  compensation,  nor  gainsay,  nor  in  the  least  impair,  oui 
view  of  the  question.  If  any  construction  of  reading  is  to  be 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JAMES    COLLIEE.  455 

given  to  these  two  acts,  it  is  such  a  construction  as  will  make 
them  both  consistent,  with  themselves  and  with  each  other — 
they  are  to  be  so  read  as  to  give  them  their  full  force  and  full 
effect,  without  detracting  in  the  least  from  either,  still  leaving 
moneys  collected  for  duties  and  miscellaneous  sources  to  be  paid 
into  the  Treasury,  and  the  fees  and  commissions  allowed  by 
law,  to  the  late  Collector  of  the  District  of  Upper  California. 
We  have  paid,  and  there  is  no  suggestion  to  the  contrary,  every 
shilling  we  collected  u  for  duties  and  from  miscellaneous 
sources  for  the  use  of  the  United  States  "  into  the  Treasury. 
We  collected  the  duties  and  paid  them  in  and  rendered  accounts 
up  to  January,  1851,  and  the  account  for  the  amount  collected 
from  January  1st  to  January  14,  1851,  the  defendant  brought 
with  him  on  his  return  from  the  Pacific,  and  carried  it  to  the 
Treasury  Department,  before  he  visited  his  own  fireside.  He 
had  returned  all  the  duties — all  the  moneys  collected  for  the 
use  of  the  government  from  miscellaneous  sources,  and  had 
retained  one-half  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  seized 
liquors  and  the  seized  vessels. 

If  there  had  been  anything  wrong,  it  could  have  been  shown 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  but  the  government  are  silent 
upon  this  subject.  Where  are  the  witnesses  they  called  to  con 
tradict  the  correctness  of  the  position  we  assume  ?  They  con 
tent  themselves  with  their  certificates  of  the  amount  which  they 
claim,  and  have  not  ventured  to  call  a  single  witness  upon  the 
stand  to  testify  and  say  what  was  their  ground  of  complaint 
against  Mr.  Collier,  except  as  they  loom  up  with  their  certified 
statements.  We  hear,  in  the  progress  of  this  matter,  that  a  Mr. 
Rodman  made  a  report,  and  I  inquired  yesterday  where  was 
that  report  ?  It  was  not  forthcoming.  It  is  not  presented,  al 
though  in  the  matter  of  the  fees,  the  amount  has  been  fixed  at  a 
most  romantic  amount,  beyond  what  it  really  was,  and  Mr.  Rod 
man  has  been  in  the  Court  from  the  beginning  of  the  cause  up 
to  the  present  time,  to  prompt  the  vigilant  government  counsel 
— our  learned  opponent — to  quicken  his  activity,  and  to  suggest 
to  him  where  anything  is  wanting.  Why  was  not  Mr.  Rodman 
put  upon  the  stand  ?  If  Mr.  Collier  had  disregarded  his  duty,, 
if  he  violated  the  laws  in  collecting  the  revenues  at  San  Fran 
cisco,  why  not  put  Mr.  Rodman  upon  the  stand  to  show  in  what 
respect?  No!  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury,  he  has  not  trusted 


456 

himself  there,  and  they  have  not  trusted  him,  nor  ventured  to 
place  him  there.  He  went  out  to  California  as  an  agent  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  not  merely  to  spy  out  the  nakedness  of 
the  land,  but  to  spy  out  what  was  doing  by  this  Collector,  that 
he  might  expose  his  delinquencies  ;  and  why  does  he  not  come 
in  here  with  his  report  and  in  person,  to  point  out  the  wrong 
doings  of  this  defendant,  who  has  been  held  up  to  public  exe 
cration  and  scorn  before  the  country  ?  The  absence  of  that 
witness  is  a  volume  of  itself— it  tells  more  truth  than  twenty 
witnesses,  because  it  shows  there  is  nothing  they  could  allege 
against  him.  They  had  sent  out  a  special  messenger  to  San 
Francisco,  to  watch  the  doings  of  the  Collector,  and  act  as  a 
spy  upon  his  conduct,  and  when  he  came  back  he  could  do 
nothing  but  guess  at  the  fees  the  Collector  was  receiving,  and 
guess,  too,  nearly  treble  the  amount,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  what 
the  Secretary  says  of  Mr.  Rodman's  report.  If  not,  from  what 
data  did  they  estimate  the  amount  ?  They  had  Mr.  King's  re 
port  of  monthly  fees  then  (unless  it  had  gone  to  that  receptacle 
of  lost  things,  where  all  but  six  of  the  twenty-seven  certificates 
had  gone),  and  they  might,  from  that  report,  have  made  up  a 
statement  somewhere  nearer  the  truth,  for  the  cashier  testifies 
that  the  fees  could  not  have  been  more  than  $1,400  per  month, 
instead  of  the  amount  charged  by  them,  $3,898  per  month. 

In  regard  to  these  fees,  I  stated  yesterday,  in  showing  the 
gross  inconsistencies  of  the  Department,  that  they  commenced 
by  promising  to  pay  him  three  thousand  dollars  per  year,  from 
April,  and  then,  as  the  fruition  of  that  hope  they  had  held  out, 
they  credit  him  with  fifteen  hundred  dollars  from  November. 
They  subsequently  promised  to  be  liberal,  and  fixed  his  salary 
at  a  maximum  of  six  thousand  dollars,  and  then  finally,  for  a 
certain  period  of  time,  although  he  had  never  claimed  it,  they 
allowed  him  ten  thousand  dollars.  Now,  on  the  14th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1850,  there  was  a  joint  resolution  passed  suspending  the 
restrictions  upon  the  salaries  in  California  and  Oregon,  and 
among  other  things  making  further  appropriations  for  the  col 
lection  of  the  revenue,  for  the  half  of  the  current  year  com 
mencing  January,  1850,  and  ending  30th  June,  the  same 
year.  They  gave  a  construction  to  that  joint  resolution,  as  we 
have  before  seen,  by  which  they  allowed  the  minor  officers  and 
deputies  for  the  whole  time  they  were  employed  by  Mr.  Collier, 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.   JAMES   COLLIEE.  457 

under  his  direction.  They  allowed  also,  though  upon  what  prin 
ciple  they  allowed  it,  with  their  views,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive, 
a  large  amount  of  fees  and  commissions  from  February  14th, 

1850,  to  September  28th,  1850,  when  California  was  admitted 
as  a  State,  when  specific  legislation  was   had,  and  when  the 
State  was  districted   into  six  Collection  Districts.     Now  for 
that  term  of  time,  from  February  14th,  to  September  28th,  1850, 
they  allowed  him  a  maximum  compensation  of  three  thousand 
dollars,  instead  of  six  thousand  dollars,  w^hich  they  said  he  was 
entitled  to ;  they  allowed  this  very  large  amount  of  fees  and 
commissions,  the  first  of  which  they  designate  as  fees  "per 
contra  /  "  but,  as  to  the  commissions,  they  do  not  state  whether 
they  were  regarded  as  "per  contra  "  or  otherwise.     We  would 
be  perfectly  satisfied  if  they  allowed  us  that  compensation, 
which  is  a  larger  amount  than  we  have  charged,  did  they  not 
offset  it  by  these  fees,  a  great  part  of  which  never  had  any  ex 
istence  except  in  the  confused  brain  of  some  stupid  or  designing 
official.     From  the  28th  of  September  to  the  14th  of  January, 

1851,  they  credit  us  at  the  rate  of  ten  thousand  dollars  per  an 
num,  because  the  State  was  then  districted  into  six  Collection 
Districts,  and  the  salary  of  the  Collector  of  the  District  of  San 
Francisco  had  been  fixed  at  that  amount.     But  Mr.  Collier  WAS 
not  the  Collector  of  the  District  of  San  Francisco.     He  had 
been  nominated  for  that  position  after  the  act  of  September 
28th,  but  amid  the  clamor  that  went  forth  against  him  he  was 
rejected.     Of  that  he  did  not  and  does  not  complain.     He  re 
mained  at  his  post  and  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office  to 
which  he  was  originally  appointed,  not  only  in  the  District  of 
San  Francisco,  but  of  the  five  other  new  Districts  which  had 
been  created.     Upon  what  principle,  then,  do  they  cut  off  "  the 
fees  and  commissions  allowed  by  law,"  and  give  him  the  salary 
of  one  District,  when  he  was  not  only  the  Collector  of  that 
District,  but  of  the  whole  State,  embracing  the  six  Districts  ? 
He  had  been  appointed  Collector  for  the  whole  State,  and  that 
was  the  bargain  he  had  made.     He  made  no  new  agreement 
subsequently,  and  he  remained  there  in  the  discharge  of  his  own 
duties,  for  which  they  paid  at  San  Francisco   alone — one  of  the 
Districts — ten  thousand  dollars ;   the  duties  of  Surveyor,  too, 
for  which  the  new  act  provided  a  salary  of  seven  thousand  dol 
lars,  of  Appraiser  and  Assistant  Appraisers  at  the  respective 


458 

salaries  of  six  thousand  and  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars, 
and  Deputy  Collector  at  a  salary  of  five  thousand  dollars,  and  a 
Naval  Officer  at  a  salary  of  eight  thousand  dollars  a  year.  The 
act  of  September  28th  provided  for  the  payment  of  these  vast 
sums,  as  compensation  for  the  collection  of  revenue  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  San  Francisco,  alone,  and  when  he  had  discharged  all  of 
these  duties,  for  all  these  offices,  in  the  whole  of  the  six  Dis 
tricts,  a  great  clamor  is  raised  against  him  because  he  claimed 
according  to  law  a  salary  of  $1,500  as  his  compensation,  and 
demanded  that  he  should  have  "  the  fees  and  commissions  al 
lowed  by  law."  Bear  in  mind,  too,  this  salary  of  $10,000  was 
fixed  after  the  State  had  been  organized,  and  social  and  legal 
order  had  been  erected,  and  after  this  great  rush  of  illicit  trade 
upon  that  coast  had  been  regulated  and  subdued.  In  the  dis 
charge  of  these  duties  he  had  no  Naval  Officer,  no  Surveyor, 
and  no  Appraiser  to  divide  responsibility  with  him,  except  those 
he  employed.  Now  let  us  look  at  the  other  Districts  under  the 
legislation  of  September  28th.  The  Collectors  of  the  Districts 
of  Monterey,  San  Diego,  Sacramento,  Sonora,  and  S,an  Joachin, 
were  each  given  salaries  of  $3,000  per  annum,  with  additional 
maximum  compensation  of  $2,000,  should  their  official  emolu 
ments  and  fees  amount  to  that  sum.  The  Surveyors  at  the 
ports  of  San  Barbara  and  San  Pedro  were  to  be  allowed  a  com 
pensation  each  of  $2,000,  &c.,  &c. ;  and  thus  costing  the  gov 
ernment  some  $50,000  per  annum,  for  performing  the  duties 
which  devolved  upon  the  defendant. 

We  submit  that  if  they  wish  to  go  upon  this  new  compen 
sation,  they  should  give  him  not  only  the  salary  provided  for 
the  Collector  of  the  port  of  San  Francisco,  but  they  should  pay 
him  the  salary  of  Surveyor,  Naval  Officer,  &c.,  within  the  Dis 
trict,  and  the  salaries  given  to  the  officers  of  the  other  Districts, 
the  duties  of  which  he  discharged  after  September  28th.  But 
that  is  not  the  principle  upon  which  we  insist.  We  demand 
our  salary  of  $1,500,  and  the  "fees  and  commissions  allowed  by 
law"  be  the  same  more  or  less.  I  repeat,  in  making  up  their 
estimate  they  credited  us  with  a  large  amount  of  "  fees  and 
commissions,"  but  the  joint  resolution  of  14th  February,  1850, 
did  not  authorize  any  such  payment.  Its  office  was  to  take  off 
the  restriction  upon  the  salaries  in  California  and  Oregon,  and 
nothing  else.  They  have  therefore  sanctioned  and  shown  that 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  459 

they  had  a  right  to  pay  fees,  and  that  the  Collector  was  entitled 
to  the  fees  ;  and  if  they  had  made  this  credit,  which  is  a  larger 
amount  than  we  charged,  we  should  have  been  perfectly  con 
tented,  had  they  not  overbalanced  it  by  a  charge  that  they  had 
never  made  against  us  before  for  fees  which  had  no  existence, 
and  a  most  inequitable,  unjust,  and  erroneous  estimate  of  in 
terest,  which  had  never  been  claimed  before,  and  which  is  not 
allowable .  by  any  law  domestic  or  foreign,  State  or  Federal, 
written  or  unwritten. 

But,  lest  I  spend  too  much  time,  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury,  I 
will  not  dwell  longer  upon  these  various  statements  of  the  ac 
count,  but  will  pass  along  to  the  7th  of  March,  1853.  -  They  do 
not  seem  to  have  stated  the  account  to  suit  themselves,  until 
that  time,  and  although  the  Collector  presented  himself  there 
time  and  again,  with  his  counsel,  to  endeavor  to  procure  a  settle 
ment,  he  did  not  succeed.  But,  it  is  said,  he  had  the  money 
in  his  own  hands.  Well,  he  did  have  some  money  in  his 
hands,  which  might  or  might  not  belong  to  the  government 
on  a  settlement ;  but  he  gave  the  reason  why  he  retained  it  in 
his  own  possession,  and  such  reason  ought  to  have  been  most 
satisfactory.  Why,  gentlemen,  when  the  news  reached  Cali 
fornia  of  her  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State — when  'can 
nons  boomed,  bonfires  blazed — when  flags  fluttered,  and  the 
hurrahs  went  up  from  a  joyous  people,  that  California  was  one 
of  the  stars  of  the  Union,  was  gathered  into  the  constellation 
of  free  and  independent  States— when  all  its  citizens  were  re 
joicing  that  legal  and  social  order  were  at  last  theirs,  and  that 
California  was  hailed  as  the  young  sister  of  the  Pacific,  what 
consolation  came  to  this  defendant  ?  The  same  steamer  brought 
him  the  intelligence  that,  by  reason  of  the  mischievous  and  ma 
licious  clamors  raised  against  him,  he  had  been  rejected,  when 
nominated  by  the  President,  for  the  office  under  the  new  organ 
ization.  He  did  not  complain.  But  if  we  could  have  under 
stood  the  workings  of  his  heart,  we  should  have  seen  it  stung 
to  its  core  with  bitterness  that  his  country  had  rewarded  such 
perilous,  faithful,  and  distinguished  services,  by  a  return  so  un 
grateful.  But  he  said  nothing— he  had  no  official  notice  that 
he  had  been  suspended.  He  remained  there,  true  to  his  trust- 
he  stood  the  same  sentinel  upon  the  watch-towers  of  that  old 
Custom  House,  where  he  had  preserved  the  public  treasure, 


460 

until  he  was  relieved  by  his  successor.  He  had  bsen  prosecuted, 
in  the  mean  time,  in  the  various  local  courts,  by  shippers,  for 
various  large  amounts  claimed  of  him  in  his  official  capacity — 
he  was  a  public  officer  no  longer,  and  under  no  obligations  to 
remain  there.  He  did  remain,  and  he  retained  sufficient  of  the 
money  to  protect  himself,  and  he  told  the  government  why  he 
had  done  so.  He  retained  the  money  to  indemnify  himself 
against  these  prosecutions  that  had  been  commenced  against 
him  individually,  by  these  different  persons.  But  he  was  always 
anxious  to  settle  with  the  government,  even  after  being  sued 
for  $791,000,  and  published  as  a  defaulter.  Pie  did  not  falter  or 
fly  from  these  prosecutions.  He  besought  the  government  to 
settle  them,  as  he  seeks  to  have  them  do  now,  vipon  principles 
just  and  equitable. 

They  made  out  their  account  finally,  but  much  time  had 
been  consumed  by  these  parties  in  negotiations,  both  before  and 
after  this  suit  was  commenced  ;  negotiations  marked  by  atten 
tion,  vigilance,  care,  and  integrity,  on  the  part  of  the  Collector, 
and  inattention,  carelessness,  and  stupidity  on  the  part  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  whose  presiding  genius,  seated  upon  his 
golden  throne,  dispensing  his  blessings  and  his  curses,  could  not 
at  first  spare  time  to  settle  the  accounts  of  this  California  Col 
lector,  and  he  was  put  off  from  time  to  time,  until  finally,  in  the 
progress  of  affairs,  these  exorbitant  demands  were  made 
against  him. 

To  show  upon  what  unjust  and  absurd  principles  the  ac 
counts  of  the  Treasury  Department  were  made  up,  let  me  ex 
plain  to  you  a  formidable  item  in  his  account,  called  the  spe 
cial  deposit  account. 

A  shipper  comes  into  the  port  of  San  Francisco,  with  a 
damaged  cargo,  or  with  goods  depreciated  in  the  market.  He 
desires  to  land  his  cargo,  but  before  he  can  get  a  permit  for 
that  purpose,  he  must  first  pay  the  duties.  He  therefore  pro 
duces  his  invoices,  and  the  duties  are  estimated  upon  them. 
He  then  makes  a  special  deposit  with  the  cashier  to  the  whole 
amount  of  this  estimate,  for  which  the  cashier  gives  him  a  cer 
tificate  of  deposit,  and  opens  an  account  with  the  shipper  and 
credits  him  the  amount  on  the  books  of  the  Custom  House. 
The  cargo  is  then  landed,  and  passes  through  the  hands  of  the 
appraisers,  and  the  true  amount  of  duties  is  thus  ascertained. 


1851.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  461 

The  shipper  returns  to  the  cashier  with  the  appraiser's  account 
showing  the  true  amount  of  duties.  The  cashier  thereupon 
charges,  on  the  debit  side  of  the  shipper's  account,  the  true 
amount  of  duties,  pays  him  back  the  excess  of  deposit,  upon 
the  return  of  certificate  of  deposit,  which  is  also  charged,  and 
which  balances  the  shipper's  account,  and  theii  credits  the 
United  States  with  the  true  amount  of  duties.  Or  to  put  the 
whole  series  of  cases,  extending  throughout  his  entire  term, 
into  a  single  account  for  the  purpose  of  illustration : — 

One  of  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  goes  into  port,  with  all 
these  cargoes  in  one  ship. 

The  duties  are  estimated  upon  your  invoices  at  what  is, 
in  facfr,  the  gross  amount  in  defendant's  account,  $405,948, 
which  you  thereupon  deposit,  arid  the  cashier  opens  an  ac 
count  with  you  thus  : — 

Arthur  E.  White,  in  Account  with  United  States. 

1850.—  Or. 

July  1.     By  amount  of  cash  deposited  for  unascertained  duties 
on  goods  imported  on  British  ship  Ocean,  from  Liverpool,  A. 

E.  White,  Master,  as  per  invoice $105,048  00 

[After  appraisal  Tie  enters  debit.] 

1S50.—  Contra.  Dr. 

July  15.     To  amount  of  ascertained  duties  upon 

appraised  value  of  goods $380,000  00 

To  cash  paid  you  for  excess  of  deposit,  on  re 
turn  of  certificate  of  deposit 25,948  03 


$105,948  00 

And  the  shipper's  account  being  thus  balanced, 
the  Cashier  then  opens  an  account  with  the 
United  States,  thus  :— 

The  (United  States  in  Account  with  James  Collier^  Collector. 

1850.—  Cr. 
July  15.    By  cash  received  for  duties  on  cargo  of  ship  Ocean, 
of  Liverpool,  Arthur  E.  White,  Master,  on  Appraiser's  valua 
tion  of  goods $380,000  00 

You  would  think  it  quite  plain,  gentlemen,  that,  upon  such 
an  account  and  upon  this  statement  of  facts,  the  Collector 
should  be  charged  at  the  Treasury  Department  only  with 
the  amount  of  duties  actually  received,  $380,000.  But  what 


462 

does  the  Treasury  Department  do,  in  its  magnificent  system 
of  book-keeping.  In  making  up  the  Collector's  account,  they 
not  only  charge  him  with  the  true  amount  of  duties  received, 
but  also  with  the  amount  of  the  original  deposit,  making  an  ag 
gregate  debit  of  $785,984,  instead  of  $380,000,  and  holding  up 
the  Collector  to  the  public,  and  publishing  him  as  a  defaulter, 
in  this  single  item,  for  $405,948,  which  he  is  peremptorily  re 
quired  to  pay  into  the  Treasury.  And  although  this  matter 
was  fully  explained,  over  and  over  again,  at  the  Treasury  De 
partment,  yet  the  Collector  is  not  only  officially  reported  to 
the  Senate  as  a  defaulter  for  this  amount,  but  the  account 
with  this  imaginary  balance  included,  and  others  equally  erro 
neous,  duly  certified  by  the  Treasury  Department  to  the  Dis 
trict  Attorney  as  correct,  and  in  this  very  suit  the  whole  amount 
was  originally  claimed.  To  be  sure,  this  item  is  credited  a 
year  or  two  after  this  suit  was  commenced,  and  the  account 
is  reduced — including  other  items — more  than  half  a  million 
of  dollars  by  a  single  dash  of  the  pen ;  but  large  items,  equally 
false  and  absurd,  are  still  retained  and  charged. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1853,  you  will  perceive  their  account 
was  re-stated  at  $216,712,  and  we  then  made  arrangements  to 
pay  a  part  of  this  demand,  and  more  than  was  really  due,  and 
leave  the  balance  to  be  litigated,  although  the  Avhole  amount 
had  been  previously  stated  at  $181,000  by  the  Auditor,  and 
his  view  of  the  account  was  concurred  in  by  the  opinion  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Customs.  But  inasmuch  as  the  then 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Department  wished  to  exhibit  his 
prowess  in  book-keeping,  he  took  the  matter  into  his  own 
hands,  and  the  account  was  finally  stated,  on  the  7th  of  March, 
at  $216,712.  In  the  mean  time  no  payments  had  been  made; 
but  they  allege,  as  an  apology,  that  vouchers  had  been  ren 
dered,  which  caused  the  change.  We  deny  that  a  single 
voucher  had  been  rendered  since  Mr.  Collier's  first  visit  to 
Washington,  after  his  return  from  California.  They  were  all, 
save  six,  slumbering  in  that  resurrectionless  tomb  connected 
with  the  Treasury  Department ;  they  had  long  before  gone  to 
that  bourne  from  which  no  paper  returns ;  they  were  decay 
ing  in  the  subterranean  pigeon-holes  in  the  basement  of  the 
Treasury  Buildings. 

Upon  the  statement  of  March  7th,  of  $216,712,  made  up  in 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JA.ME3    COLLIER.  463 

the  manner  I  have  already  stated,  the  $118,000  was  paid, 
with  the  understanding  that  the  other  balance  of  the  govern 
ment  claims  should  be  decided  in  the  courts.  After  that,  for 
the  first  time,  the  claims  for  fees  and  interest  on  the  amount 
were  made.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a  letter  dated 
September  12,  1853,  adds  to  the  account  previously  demanded, 
$18,967  3V,  for  interest  at  six  per  cent.,  from  January  14, 
1851.  This  letter  is  as  follows: 


(COPT.) 


"  TREASUKT  DEPARTMENT, 
September  12,  1853. 


"  SIR  : — A  proposition  has  been  made  to  this  Department,  by  the 
sureties  on  behalf  of  James  Collier,  late  Collector  of  California,  to  make 
a  deposit  with  you,  by  way  of  present  payment  on  account  of  the  bal 
ance  due  by  him.  The  said  payments  may  be  as  follows,  viz. : 
$216,712  43,  as  adjusted  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Revenue,  less, 
first:  Fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures,  as  stated  by  the  Aud'r, 
$34,915  43,  and  second:  Commissions  on  his  collections,  $63,250  95, 
making  of  principal  to  be  deposited,  -  -  -  $118,54605 

Interest  from  14th  Jan.,  1851,  to  13th  Sept.,  1853,  2  yr's 

and  8  months,  at  6  p'r  c't.,         -  -  18,967  37 


$137,513  42 

And  leaving  the  two  items  deducted,  with  others,  for  future  considera 
tion  and  adjustment. 

"  I  have,  therefore,  to  request  that  you  will  receive  the  said  aggre 
gate  sum,  or  either  of  the  two  which  compose  it,  which  may  be  offered, 
and  issue  duplicate  certificates  of  the  deposit,  stating  that  the  deposit  is 
on  account  of  the  debt  of  said  Collier,  and  specifying  the  character  of 
the  deposit  received,  whether  for  principal  or  interest,  and  by  whom 
made. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfally, 

[Signed]  «  JAMES  GUTHPJE,  Sec\j  of  Treasury. 

"Jonx  A.  Dix,  Esq.,  Ass>t  Treafr  V.  &,  New  York." 

Here  it  is  shown  that  the  money  was  to  be  paid  on  the 
basis  of  the  calculation  of  March  7th,  and  the  other  items 
were  left  for  future  adjustment,  and  that  the  defendant  might 
pay  the  principal  or  interest  as  he  should  choose,  and  produce 
the  certificate  of  the  Assistant  Treasurer,  upon  which  he  paid 
it.  On  the  16th  of  September,  therefore,  Mr.  Collier  paid 


464 

$118,546  05,  according  to  the  instructions  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  For  the  amount  paid  he  received  the  certifi 
cates  of  the  Assistant  Treasurer,  which  you  have  heard  read 
to  you.  The  certificates,  too,  show  that  this  sum  was  paid  by 
the  sureties  of  the  Collector,  upon  his  account,  to  discharge 
their  obligation,  as  was  declared  to  be  the  intention  when  it 
was  paid  in.  This  $118,000  was  received  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States,  with  cop 
ies  of  the  papers  showing  the  grounds  upon  which  it  was  paid. 
Now  we  submit,  that,  both  as  law  and  fact,  they  cannot  make 
a  further  and  different  statement,  claiming  an  amount  due, 
after  receiving  money  upon  the  basis  of  that  statement  and 
retaining  it,  when  it  is  clearly  agreed  and  understood  to  have 
been  paid  upon  the  faith  of  that  statement.  We  have  paid 
our  money  upon  that  statement,  and  they  are  estopped  from 
changing  it  to  our  prejudice,  from  the  basis  of  that  calculation 
of  March  7th.  If  an  ordinary  debtor,  after  furnishing  the 
amount  and  bill  of  particulars  of  his  claim,  is  bound  by  it, 
how  much  more  should  the  government,  after  certifying  its  ac 
counts,  be  bound  by  its  action,  especially  after  the  commence 
ment  of  the  suit.  The  account  of  March  7th  claimed  $216,- 
712  43,  and  the  payment  of  September  16th  was  made  upon 
that  basis. 

I  now  pass  to  the  matter  of  interest.  We  do  not  nor  did 
not  admit  the  claim  of  interest.  We  did  not  make  any  ar 
rangements  in  regard  to  it.  In  the  first  place,  we  say  it  was 
not  allowable  upon  any  principle  whatcA'er,  because  the  true 
account  had  never  been  stated.  The  amount  had  been  ambu 
latory,  and  had  been  constantly  passing  from  one  point  to 
another.  The  account  must  be  finished  and  complete,  upon 
mercantile  principles,  before  it  can  draw  interest.  There  must 
be  a  balance  struck  to  fix  the  sum  due.  The  statute  providing 
for  the  payment  of  interest  does  not  help  them.  The  statute 
gives  them  leave  to  charge  interest  from  the  time  they  state 
their  account,1 — an  account  upon  which  they  can  recover  for 
the  amount  stated, — that  does  not  conflict  with  the  rule  of  the 
common  law  at  all.  It  is  only  declaratory,  and  fixes  and  gives 
certainty  to  that  which  was  left  in  uncertainty  before.  When 
a  true  and  just  balance  has  been  stated  by  the  Treasury  De 
partment,  if  they  recover  upon  the  stated  balance,  they  can 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIEE.  465 

recover  interest  upon  it,  but  the  balance  must  not  range  every 
where  between  $791,000  and  $216,000,  and  then  pass  for  a 
stated  balance  within  the  rule.  Even  at  a  later  date  than 
March  7th,  in  the  very  account  now  introduced  by  the  District 
Attorney,  they  undertook  to  give  us  large  credits  and  to  make 
additional  charges. 

Again,  they  have  accepted  their  principal  debt  as  a  princi 
pal  debt,  and  the  interest,  if  allowable  under  any  circumstan 
ces,  was  a  mere  incident  to  that  debt,  and  they  are  therefore 
not  entitled  to  it,  having  accepted  the  principal.  Where  there 
is  a  special  agreement  to  pay  interest,  and  where  interest  is 
reserved,  there  may  be  some  reason  for  claiming  it ;  but  where 
the  principal  is  accepted  as  a  payment  of  the  principal,  and 
not  as  interest,  and  where  there  is  no  dissent  or  demur  and  the 
money  is  kept,  then  they  cannot  claim  and  are  not  entitled  to 
recover  interest.  They  claim  this  interest  from  the  14th  of 
January,  1851,  to  September  14th.  1853,  two  years  and  eight 
months,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  time  when  they 
regarded  the  account  as  stated  between  these  periods.  If  they 
had  intended  to  charge  us  interest,  clearly  they  should  have 
made  out  an  account,  upon  which  they  could  have  demanded 
interest  to  be  paid  on  the  account.  It  was  proper  for  us  to  go 
over  this  account  for  the  purpose  of  showing  there  was  no 
defalcation  on  the  part  of  the  Collector,  and  never  had  been,, 
and  that  he  had  met,  so  far  as  he  was  able  to  meet,  the  exi 
gencies  of  the  case,  and  had  settled  with  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  so  far  as  the  Treasury  Department  had  rendered  him  a 
true  account,  and  it  was  especially  proper  for  him  to  do  it  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  that  there  was  no  time  when  they 
should  have  charged  him  with  interest.  This  statute,  if  it 
does  anything,  authorizes  the  charge  of  interest  by  way  of 
damages — making  it  attach  as  damages  for  the  detention,  by 
statute,  when  it  would  not  have  been  chargeable  by  common 
law.  It  is  a  statute,  therefore,  penal  in  its  character  and  ope 
ration — a  statute  in  derogation  of  the  common  law  so  far,  and 
for  these  reasons  it  is  to  be  strictly  construed. 

The  interest  which  they  claim  is  based  upon  this  erroneous 

estimate  of  fees,  an  amount  which  is  shown  upon  the  face  of 

these  proceedings  to  be  unliquidated,  because  they  admit  they 

do  not  state  the  account  truly,  but  from  an  estimate  ;  and  when 

30 


4:66  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

we  place  a  witness  upon  the  stand  to  prove  what  the  amount 
of  fees  really  was,  and  they  have  an  individual  in  court — the 
author  of  Rodman's  report — who  pretends  to  have  investigat 
ed  the  subject  and  made  a  report  upon  it,  they  keep  both  re 
port  and  witness  out  of  view ;  and  still  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  instructs  his  subordinates  to  make  up  these  fees  upon 
the  basis  of  that  report,  which  they  do  not  see  fit  to  produce, 
nor  to  call  the  witness  who  can  speak  knowingly  of  the  truth 
of  the  report.  Then  why  should  we  be  called  upon  to  pay 
interest  when  the  account  has  never  been  fixed  from  the  begin 
ning  to  the  end,  but,  on  the  contrary,  so  ingeniously  have  these 
executive  thimbles  been  rigged  during  the  whole  time,  that 
the  most  expert  among  them  could  not  tell  under  which  one 
the  little  joker  was. 

But,  gentlemen,  there  is  another  item  in  this  account.  It 
is  the  Monterey  money  stolen  from  the  Deputy  Collector's 
office,  and  it  is  briefly  disposed  of.  Even  if  the  Department 
had  not  the  strict  right  to  allow  us  the  amount  of  that  money, 
$8,110,  in  stating  the  accounts,  you  have  the  right.  The  claim 
is  both  legal  and  equitable,  and  may  as  such  be  set  off  in  this 
suit.  But  we  deny  in  the  most  emphatic  terms  that  upon  any 
principle  whatever  are  we  liable  for  the  acts  of  the  Deputy 
Collector  at  Monterey.  He  was  an  officer  of  the  government 
as  much  as  was  the  Collector  at  San  Francisco.  The  Collector 
of  San  Francisco  is  appointed  by  the  President  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  Collector  at  Monterey  was 
appointed  by  the  San  Francisco  Collector  with  the  consent  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  it  matters  not  from  what 
source  the  appointment  is  derived.  The  President  and  Senate 
are  not  liable  for  the  delinquencies  of  the  Collector  at  San 
Francisco,  neither  is  the  Collector  at  San  Francisco  liable  for 
the  delinquencies  of  the  Deputy  Collector  at  Monterey,  even 
if  he  were  in  default.  Says  Judge  Story  in  his  work  on  agen 
cy,  page  412,  §  319  : 

"  And  here  the  doctrine  is  now  firmly  established  (subject  to  the 
qualifications  hereinafter  stated),  that  public  officers  and  agents  are  not 
responsible  for  the  misfeasances,  or  positive  wrongs,  or  nonfeasances, 
or  negligences,  or  omissions  of  duty  of  the  sub-agents,  or  servants,  or 
other  persons  properly  employed  by  and  under  them,  in  discharge  of 
their  official  duties.  Thus,  for  example,  it  is  now  well  settled,  although 


1854:.]  UNITED    STATES   VS.    JAMES    COLLIEE.  467 

it  was  formerly  a  matter  of  learned  controversy,  that  the  Postmaster- 
General  is  not  liable  for  any  default,  or  negligence,  or  misfeasance 
of  any  of  the  deputies  or  clerks  employed  under  him  in  his  office. 
This  exemption  is  founded  upon  tlio  general  ground  that  he  is  a  public 
officer,  and  that  the  whole  establishment  of  the  post-office  being  for 
public  purposes,  and  the  officers  employed  therein  being  appointed 
under  public  authority,  it  would  be  against  public  policy  to  make  the 
head  of  the  department  personally  responsible  for  the  acts  of  all  his 
subordinate  officers ;  since  it  would  be  impracticable  for  him  to 
supervise  all  their  acts,  and  discouragements  would  thus  be  held  out 
against  such  official  ernployme  nt  in  the  public  service." 

And  in  the  second  of  Kent's  Commentaries,  610,  cases  are 
cited  to  the  same  point ;  (see  also  Story  on  Bailments,  sec 
tions  462  and  463,  and  6th  Barb.  S.  C.  R.  632,  635.)  There 
are  numerous  other  authorities  that  I  might  mention,  but  I 
will  not  detain  the  Court  for  that  purpose.  We  insist  that 
the  Deputy  Collector  at  Monterey  is  an  officer  of  the  govern 
ment,  appointed  by  tlie  government,  and  liable  to  the  govern 
ment,  upon  general  principles.  Besides,  suppose  James  Collier 
himself  had  lost  that  amount  by  theft,  without  fault  on  his 
part,  would  it  not  have  been  an  equitable  defence  to  the 
amount  for  him  ?  We  suppose  it  would.  And  passing  from 
this  first  point  of  defence,  we  insist  that  the  fact  of  the  money 
being  stolen  from  the  place  provided  by  the  government  for 
the  Collector's  Department,  is  a  complete  defence,  even  though 
it  had  been  stolen  from  under  the  Collector's  roof.  It  is  not 
like  the  case  of  the  individual  who  appoints  his  deputies  and 
keeps  his  money  where  he  pleases.  It  is  the  loss  of  the  gov 
ernment  and  not  of  the  Collector.  The  integrity  of  the  officer 
is  not  doubted,  and  in  fact  the  Commissioner  of  the  Customs 
admits  the  stealing  of  the  money  in  a  letter,  as  does  also  the 
Solicitor  of  the  Treasury.  Then  we  have  the  deposition  of 
Senator  Weller,  who  testifies  to  have  seen  the  marks  of  the 
burglarious  entrance  to  the  safe  from  which  the  money  was 
taken.  The  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  United  States 
Attorney  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  who  appeared  for  the 
United  States  on  the  examination  of  Senator  Weller,  had  no 
doubt  of  the  money  being  stolen,  and  if  anything  is  to  be 
taken  by  inference  from  that  deposition,  it  is  most  strongly 
against  the  government,  for  they  had  the  means  of  cross- 


468 

examining  the  witness  if  they  had  chosen  so  to  do,  and 
ascertaining  in  detail  all  the  facts  of  the  case. 

We  claim,  in  addition  to  the  Monterey  money,  the  half  of 
the  net  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  seized  liquors  and  the 
commissions  at  the  rate  of  three  per  cent.,  upon  money  col 
lected  for  duties,  and  also  one  half  of  the  bonds  which  are  in 
the  possession  of  the  government  and  of  which  our  share  is 
admitted  to  be  $12,300.  Without  dwelling  long  upon  the 
subject  of  these  bonds,  we  submit,  gentlemen,  that  after  the 
Collector  left  office  and  all  control  over  them,  in  January, 
and  after  the  Treasury  Department  had  decided  that  the 
goods  were  legally  forfeited  for  which  these  bonds  were  given, 
the  government  should  have  exercised  vigilance  in  collecting 
the  bonds,  and  if  they  have  slept  upon  the  rights  of  the  par 
ties,  and  have  not  done  their  duty,  while  at  the  same  time  we 
could  not  get  possession  of  the  bonds  to  collect  them  our 
selves,  we  contend  that  the  government  has  made  the  bonds 
its  own,  and  that  we  are  entitled  to  our  share  of  them,  and  the 
government  is  liable  to  pay  us  our  portion  no\v. 

Upon  the  subject  of  forfeitures,  in  addition  to  other 
statutes,  there  is  one  which  I  omitted  to  cite  yesterday, 
which  says,  among  other  things,  what  moneys  the  Collector 
shall  return,  "that  he  shall  return  the  amounts  received  for 
fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures  of  seized  goods,  wares,  and 
merchandise,  and  up  on  compromises  made  for  seizures"  It  is 
the  act  of  2d  March,  1841,  to  be  found  in  Gordon's  Digest  of 
1850,  page  911. 

We  do  not  pretend  that  there  is  any  direct  authority  given 
to  the  Collector  to  make  compromises,  nor  is  there,  we  say, 
any  given  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  but  we  contend 
that  that  gives  as  much  authority  to  the  Collector  to  compro 
mise  as  to  any  other  officer,  and  means  such  a  case  as  ours  if 
it  means  anything.  There  it  is.  Let  our  learned  friend 
dispose  of  it  as  he  will.  Now  the  Collector,  Mr.  Collier, 
collected  at  that  port  upwards  of  $2,100,000,  and  upon  that 
amount  he  charges  commissions.  They  allow  him  commissions 
for  a  considerable  period.  The  condition  in  which  he  found 
California  has  been  very  well  described  in  his  own  letter.  He 
took  an  early  opportunity  of  advising  the  government  of  the 
state  of  things  there. 


1854.]  UNITED    STATES    VS.    JAMES    COLLIER.  4:69 

[Mr.  Dickinson  here  read  again  a  portion  of  the  letter  of 
Collector  Collier  to  the  Treasury  Department,  under  the  date 
of  November  13th,  1849.] 

You  learn  it  not  only  from  him,  gentlemen,  but  it  is  a  part 
of  the  history  of  the  times.  You  learn  it  from  Capt.  Frazer, 
that  heroic,  hardy,  and  Aveather-beatcn  seaman,  who  went  out 
there  to  aid  in  executing  the  revenue  laws,  and  he  tells  you, 
in  a  language  and  manner  not  to  be  misunderstood,  that  the 
state  of  things  there  was  indescribable.  You  learn  it  from 
Mr.  Edwin  Collier,  the  son  of  the  Collector,  who  concurs  in 
the  statement — who  proves  himself  an  honor  to  his  father, 
not  only  by  his  attention  to  duties  there,  but  by  the  fidelity 
with  which  he  clung  to  his  father's  fortunes  in  moments  of 
severe  trial.  His  evidence  given  in  this  cause  was  so  simple 
and  so  truthful  that  the  officers  of  the  government  who  had 
been  upon  the  spot,  and  seen  the  Collector's  doings  there  and 
are  now  here  in  Court,  did  not  even  question  his  testimony,  or 
suggest  a  single  contradiction. 

It  has  been  admitted  here  before  you  by  the  learned 
District  Attorney,  acting  under  the  instructions  of  the  Treas 
ury  Department,  that  there  was  no  complaint  again t  Mr. 
Collier  for  extravagance  or  profligacy  in  his  expenditures. 
What  then  is  his  offence  ?  He  remained  there  and  collected 
the  revenue  faithfully  while  in  office,  rendered  his  accounts  to 
the  Department,  and  paid  to  his  successors  nearly  a  million  of 
dollars,  and  only  claims  for  his  compensation  what  the  law 
gives  him.  He  has  shown  no  disposition  to  clutch  these 
funds,  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  has  shown  a  desire  to  pay  the 
last  farthing  belonging  to  the  government,  from  the  earliest 
moment.  You  know  well  the  cost  of  living  in  California 
from  the  evidence  of  Capt.  Frazer  and  others — Capt.  Frazer, 
a  plain  and  unostentatious  seaman,  accustomed  to  the  most 
common  fare,  paying  seven  dollars  for  his  first  breakfast.  A 
dollar  each  for  eggs  we  are  told  was  a  common  price,  and  not 
very  good  at  that ;  twenty  dollars  a  dozen  for  pickles,  and 
everything  else  in  a  corresponding  ratio.  Most  truly  the 
Collector  said  "labor  controlled  capital."  Every  man  did 
what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes.  The  worship  of  the  golden 
calf  in  that  region  had  already  commenced  in  earnest, 


470  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

"  Amid  Nevada's  snows  lie  chewed  the  cud, 
Or  cooled  his  hoofs  in  Feather  River  mud ;  " 

and  his  votaries  were  hastening  to  the  place  that  they  might 
bow  down  the  knee  before  him.  The  whole  penal  colonies  of 
England  had  been  let  loose,  the  world  had  held  a  general  jail- 
delivery,  and  the  desperadoes  of  the  earth  had  flocked  thither 
to  recruit  their  fortunes.  Such  a  state  of  things  as  this  defend 
ant  found,  when  he  went  there  to  execute  the  revenue  laws, 
was  never  before  met  with ;  such  confusion  and  anarchy  was 
there  that  it  seemed  as  if  the  genius  of  Saturnalia  had  opened 
there  his  court.  At  this  period,  James  Collier  was  the  presid 
ing  spirit  in  San  Francisco.  The  stars  and  stripes  fluttering 
from  the  Custom  House  was  the  only  evidence  of  law  or  order 
to  the  people,  and  formed  the  rallying-point.  The  Americans 
loved  and  honored  it  as  the  flag  of  their  country.  The  citizens 
of  all  other  nations  feared  and  respected  it.  Although  fiendish 
conspirators,  at  one  time,  attempted  to  raze  the  Custom  House 
to  its  foundations  by  powder,  and  this  aged  man  was  dragged 
violently  by  ruffian  hands  because  he  faithfully  and  with  sleep 
less  vigilance  was  guarding  the  treasures  of  his  country,  yet 
he  performed  that  service  with  a  fidelity  of  earlier  and  better 
days,  even  to  the  bitter  end,  and  no  complaint  is  now  alleged 
against  him,  except  that  he  claims  a  compensation  to  which  he 
is  legally  entitled.  This  proceeding,  gentlemen,  is  a  part  of 
the  history  of  the  times,  and,  shall  I  add,  one  of  its  darkest 
pages  ;  for  there  is  no  nation  of  people  upon  the  globe,  savage  or 
civilized,  who  would  not  have  stood  up  in  defence  of  an  officer 
who  had  done  as  he  did,  taking  his  life  into  his  own  hands  and 
vindicating  his  country's  interests  and  upholding  her  laws. 
But  no,  he  is  published  as  a  defaulter — frowned  upon  as  the 
embezzler  of  the  revenues  in  his  keeping — seized  as  a  felon  to 
be  dragged  back  in  chains,  if  need  be,  to  California. 

Gentlemen,  why  was  he  not  carried  back,  from  his  own  home 
and  hearth,  as  a  criminal,  through  the  dominions  of  old  Spain, 
of  Mexico,  and  of  semi-barbarous  New  Grenada,  and  other  for 
eign  states,  that  he  might  fall,  like  the  last  of  the  Tribunes, 
upon  the  stand  where  he  had  rendered  the  greatest  service  to 
his  country  ?  That  he  might  be  exhibited  like  a  wild  beast  at  a 
show,  where,  in  the  name  of  the  laws  and  the  Constitution,  he 


1854.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  471 

had  upheld  the  stars  and  stripes  of  his  country — that  his  gray 
hairs  might  be  covered  with  shame,  his  good  name  be  stained 
with  falsehood,  and  the  companion  of  his  life  and  the  children 
God  had  given  him  be  degraded  in  their  parent  and  protector. 
That  this  most  infamous  outrage  was  not  consummated  was  no 
fault  of  those  by  whom  it  was  attempted.  What  though  his 
fidelity  in  the  execution  of  his  official  trusts  had  defied  the  crit 
icism  of  chartered  spies  and  silenced  the  tongue  of  the  victim 
hunter ;  what  though  he  had  dared  immolation,  and  declared, 
in  the  face  of  a  lawless  and  ferocious  mob,  that  the  public 
moneys  should  only  be  taken  by  passing  over  his  lifeless  body, 
— what  though  with  unquailing  eye  and  dauntless  spirit  he 
had  led  on  his  brave  men  in  the  earliest  and  bloodiest  battles 
in  the  war  of  1812, — what  though  he  was  venerable  with  years 
and  enfeebled  with  the  casualties  of  service,  he  would  have 
been  literally  transported  beyond  the  seas  for  trial,  at  a  season 
of  the  year,  too,  when  the  strong  hearts  and  buoyant  spirits  of 
the  young  were  sinking  under  the  prevailing  diseases  of  the 
intermediate  climate,  but  for  an  appeal  to  that  great  writ  which 
was  wrung  from  tyrants  in  the  old  world  and  sealed  with  human 
blood,  that  it  might  serve  as  a  protection  against  tyrants  in  the 
new, — the  habeas  corpus.  Nor  could  even  this  mighty  engine 
of  the  citizen's  freedom,  and  the  oppressor's  dread,  have  saved 
him  from  his  persecutors  but  for  such  professional  aid  as  no 
man  has  had  before.  This  defendant  had  a  brother — the  Hon. 
John  A.  Collier,  not  merely  one  of  the  same  parents  born, 
but  who  proved  himself  all  that  is  suggested  by  that  interest 
ing  relation.  They  had  started  together  upon  the  pathway  of 
existence  as  little  boys,  hand-in-hand,  the  gay  companions  of 
life's  unclouded  morning.  The  parents  who  nurtured  them  had 
gone  to  their  rewards — they  had  become  aged  men,  had  reared 
families  of  their  own,  and  the  changeful  currents  of  existence 
had  separated  them  widely  from  each  other  by  distance ;  be 
tween  them  high  mountains  rose,  broad  rivers  rolled,  and  hun 
dreds  of  miles  intervened,  but  neither  time  nor  distance  had 
estranged  their  young  affections,  nor  weakened  the  tender  ties 
by  which  they  were  united.  That  brother  was  an  able  lawyer. 
He  flew  to  the  aid  of  the  defendant  with  an  alacrity  which  gold 
could  not  have  purchased,  and  stood  by  him  with  a  sleepless 
fidelity  and  an  untiring  vigilance  which  no  mere  professional 


472  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

relation  could  have  endured,  and  brought  into  the  case  an 
amount  of  legal  learning  which,  while  it  vindicated  the  defend 
ant  and  confounded  his  enemies,  reflected  the  highest  credit 
upon  his  professional  character,  and  served  as  a  memorable  il 
lustration  of  the  poetic  conceit  that  all  of  earth  was  contami 
nated  by  Satan  in  the  fall  but  domestic  love.  And  to  such 
superhuman  exertions  is  the  defendant  indebted  for  his  liberty 
—for  the  enjoyments  of  his  own  home,  and  for  a  fair  trial  before 
a  jury  of  his  country  upon  the  merits  of  his  case. 

But  in  the  pursuit  of  this  defendant,  when  all  other  argu 
ments  fail,  we  are  told  that  his  compensation  was  great,  as  if 
that  was  a  sufficient  reason  for  disregarding  the  law  and  recov 
ering  money  from  him  which  is  legally  and  equitably  his  own. 
It  would  seem  to  be  entitled  to  about  the  same  consideration 
as  would  a  suggestion  from  us  that  the  government  have  al 
ready  a  surplus  of  some  $28,000,000  in  the  Treasury,  which  can 
only  serve  to  corrupt  legislation  and  purchase  the  easy  virtue 
of  hungry  politicians;  and  neither  can  have  any  legitimate 
bearing  on  the  case.  The  defendant's  compensation,  if  it  had 
been  received  at  an  Atlantic  port,  would  have  been  large.  But, 
upon  the  Pacific,  at  the  time  when  and  under  the  circumstan 
ces  under  which  it  was  earned,  it  was  moderate  indeed.  Who 
ever  doubts  this  assertion,  let  him  look  at  the  history  of  the  de 
fendant's  hardships,  perils,  expenses,  and  persecutions,  and  then 
determine  whether  all  the  gold  of  California  would  be  an  ade 
quate  compensation.  But  where  is  that  large  amount  which 
the  defendant  received  beyond  the  expenses  incident  to  his 
office  ?  Go  with  me  to  San  Francisco,  that  magic  city  of  the 
living,  and  inquire  where  it  is,  and  they  will  tell  you  that  a 
large  portion  of  it  is  by  no  means  in  the  defendant's  coffers, 
but  they  will  point  to  those  whom  he  raised  up  from  sickness 
and  want,  and  tell  you  that  from  his  ample  means  he  fed  the 
hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  and  dispensed  his  charity  until  he 
was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him  for  the  generosity  and  be 
nevolence  of  his  heart.  Go  with  me,  too,  gentlemen,  to  that 
mighty  city  of  the  dead  which  lies  beyond  the  city  of  the  living ; 
look  upon  that  humble  grave,  perchance  of  one  who  was  the 
son  of  a  neighbor  or  a  brother,  who  left  his  happy  home  to  seek 
his  fortune,  lured  to  the  land  of  gold  by  the  adventurous  spirit 
of  youth,  and  his  efforts  proving  unsuccessful,  his  hopes  disap- 


185 i.]  UNITED   STATES   VS.    JAMES   COLLIER.  473 

pointed,  his  means  exhausted,  his  heart  was  crushed  and  he 
sickened  and  died,  far  from  those  who  loved  him,  in  the  land 
of  strangers.  Whose  sympathetic  breast  throbbed  with  warm 
pulsations  over  the  lowly  dying  couch  of  this  fair  boy  ?  Who 
ministered  consolation  and  nourished  and  sustained  him  when 
in  his  fevered  dream  he  murmured  of  his  distant  home  ?  Who 
smoothed  his  dying  pillow  and  closed  his  eyes  in  death  when 
the  light  of  life  had  ceased  to  relume  them  ?  And  who  laid 
him  in  the  humble  tomb  with  the  forms  of  Christian  burial  ? 
Had  the  silent,  yet  eloquent  grave,  a  voice,  it  would  pronounce 
the  name  of  James  Collier  !  How  many  fathers'  blessings  have 
been  mingled  with  his  name.  Oh  !  how  many  mothers'  prayers 
have  ascended  to  the  throne  of  the  infinite  God  for  blessing 
upon  the  head  of  that  kind  stranger,  who  stood  by  the  bed 
side  of  her  cherished  child,  in  his  last  sad  moments  of  affliction! 
Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  history  of  this  case — such  is  James 
Collier,  whose  destiny  is  committed  to  you. 


EEMAEKS 


AT  THE  OXFORD  ACADEMY  JUBILEE. 

HELD  AT  OXFORD,  CHENANGO  COUNTY,  N.  Y.,  August  1st  and  2d,  1854. 

[The  occasion  celebrated  by  the  "  Jubilee  "  was  the  Sixtieth  Anni 
versary  of  the  founding  of  the  Institution,  and  the  dedication  of  a  new 
Academic  edifice. 

At  the  Jubilee  Dinner,  Hon.  Henry  W.  Rogers,  of  Buffalo,  President 
of  the  day,  having  in  some  preliminary  remarks  alluded  in  pleasant 
and  complimentary  terms  to  Mr.  Dickinson,  whose  wife  was  a  former 
pupil  of  the  Academy,  as,  "  though  not  a  student  in  his  own  right, 
having  high  claims  as  '  tenant  by  courtesy,'  "  and  playfully  recounted 
some  passages  in  their  early  acquaintance  and  friendship,  called 
upon  him  to  respond  to  the  toast : — 

"  The  Ladies  here  educated :  the  wives  and  mothers  of  Senators 
and  Statesmen." 

Mr.  DICKINSON  spoke  as  follows  :] 

WHEREVER  the  blessings  of  civilization  and  Christianity  have 
been  extended,  a  high  position  in  society  has  been  assigned  to 
woman.  It  is  obvious  that  the  wise  and  beneficent  Creator,  in 
the  adjustment  of  human  economy,  ordained  that  one  portion 
of  the  duties  of  life  should  be  discharged  by  the  male,  and  an 
other  by  the  female  ;  nor,  because  her  duties  are  unlike  his,  is 
it  to  be  inferred  that  they  are  less  important,  interesting,  or  dig 
nified.  To  man,  with  his  more  rugged  nature,  has  been  as 
signed  the  physical  elements,  and  various  duties  incident  to 
government ;  to  woman,  the  empire  of  the  heart  and  the  affec 
tions.  She  has  not  felled  the  forest,  wrestled  at  the  bar,  en 
acted  laws  in  the  legislative  hall,  nor  gravely  presided  over 
courts  of  justice  ;  but  she  has  been  charged  with  the  execution 
of  a  holier  and  more  interesting  trust, — that  of  standing  at  the 
vestibule  of  human  existence,  watching  the  development  of 


1854.]  OXFOED  ACADEMY  JUBILEE.  475 

mind,  and  moulding  the  heart  and  character  of  those  who  are 
to  compose  society.  These  duties  are  suited  to  her  peculiar 
nature, — her  purity  and  affection,  her  intuitive  perception,  her 
deep  religious  devotion,  her  patient  endurance,  her  love  of  vir 
tue,  her  abhorrence  of  vice  ;  and  the  gentleness  and  delicacy  of 
her  natural  and  moral  structure  have  qualified  her  to  discharge 
this  elevated  mission,  and  to  inculcate  peace  on  earth  and  good 
will  to  men.  The  great  mass  of  virtuous  females  would  by  no 
means  exchange  a  relation  so  sacred  and  interesting  for  any 
earthly  destiny ;  while  an  ambitious  and  clamorous  few,  scorn 
ing  the  tame  duties  which  society,  with  the  sanction  of  Heaven, 
has  assigned  the  sex,  seek  relief  in  preparing  their  minds  and 
adjusting  their  costume  for  making  more  hasty  and  enlarged 
strides  in  pursuit  of  their  lost  rights. 

It  has  often  been  said,  sportively  if  not  seriously,  that  woman 
was  the  first  to  partake  of  the  fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree ; 
though  it  is  admitted,  in  extenuation,  that  she  was  the  earliest 
witness  in  the  atonement.  But  if  my  clerical  friends  will  par 
don  me  for  a  moment  for  invading  their  peculiar  prerogative,  I 
will  challenge  any  one  to  show  from  the  sacred  writings  that 
woman  was  ever  forbidden  to  eat  of  the  fatal  fruit.  Whether 
the  injunction  was  not  extended  to  her  because  it  was  deemed 
unnecessary  by  reason  of  her  obedient  nature,  or  whether  it 
was  supposed  the  inhibition  would  heighten  her  curiosity  to 
taste,  is  of  course  unknown  to  erring  mortals.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  the  Scripture  informs  us  that  man  was  created  and  placed 
in  the  garden, — the  command  to  abstain  was  given  him  while 
he  was  yet  alone,  and  afterwards,  in  the  order  of  events,  woman 
was  created.  No  heavenly  mandate,  so  far  as  we  are  informed, 
reached  her  ears  upon  the  subject ;  nor  did  she  rest  under  any 
declared  prohibition,  except  by  implication. 

The  character  of  woman  is  appreciated,  and  her  exalted  mis 
sion  acknowledged,  in  proportion  as  society  advances  in  learn 
ing,  refinement,  and  true  religion  ;  and  her  position  is  degraded 
in  the  same  ratio,  under  the  dominion  of  despotism,  ignorance, 
and  barbarism.  This  very  occasion  is  a  most  memorable  illus 
tration  of  this  interesting  truth.  It  signalizes  one  of  her  proudest 
triumphs.  Contrast  her  condition 'as  it  is  here,  with  that  of 
other  lands  of  more  ambitious  pretension.  Passing  by  countries 
where  she  is  an  inferior  and  a  slave,  go  to  decayed,  mildewed, 


476 

beggar-gilded  Spain,  boasting  of  her  ancestral  renown,  her  re 
finement,  and  her  religion,  and  search  her  moth-eaten  monarchy 
throughout  for  such  an  assemblage  as  this — where  they  have 
met  together  to  recount  the  triumphs  of  learning  ;  and  you  will 
not  find  it.  Assemblages  of  "  fair  women  and  brave  men  "  you 
may  find ;  but  they  have  assembled  to  witness  struggles  for 
mastery  and  prowess  between  brute  beast  and  brutal  man, 
cheered  on  by  a  brutalized  audience  (in  which,  I  blush  to  add, 
woman  is  conspicuous),  while  they  worry  and  destroy  each 
other. 

I  remember  much  of  the  history  of  the  Oxford  Academy, 
commencing,  perhaps,  at  an  earlier  period  than  I  should  now 
be  willing  to  confess.  I  remember  once  to  have  seen  its  be 
nevolent  founder,  Mr.  Hovey.  And  I  remember  now  full  well, 
and  with  a  pride  and  gratification  not  easily  described,  of  those 
I  may  venture  to  claim  amongst  my  early  and  most  valued 
friends, — those  who  have  sustained  it  through  all  its  vicissitudes 
to  its  present  exalted  eminence,  who  mourned  when  it  lan 
guished,  and  when  it  rejoiced,  rejoiced  with  it.  In  what  pleas 
ing  contrast  they  stand  with  the  conquerors  of  armies,  the  dis 
turbers  of  the  world's  repose,  the  violators  of  the  public  peace  ! 
How  much  more  approved  in  the  sight  of  all  good  men  !  how 
much  more  justified  in  the  sight  of  Heaven ! 

From  this  institution  no  demoralizing  influences  have  pro 
ceeded  ; — it  has  produced  neither  sickness  nor  sorrow  ;  but,  like 
an  ever-welling  fountain  of  good,  it  has  sent  forth  living  streams 
to  the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  and  the  west,  to  refresh,  to 
fertilize,  and  bless  the  vast  domains  of  humanity.  Its  benefits 
have  reached  all  ages,  classes,  and  conditions.  It  has  taught 
the  wealthy  humility,  and  the  vulgarity  of  ostentation ;  the 
poor,  how  to  endure  poverty  without  wretchedness ;  and  all, 
that  virtue  and  integrity  are  priceless.  Nor  has  this  institution, 
in  the  education  of  females,  been  one  of  those  modern  shaving 
shops  where  a  young  lady  must  be  taken  up  by  payment  of  her 
value  every  ninety  days,  like  a  matured  bank  note  ;  wrhere  they 
are  smothered  under  so  many  studies  that  they  can  learn  little 
of  them  besides  the  names  of  the  books,  and  know  no  more  of 
the  useful  branches  when  they  leave  than  when  they  com 
menced  ; — but  here  true  learning  has  been  imparted  and  real 
knowledge  inculcated,  at  an  expense  which  placed  them  within 


185tL]  OXFORD    ACADEMY    JUBILEE.  477 

the  reach  of  means  the  most  moderate.  Here  woman  has  been 
taught  lessons  which  qualify  her  for  the  duties  of  life  in  what 
soever  condition  Providence  may  cast  her  lot ;  whether  in  the 
secluded  quiet  of  domestic  retirement,  or  whether  her  fortunes 
are  launched  with  the  companion  of  her  destiny  upon  some 
stormy  sea,  she  is  fitted  to  cheer  and  console  him  when  all  others 
frown,  to  be  his  light  and  sunshine  when  the  skies  lower  and 
the  storm  gathers  blackness  and  fury. 

"  When  envy's  breath  would  coldly  blast  his  name, 
And  busy  tongues  are  sporting  with  his  fame, 
Who  solves  each  doubt,  clears  every  mist  away, 
And  leaves  him  radiant  in  the  face  of  day  ? 
She  who  would  peril  fortune,  fame,  and  life, 
For  man  the  ingrate, — the  devoted  wife." 

It  was  said  that  although  Mark  Antony  had  no  hand  in  the 
death  of  Julius  Caesar,  yet  he  would  receive  the  benefit  of  his 
dying ;  and  I  will  add,  that  although  I  never  attended  the  Ox 
ford  Academy,  I  received  the  benefit  of  its  excellent  instruc 
tion,  and  that,  although  never  a  student  there,  I  obtained  one  of 
its  highest  prizes. 

The  honorable  President  of  the  day,  who  has  with  so  much 
ability  and  good  taste  presided  upon  this  occasion,  has,  among 
other  reminiscences  of  boyhood  which  he  has  awakened,  re 
minded  me  that  we  were  then  both  residents  of  Guilford,  in  this 
county,  and  that  he  received  from  my  official  hand  a  certificate 
to  teach  a  common  school.  Although  it  had  long  been  forgot 
ten,  I  now  remember  well  the  circumstances  and  the  occasion. 
It  could  not  have  been,  I  am  quite  certain,  that  I  gave  it  him 
because  I  knew  that  he  was  fresh  from  the  halls  of  Oxford 
Academy,  which  we  all  held  in  profound  veneration  for  its 
learning, — for  he  had  not  then  entered  them  ;  it  could  not  have 
been  because  of  the  strong  sympathy  as  brother  mechanics 
which  bound  us  together ;  it  could  not  have  been  because  of 
the  private  friendship  which  sprung  up  between  us  at  an  early 
day  and  has  existed  to  the  present  moment,  commencing  in  the 
confiding  spirit  of  youth,  and  growing  stronger  and  brighter 
with  years ; — but  my  good  genius  must  have  whispered  me, 
that  the  candidate  for  pedagogical  honors  would  one  day  dis 
charge  great  and  responsible  public  trusts, — that  in  the  exercise 


478  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  a  high  profession  he  would  stand  up  in  the  legal  forum,  in 
the  Queen  City  of  the  West,  and  there  eloquently  vindicate  the 
cause  of  virtuous  innocence,  abash  fraud,  and  chastise  knavery 
as  with  a  lash  of  scorpions,  until  his  brow  would  be  laden  with 
wreaths  of  laurels.  Thus  aided  by  this  mysterious  guidance, 
and  looking  unconsciously  into  the  future  in  view  of  the  part 
the  candidate  was  to  play  upon  the  great  theatre  of  existence, 
it  seems  I  ventured  to  certify  to  the  important  fact,  that  he  was 
of  good  moral  character,  possessing  sufficient  learning  and 
ability,  and  was  in  all  other  respects  qualified  to  teach  a  com 
mon  school  in  the  town  of  Guilford  for  the  term  of  one  year. 

Chenango  was  my  early  and  beloved  home.  Here  were 
passed  the  seasons  of  childhood,  youth,  and  early  manhood. 
Its  faces  are  still  familiar.  There  is  scarcely  a  hill,  a  stream,  or 
a  mountain-side  but  I  can  give  some  passage  of  its  history. 
Chenango  is  now  thrice  my  home,  for  at  my  own  residence  its 
beloved  river  rolls  at  my  feet.  I  love  it  for  the  interesting 
memories  it  awakens,  for  the  sad  yet  pleasing  recollections 
which  cluster  around  it.  I  love  it  for  its  noble  social  structure, 
its  healthful  clime,  its  sunny  slopes,  its  gay  green  valleys,  its 
industry  and  frugality,  its  pure  morals,  its  sturdy  sons ;  and 
will  close  by  suggesting  that  I  have  practically  shown  my  sense 
of  regard  for  its  daughters. 


ADDEESS 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CORNER-STONE  OF  THE 
SUSQUEHANNAH  SEMINARY,  AT  BINGHAMTON,  N.  Y.,  August 
17,  1854. 

[The  Susquehanna  Seminary  was  erected  and  established  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Susquehanna  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Kev.  Dr.  Paddock,  one  of  the  trustees,  presided  at  the 
ceremonies  of  laying  the  corner-stone,  which  were  held  in  a  grove  in 
the  Seminary  grounds,  and  witnessed  and  participated  in  by  a  large 
concourse  of  people.  Besides  the  appropriate  religious  exercises, 
addresses  were  delivered  by  Mr.  Dickinson,  Edward  Tompkins,  Esq.,  and 
Et.  Eev.  Bishop  Janes,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Dickinson  spoke  as 
follows :] 

WE  have  met  here,  my  friends,  pursuant  to  a  venerated 
usage,  to  lay  with  appropriate  ceremonies  the  corner-stone  of 
a  material  edifice  consecrated  to  learning ;  and  to  establish 
thereby,  upon  more  broad  and  durable  foundations,  a  structure 
of  which  this  is  but  typical,  resting  for  security  upon  an  im 
perishable  base  of  morality  and  religion,  and  destined  to  shed 
an  enduring  lustre  upon  succeeding  generations.  The  corner 
stone  of  the  material  edifice,  in  obedience  to  ancient  custom, 
will  contain  a  brief  history  of  the  occasion,  and  of  the  current 
events  of  the  day ;  to  be  disinterred,  perchance,  only  by  the 
influence  of  years,  or  the  conflict  of  physical  elements.  That 
of  the  moral  structure  will  seal  up  the  secret  thoughts  and 
motives  of  the  bosom,  to  be  revealed  only  on  that  day  when 
the  hearts  of  all  are  laid  open  to  view.  When  the  material 
edifice  shall  totter  to  its  fall,  when  its  lofty  battlements  shall 
rock  before  the  chafing  elements,  and  the  granite,  unsteady  to 
its  purpose,  shall  give  up  its  charge — when  the  ploughshare 
shall  have  upturned  its  deepest  foundation  stone,  and  its  place 
shall  no  longer  be  known,  the  beauty  of  the  moral  structure 


480 

will  rise  above  the  desolation,  inspiring  hope,  as  does  the  bow 
which  cheers  us  when  the  storm  has  gone  to  its  repose. 

The  site  selected  for  this  Seminary,  the  confluence  of  the 
Susquehanna  and  the  Chenango,  is  beautifully  appropriate, 
and  suggestive  of  many  interesting  reflections. 

"  There  is  not  in  this  wide  world 

A  valley  so  sweet, 
As  the  vale  in  whose  bosom 
These  bright  waters  meet." 


Here  was  the  loved  home  of  another  race,  whose  remains 
now  rest  beneath  our  feet ;  here  was  the  happy  hunting  ground 
of  the  ruthless  red  man.  who  held  it  by  indisputable  title 
deeds,  for  they  were  deeds  of  blood.  Here  he  chanted  his 
savage  triumphs,  and  kindled  his  council  fires ;  and  here,  too, 
in  the  language  of  romantic  eloquence,  the  "  Indian  lover 
wooed  his  dusky  mate."  He  founded  no  institutions  of  learn 
ing  ;  he  erected  no  temples  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the 
living  God  ;  his  pursuits  were  the  chase  and  the  trail  of  hostile 
tribes ;  his  fierce  ambition  sought  only  scalps  and  revenge ; 
his  teachings  were  the  use  of  the  bow  and  the  battle-axe.  He 
looked  out,  as  we  do,  upon  the  same  lovely  expanse ;  he  gazed 
upon  the  same  blue  heavens  and  beauteous  earth ;  he  saw  the 
same  sun  rise  in  the  morning,  and  trees  blossom  in  the  spring. 
But  he  saw  no  populous  village  radiant  with  beauty,  and 
teeming  with  life  and  hope  and  joy ;  no  temple  -  spires 
pointing  towards  heaven ;  no  institutions  consecrated  to 
science ;  he  heard  no  shrill  whistle  of  the  locomotive ;  he 
received  no  messages  from  his  brethren  at  a  distance,  by  the 
lightning's  mysterious  agency  ;  he  heard  not  the  busy  hum  of 
industry,  nor  was  his  indolent  repose  broken  by  the  hammer 
of  the  artisan.  He  looked  upon  these  same  grand  hills,  clad 
in  everlasting  verdure  and  burnished  with  the  same  mellow 
sunshine.  He  adored  these  smiling  valleys  so  resplendent  in 
beauty.  He  gazed  upon  the  surpassing  loveliness  of  these 
same  rivers  with  their  velvet  shores,  their  dense  and  deep- 
fringed  foliage,  winding  their  silvery  waves  to  their  ocean 
home,  as  the  currents  of  human  life  roll  onward  to  the  ocean 
of  eternity,  and,  from  the  darkness  of  his  soulj  rudely  mur- 


1854.]         LAYING  OF  THE  CORNER-STONE.  481 

mured  of  a  Great  Spirit  which  gave  them  motion.  He  lived 
and  died  a  stranger  to  the  great  truths  which  civilization  and 
Christianity  inculcate  ;  and  his  race  has  faded  from  among  us 
like  the  foot-prints  of  a  traveller  in  the  desert.  No  authentic 
history  will  record  his  mysterious  and  profitless  existence,  nor 
tell  of  his  melancholy  extermination ;  but  all  will  rest  in 
dreamy  speculation,  and  the  fitful  shadows  of  tradition — the 
judgments  of  a  beneficent  Providence  upon  ignorance  and 
barbarism — conveying  a  striking  and  fearful  admonition  to 
those  who  neglect  or  misapply  the  blessings  which  are  set 
before  them  in  bounteous  profusion.  Peace  to  the  ashes  of 
the  red  man — 

"  A  stoic  of  the  woods,  a  man  without  a  tear." 

The  Seminary  here  founded  is  destined  to  become,  in  proc 
ess  of  time,  a  great  and  celebrated  institution  of  learning ; — 
great  in  its  capacity  to  furnish  homes  for,  and  to  impart  useful 
knowledge  to  numbers ;  great  in  the  moral  influence  it  is  des 
tined  to  exert  upon  every  class  of  society ;  great  in  the  num 
bers  it  will  forward  upon  the  high  road  to  honor  and  usefulness 
and  fame,  which  science  has  prepared  for  her  votaries ;  great 
in  causing  virtue  to  be  encouraged  and  rewarded,  and  vice  to 
shrink  from  its  atmosphere  like  outlawed  guilt ;  but  greater 
still  in  quenching  that  inordinate  desire  for  material  wealth 
and  pomp  and  circumstance,  "  which  freezes  the  genial  current 
of  the  soul,"  which  has  become  the  bane  of  civilization,  and 
realized  the  poetic  sentiment,  that — 

"  111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay." 

Its  pupils  will  gather  in  from  the  North  and  the  South, 
the  East  and  the  West  to  drink  at  the  fountain  of  knowledge 
there  opened,  and  will  go  out  refreshed  and  invigorated  by 
draughts  from  its  copious  wrell-springs,  to  diffuse  the  blessings 
of  education  wherever  civilization  has  travelled. 

Though  no  sectarian  theology  will  be  inculcated  here,  the 
institution  will  stand  the  foster-child  of  a  denomination  of 
Christian  people,  who  in  their  ministrations  have,  in  their 
31 


482  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

sphere  of  action,  literally  obeyed  the  divine  injunction  to 
"  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Its  objects  will  be 
education  ; — that  education  which  qualifies  us  to  meet  the 
practical  realities  of  existence  in  every  lane  of  life,  whatever 
vicissitudes  may  await  us,  enabling  us  to  enjoy  the  greatest 
amount  of  happiness  and  to  accomplish  the  greatest  good ; 
an  education  which  will  teach  the  value  of  knowledge  and 
humility,  the  emptiness  of  superficial  gilding,  and  the  low-bred 
vice  of  ostentation  and  vulgar  display ;  which  will  fit  both 
sexes  for  the  discharge  of  their  varied  duties  as  responsible 
members  of  society ;  an  education  which  has  been  eloquently 
described  as  "  a  companion  which  no  misfortunes  can  depress, 
no  clime  destroy,  no  enemy  alienate,  nor  despotism  enslave ; 
at  home  a  friend,  abroad  an  introduction,  in  solitude  a  solace, 
in  society  an  ornament ;  that  chastens  vice,  that  guides  virtue, 
and  gives  at  once  a  grace  and  government  to  genius." 

Without  learning,  no  one  can  possess  true  wisdom,  proper 
self-reliance,  or  reach  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  rational  nature ; 
nor  can  learning  be  acquired  without  proper  facilities  and  in 
tense  application.  Learning  is  a  jealous  mistress,  and  allows 
no  vicious  rival  to  share  in  the  addresses  or  affections  which 
she  claims  to  monopolize.  She  bids  her  true  admirers  welcome 
to  her  treasures,  which  are  the  wisdom  of  every  age  and  the 
fruit  of  every  clime ;  constituting  one  mighty  exchange  of 
thought  in  a  vast  storehouse  at  the  world's  intellectual  empo 
rium.  She  dispenses  her  lessons  of  justice,  goodness,  and 
truth,  over  perversion,  falsehood,  and  disorder;  she  teaches 
how  to  subdue  and  fertilize  the  desolate  and  waste  places  in 
our  moral  existence,  and  clothe  them  with  perennial  verdure 
and  beauty  ;  how  to  reward  the  ideals  of  the  heart  by  a  timely 
and  virtuous  fruition  ;  how  to  chasten  and  subdue  all  irrational 
desires ;  how  to  turn  back  upon  the  bosom  the  warm,  gushing 
tides  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  change  an  existence,  other 
wise  barren  and  blasted  with  sterility,  to  one  teeming  with 
the  choicest  fruits  ;  how  to  render  the  duties  and  cares  of  life 
agreeable,  and  the  hands  of  industry  productive ;  how  to  en 
dure  wealth  without  vulgar  pride,  and  how  to  robe  the  cot  of 
poverty  with  happiness. 

The  good  influence  that  will  flow  from  this  seminary  of 
learning  will  reach  all  ages  and  conditions.  In  performing  its 


1854.]  LAYING    OF   THE   CORNER-STONE.  483 

good  offices  to  the  young,  it  will  cheer  and  gladden  the  bleak 
and  wintry  existence  of  extreme  age,  and  beguile  its  solitary 
hour  as  it  sees  the  sunlight  reflected  at  its  evening.  It  will 
nerve  the  heart  of  manhood  to  virtuous  resolves,  and  stamp 
its  moral  impress  upon  the  tone  and  feeling  of  society.  It  will 
rescue  generous,  confiding,  impulsive  youth  from  the  snares 
hidden  beneath  indulgence,  and  stimulate  his  glowing  heart  to 
emulate  the  great  and  good  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  and 
the  performance  of  honorable  deeds.  It  will  beckon,  as  with 
a  mother's  gentle  hand,  little  children  within  its  portals,  that 
their  ductile  affections  may  twine  around  the  pure  morality 
which  will  there  be  inculcated.  Its  philosophy,  natural  and 
moral,  will  teach  the  nature  of  the  laws  which  govern  mind 
and  matter,  make  plain  the  value  of  reason  and  revelation,  and 
serve  to  unmask  and  expel  from  respectable  society  the  charla 
tan  with  his  base  impositions  and  impious  mummeries,  who  is 
quite  too  successfully  plying  his  nefarious  trade  upon  credulity 
and  ignorance,  and  thus  lop  off  from  our  social  system  a  can 
cerous  excrescence  which  threatens  to  corrode  the  vitals. 

This  institution  will  stand  an  enduring  monument  of  the 
liberal  and  enlightened  spirit  by  which  it  was  founded.  It  will 
bear  witness  to  a  just  sense  of  intellectual  cultivation  and  im 
provement,  amidst  the  engrossing  cares  of  business.  Those 
who  contribute  to  its  erection  and  endowment  will  be  hailed 
as  benefactors  of  their  kind,  for  they  will  have  opened  the 
temple-gates  of  knowledge  to  the  young.  In  what  pleasing 
contrast  stand  institutions  of  learning  with  the  palaces  and 
bastiles,  the  towers  and  castles,  the  prisons  and  mausoleums, 
of  other  climes  ! — with  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt,  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world  !  They  stand  as  stupendous  monuments 
of  human  folly  and  ambition  ;  — they  tell  of  the  oppression, 
tyranny,  and  fraud  of  the  few,  over  the  ignorance  and  slavish 
superstition  of  the  many.  In  their  sublime  and  gloomy  gran 
deur  they  testify  to  heaven  of  the  robbery  and  wrong  and 
outrage  in  which  they  were  established.  But  where  is  the 
record  of  the  labor  which  toiled  and  groaned  in  their  erection ; 
of  the  blood  and  tears  in  which  the  heartless  stones  were  ce 
mented  by  order  of  the  no  less  heartless  tyrants  who  rode  over 
the  unlettered  masses ;  of  the  abject  wretchedness,  the  shiver 
ing  want  and  hunger,  and  starving  destitution  of  women  and 


484:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

» 

children,  that  the  mad  ambition  of  some  gilded  beggar  called 
a  king  might  be  gratified  and  his  infamous  memory  perpet 
uated  ! 

But  they  all  sleep  together — the  oppressor  and  the  oppress 
ed.  The  rude  but  gentle  hearts  that  bled  under  a  silent  sense 
of  wrong  shall  bleed  no  more ;  but  in  the  day  of  final  retribu 
tion,  thousands  of  mothers  shall  cry  out  together  against  their 
oppressors  as  those  by  whom  they  were  bereaved  of  their  off 
spring;  and  thousands  of  children  will  raise  their  little  hands 
in  testimony  against  them,  for  having  blotted  from  their  bright 
heavens  the  radiance  of  their  birth-star.  Though  the  monu 
ments  of  ambition  and  injustice  yet  stand,  they  are  suggestive 
only  of  the  sorrow  with  which  their  founders  afflicted  their 
kind,  and  tell  us  that  no  lips  ever  whispered  a  blessing  on  their 
names — that  no  prayer  was  ever  oifered  to  the  throne  of  an 
infinite  God  in  their  behalf,  but  they  went  down  to  judgment 
cursed  by  the  widow's  tears  and  the  orphan's  wail.  But  the 
monument  here  founded  shall  tell  in  after  times  of  refinement, 
equality,  and  religion ;  of  a  just,  a  generous,  and  enlightened 
people.  No  blood  shall  stain  the  purity  of  its  design  ;  no  in 
voluntary  labor  shall  groan  in  its  erection ;  no  tears  of  oppres 
sion  shall  fall  down  upon  its  foundation  stones ;  no  supperless 
children  shall  lie  down  upon  their  beds  of  dirty  straw ;  but 
every  influence  which  flows  from  it  shall  be  genial  and  refresh 
ing,  diffusing  widely  around  it  happiness  and  joy — bringing 
gladness  to  many  hearts,  and  lighting  up  many  domestic 
hearths, 

Education  is  the  Archimedean  lever  which  moves  the  moral 
world.  There  is  yet  a  wide  field  of  labor  for  the  friends  of 
truth  and  learning,  and  they  are  admonished  by  every  consid 
eration  which  can  influence  human  action  never  to  abate  their 
energies  until  ignorance,  "  pregnant  womb  of  ills,"  the  parent 
of  every  vice  and  every  crime,  shall  be  driven  beyond  the  pale 
of  society ;  until  every  homeless  outcast  shall  be  reclaimed ; 
until  every  erring  soul  shall  have  shining  around  it  the  light 
of  moral  truth.  There  is  no  human  form  so  debased  but 
through  suitable  influence  it  may  be  rescued  from  its  degrada 
tion,  and  taught  to  look  upward  for  enjoyment.  "VVe  should 
"  deal  gently  with  the  erring,"  remembering  that  he  is  a  man 
and  a  brother.  The  gentle  hand  leads  the  elephant  by  the 


1854.]  LAYING    OF   THE   CORNEK-STONE.  485 

hair.     Kindness  may  yet  change  the  current  of  his  earthly 
destiny,  for  he  is  not  yet  lost  forever. 

"  There  is  no  grove  on  earth's  broad  chart 

But  has  some  bird  to  cheer  it ; 

And  hope  sings  on  in  every  heart, 

Although  \ve  may  not  hear  it." 


SPEECH 


DELIVERED  AT  DELHI,   DELAWARE  COUNTY,   N.  Y.,  AT  A  MEETING 
OF    THE    "  HARDSHELL  "    OR  NJ 

COUNTY,  September  29, 1854. 


OF    THE    "  HARDSHELL  "    OR  NATIONAL   DEMOCRACY    OF    THE 


FELLOW-CITIZENS — My  errand  among  you  is  entirely  pro 
fessional  business  before  the  Circuit  Court  now  in  session  here, 
and  I  had  no  expectation  that  I  should  have  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  so  large  an  assemblage  of  Democratic  friends,  and  the 
honor  of  addressing  them  upon  their  invitation.  But,  although 
I  came  upon  business  which  demands  my  attention,  and  al 
though  the  political  campaign  has  not  yet  fairly  opened,  I  am 
happy,  as  upon  all  suitable  occasions,  to  hold  counsel  with  my 
fellow-citizens  upon  public  affairs.  The  most  active  part  of  my 
life  has  been  devoted  to  the  public  service ;  when  I  entered  it, 
my  brow  was  ruddy  with  the  glow  of  youth ;  when  I  left  it, 
my  head  was  becoming  whitened  with  the  advance  of  years. 
When  I  returned  permanently  to  my  home,  at  the  expiration 
of  nearly  fifteen  years  of  official  labors,  I  had  been  bereaved  of 
half  the  little  household  with  which  it  had  pleased  Heaven  to 
bless  me ;  my  domestic  altar-lights  had  become  dim,  and  my  pri 
vate  interests  crippled  by  long  neglect.  My  profession,  to  which 
I  returned,  and  my  private  affairs,  have  demanded  my  best  en 
ergies,  and  my  mind  has  sought  that  seclusion  from  exciting 
topics  which  my  tastes  approve.  It  has  been  only  during  some 
stirring  campaign  that  I  have  engaged  in  public  discussions ; 
and  some  questions  of  exciting  interest  have  arisen  and  been 
•canvassed,  upon  which  I  have  not  spoken.  I  have  learned  to 
look  upon  political  struggles  with  more  of  calm  philosophy  than 
partisan  asperity.  The  only  end  and  aim  in  political  affairs, 
worthy  of  the  pursuit  of  an  honorable  mind,  is  the  establish 
ment  of  sound  principles,  and  organizations  for  the  mere  pur 
pose  of  obtaining  office  and  place  are  to  the  last  degree  mean 


1854.]       "HARDSHELL"  OR  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY.  487 

and  demoralizing.  The  masses  of  all  parties  are  honest  and  sin 
cere  ;  the  leaders  of  all  are,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  selfish 
and  ambitious,  and  laboring  for  the  attainment  of  personal  ends. 
Professions  of  patriotism  are  cheap  and  plenty  on  every  side, 
and  the  only  safe  rule  for  the  people  is,  to  judge  each  party  by 
the  fruits  of  its  policy. 

As  a  first  step  in  the  political  campaign  now  opening,  the 
national  democrats  of  New  York  have  placed  in  nomination 
for  Governor,  Greene  C.  Bronson,  a  gentleman  who  some  time 
since  had  the  honor  of  holding  correspondence  with  the  distin 
guished  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  a  correspondence  which  my 
hearers  probably  remember,  and  which  it  is  presumed  the  Hon 
orable  Secretary  has  not  yet  forgotten.  If  Judge  Bronson  shall 
be  defeated,  it  will  be  a  source  of  gratification  to  remember  that 
the  National  Democracy  had  a  candidate  eminently  and  entirely 
worthy  of  their  support ;  and  if  elected,  the  first  State  in  the 
Union  will  be  honored  by  a  Governor  who  for  learning,  integ 
rity,  and  statesmanship,  has  no  superior  in  the  Union  ;  who  has 
been  presented  for  no  personal  purpose,  but  as  the  representa 
tive  of  great  principles  upon  which  the  National  Democratic 
organization  reposes ;  principles  declared  and  established  by 
Jefferson,  and  practised  and  illustrated  by  Jackson.  These 
principles  constitute  the  platform  of  the  Democratic  organiza 
tion  ;  all  can  read  and  understand  it,  and  will  respect  its  manly 
frankness,  if  they  do  not  approve  its  sentiments.  Its  corner 
stone  is  the  Constitution,  and  its  superstructure  justice,  equal 
ity,  and  truth.  These  principles  may  be  entombed  for  a  season, 
but  they  are  sacred  in  the  estimation  of  the  people,  and  will 
again  come  forth,  like  Lazarus  from  the  grave,  and  be  clothed 
with  health  and  beauty.  The  great  natural  and  hereditary  an 
tagonism  of  the  Democratic  principle  is  what  is  now  known  as 
the  Whig  organization.  It  has  had  numerous  party  designa 
tions  ;  from  the  foundation  of  the  government  it  has  opposed 
every  leading  Democratic  measure,  and  in  the  end  been  compel 
led  to  acknowledge  the  justice  and  wisdom  of  the  Democratic 
policy ;  and  among  such  measures  have  been  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  the  war  of  1S12,  the  overthrow  of  the  United  States 
Bank  and  of  a  protective  tariff,  the  independent  treasury  system, 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  the  acquisition  of  California ;  every 
one  of  which  has  been  vehemently  resisted  by  the  party  acting 


488 

in  opposition  to  the  Democracy,  as  destructive  to  the  best  inter 
ests  of  the  country,  but  approved  by  the  whole  people,  includ 
ing  reluctant  opposition  leaders,  as  shown  by  their  acts,  when 
brought  to  a  practical  test ;  and  yet  they  enter  upon  every 
campaign  with  some  fresh  pretension  of  regard  for  the  public 
good,  some  new  ground  of  opposition  to  Democratic  doctrines 
and  measures,  and  with  as  much  assurance  as  if  their  party 
policy  had  been  that  approved  by  the  people  and  given  direc 
tion  to  the  government.  At  the  few  times  they  have  attained 
success  and  got  into  power,  it  has  been  upon  the  errors  of  the 
Democratic  party,  but  they  have  always  gone  out  speedily 
upon  errors  of  their  own.  I  fear  we  are  about  to  lose  them, 
and  that  they  will  be  merged  in  the  formation  of  a  great,  ab 
sorbing  anti-slavery  party ;  we  shall  not  soon  again  find  a  party 
opponent  combining  so  much  personal  cleverness  and  so  much 
political  error.  Democracy  must  have  an  opponent,  and  I  dis 
like  to  see  one,  between  whom  and  myself  so  many  blows  have 
been  received  and  returned,  abandon  the  field,  especially  as 
we  are  constantly  getting  their  best,  and  they  our  worst  men 
in  exchange.  The  Whig  party  has  for  a  considerable  time 
professed  anti-slavery  doctrines,  but  this  year  they  have  plant 
ed  themselves  more  thoroughly  upon  the  anti-slavery  policy 
than  usual,  and  will  most  inevitably  become  in  the  end,  in  effect, 
if  not  in  name,  a  party  devoted  entirely,  in  its  leading  idea,  to 
abolitionism  ; — it  is  a  party  of  most  convenient  capacity — is 
usually  in  favor  of  everything  popular  or  plausible,  and  now, 
like  the  opossum,  which  conceals  its  young  from  danger  under 
a  false  or  double  skin,  created  for  the  purpose,  it  is  carrying 
and  concealing  some  half  dozen  parties,  lately  littered,  in  its 
capacious  bosom.  Its  candidate  for  Governor,  I  am  given  to 
understand,  is  an  amiable  and  worthy  citizen  in  all  his  private 
relations,  but  as  to  his  public  ability  I  believe  he  has  never 
been  overrated  even  by  the  Whigs  themselves. 

As  to  the  organization  called  "  softs," — and  I  use  the  terms 
only  as  designations — there  has  been  considerable  anxiety  man 
ifested  to  know  whether  their  candidate  for  renewed  guber 
natorial  honors  would  consent  to  run.  I  think  that  if  the  re 
port  of  the  proceedings  of  their  convention  be  correct,  there 
is  no  difficulty  on  that  subject ;  for,  according  to  the  published 
accounts,  the  Governor  ran  the  moment  he  heard  of  the  nomi- 


1854.]       "HABDSHELL"  OE  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY.  489 

nation,  and  at  the  last  report,  although  they  pursued  him  with 
the  telegraph,  they  had  not  yet  caught  him  ;  and  it  is  fair  to 
presume  that  the  skirts  of  his  coat  are  yet  standing  out  hor 
izontally  in  his  flight.  I  cannot  but  congratulate  my  "  soft  " 
friends  on  having  a  candidate  who,  thus  far,  has  run  so  well. 
Their  plastic  organization,  however,  cannot  long  exist,  and  I 
invoke  the  rank  and  file  who  are  misled  by  the  pretensions  of 
interested  leaders,  to  return  to  the  Democratic  standard. 
Their  organization  is  based  upon  no  loftier  pretension  than  the 
support  of  a  National  Administration  which  has  no  more  fu 
ture  than  a  "  katy-did."  Their  convention  in  Syracuse,  though 
containing  worthy  men,  was  under  the  control  of  the  govern 
ment  appointees — tenants  of  the  New  York  Custom  House, 
who  were  there,  crammed  like  Christmas  turkeys  with  gov 
ernment  bread  and  butter,  to  sing  hosannas  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  Administration  that  feeds  them — a  memorable  illustration 
of  the  interesting  truth  that  "  the  ox  knoweth  its  owner,  and 
the  as 3  his  master's  crib."  Their  resolution  on  the  subject  of 
Nebraska  condemns  the  measure,  and  congratulates  the  coun 
try  on  its  passage ;  and  one  portion  of  the  party  expresses  a 
high  sense  of  gratification  that  the  "  infamous  Nebraska  fraud  " 
is  condemned  by  the  resolution ;  and  another  portion  is  ex 
ceedingly  pleased  that  in  the  same  resolution  the  Nebraska 
policy  of  the  administration  is  sustained.  It  would  seem  that, 
in  its  adoption,  the  convention  must  have  treated  the  Nebras 
ka  question  as  a  celebrated  hunter  did  his  game.  Seeing  an 
animal  which  he  supposed  to  be  a  deer,  he  fired  at  and  missed 
it.  It  proved  to  be  a  calf,  and  his  friends  jesting  him  upon 
his  want  of  skill,  in  missing  a  domestic  animal  of  that  size,  he 
said  he  "  had  some  doubts  whether  it  was  a  deer  or  not,  and 
aimed  so  as  to  hit  it  if  it  was  a  deer,  and  miss  it  if  it  was  a 
calf."  Their  views  of  the  Nebraska  policy  are  about  as  clear 
as  those  of  Jack  Bunsby  concerning  the  missing  vessel.  He 
said  if  "  so  be  she  had  gone  down,  why  so  ;  and  if  so  be  she 
had  not  gone  down,  why  then  so  also." 

The  "  Free  Soil "  party  has  usually  claimed  the  merit  of 
bringing  into  power  the  present  National  Administration,  and 
although  I  have  heretofore  disputed  the  fact,  I  am  rather  in 
clined,  on  the  whole,  to  concede  it.  In  the  days  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Whitfield,  an  intoxicated  man  reeled  up  to  him  and  said, 


490 

"  I  know  you,  Mr.  Whitfield;  you  are  the  very  man  that  con 
verted  my  soul."  "  Very  likely,"  said  Mr.  Whitfield ;  "  from 
your  appearance  I  should  judge  your  conversion  to  be  much  more 
like  my  work  than  that  of  Divine  grace."  And  upon  reflection 
I  think  the  Administration  looks  much  more  like  the  work  of 
the  Free-Soilers  than  of  the  National  Democratic  party.  The 
present  state  of  things  cannot  long  continue ;  the  numerous 
organizations  which,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Burke,  are  "  pig 
ging  together,  heads  and  points,  in  the  same  truckle-bed,"  will 
work  their  own  cure.  With  the  exception  of  that  small,  sin 
cere,  and  fanatical  band  of  Abolitionists,  whom  "  much  learn 
ing  has  made  mad,"  and  who  propose  to  override  the  Consti 
tution  to  put  down  slavery,  there  will  shortly  be  but  two  politi 
cal  organizations  in  the  State ;  one  the  National  Democratic 
party,  and  the  other  an  anti-slavery  organization,  occupying 
the  place  and  taking  the  platform  this  year  adopted  by  the 
Whigs.  There  is  not,  and  will  not  be,  any  half-way  house. 
The  question  cannot  be  evaded,  blinked,  or  shuffled  off.  Ex 
pedient  office-seeking  men  may  scheme,  timidity  tremble,  and 
power  corrupt  and  purchase,  but  it  must  be  squarely  and  fair 
ly  faced,  and  the  votaries  of  the  respective  principles  must 
range  themselves  accordingly.  Since  the  embarrassment  is 
upon  us,  I  am  glad  that  the  issue  is  thus  to  be  made  up.  The 
National  Democracy  have  enlisted  for  the  war,  and  will  not 
be  driven  or  purchased  off.  They  will  stand  precisely  by  the 
Constitution,  and  while  they  defend  and  maintain  their  own 
position,  they  will  recognize  and  vindicate  the  rights  of  every 
section,  as  guaranteed  by  the  great  charter  of  our  national  ex 
istence.  I  have  long  since  taken  this  ground  as  a  matter  of 
duty  and  conscience,  and  shall  hold  it,  regardless  of  conse 
quences  to  myself. 

The  slavery  question,  at  the  foundation  of  the  government, 
was  brimful  of  difficulty;  it  is  so  still,  and  will,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  long  remain  a  fruitful  scource  of  irritation.  It  was 
compromised  originally  by  the  wisest  men  and  purest  patriots 
that  ever  adorned  and  honored  any  country;  each  State  was 
left  to  treat  the  institution  in  its  own  way  and  manner ;  and  in 
their  own  good  time  the  people  of  this  and  other  States  abol 
ished  it  when,  and  not  before,  it  suited  their  interest,  conveni 
ence,  and  sense  of  propriety.  And  now,  if  we  would  remern- 


1854.]       "HARDSHELL"  OR  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY.  491 

ber  that  the  citizens  of  other  States  were  created  by  the  same 
beneficent  Being  as  ourselves ;  that  they  are  to  render  their 
final  account  with  us  at  the  same  great  tribunal ;  that  they 
are  as  wise,  virtuous,  conscientious,  benevolent,  and  just  as  we  ; 
we  should  save  ourselves  much  gratuitous  solicitude  and  them 
much  useless  annoyance.  It  is  conceded  that  we  have  no  right 
to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States.  If  not,  then  why  not 
let  it  entirely  alone  ?  It  is  as  much  a  violation  of  the  true 
spirit  and  intent  of  the  Constitution,  and  far  less  honorable  and 
manly,  to  annoy  them  constantly  with  every  species  of  re 
proach  and  vexation,  from  the  security  of  our  homes,  as  it 
would  be  to  march  armed  men  among  them  and  attempt  to  put 
it  down  by  force.  If  they  are  entitled  to  security  in  this  re 
gard,  they  are  entitled  to  it  fully,  and  not  by  halves.  If  we 
have  no  right  to  assault  and  destroy  it  by  force,  we  have  no 
more,  morally,  to  do  it  by  the  introduction  of  paper  missives 
and  by  arraigning  them  constantly  for  its  existence  before  the 
world,  than  we  have  to  attack  it  by  fire  and  sword  within 
their  own  jurisdiction.  The  one  is  as  much  treason  to  the  true 
spirit  of  the  Constitution  as  the  other.  I  am  aware  it  has 
usually  been  said  that  the  only  object  is  to  prevent  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery ;  and  this  question  has  for  a  considerable  time 
been  a  most  fruitful  scource  of  strife  and  controversy. 

After  the  acquisition  of  the  Mexican  territory,  I  early  saw 
that  the  question  could  never  be  disposed  of  in  Congress.  I 
adopted  for  my  own  guidance,  and  proposed  to  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  to  settle  it  upon  the  principle  of  non-inter 
vention,  or  popular  sovereignty,  and  urged  that  it  was  the  true 
policy  of  the  government,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution,  and  in  harmony  with  the  theory  of  free  self-gov 
ernment,  to  leave  all  domestic  questions  in  the  Territories  to 
the  people  of  those  incipient  States.  I  did  not  claim  that  the 
Constitution  required  it,  for  I  doubted  whether  its  framers 
contemplated  the  precise  question  ;  but  I  insisted  that  it  was 
in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  our  institutions  ;  and  I  enforced 
my  positions  by  the  best  arguments  I  could  command.  And 
when  the  mighty  agitation  which  convulsed  the  country  from 
centre  to  circumference  was  finally  settled,  as  it  was  supposed, 
by  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  it  was  settled  upon  the 
principle  of  non-intervention  which  I  had  enunciated.  My  ob- 


492  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

ject  was  to  turn  the  question  out  of  Congress,  where  it  was  a 
constant  subject  of  contention,  setting  man  against  his  brother, 
and  arraying  State  against  State ;  embittering  the  people  of 
the  different  sections,  and  obstructing  the  public  business,  and  to 
leave  it  to  the  people  of  the  Territories,  when,  as  they  become 
States,  they  could  fashion  their  institutions  to  suit  themselves. 
My  confidence  in  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government 
teaches  me  that  he  is  as  well  calculated  to  enact  laws  for  him 
self  as  his  distant  fellow-men  are  to  frame  them  for  him. 
Though  the  passage  of  the  compromise  measures  did  not  give 
entire  satisfaction  to  all — one  portion  contending  that  the 
North  had  been  sold  to  the  South,  and  the  other  that  the 
South  had  been  sacrificed  to  the  North — yet  they  were  ap 
proved  and  sanctioned  by  the  great  masses  of  the  people  of 
every  section,  as  was  abundantly  established  by  the  subse 
quent  popular  voice  in  Georgia,  Mississippi,  and  other  States 
where  the  question  was  directly  in  issue ;  and  especially  by 
the  general  election  of  1852  the  question  of  the  non-interven 
tion  policy  was  put  at  rest  as  the  policy  of  the  country. 

At  the  last  session  of  Congress  a  further  question  arose 
over  the  organization  of  the  Nebraska  and  Kansas  territories 
which  were  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  possessions.  It  has  been 
by  many  treated  of  and  regarded  as  a  new  question,  whereas 
it  was  merely  an  old  question  in  a  new  form.  It  was  whether, 
in  the  organization  of  those  Territories,  the  Missouri  compro 
mise  line  should  be  repealed.  In  1820  the  State  of  Missouri 
had  presented  herself  for  admission  into  the  Union,  with  a 
constitution  authorizing  slavery.  Her  admission  was  resisted 
because  of  that  clause,  and  the  country  was  deeply  and  dan 
gerously  convulsed  by  sectional  agitation  and  controversy. 
It  was  finally  compromised  by  a  provision  in  substance  that 
Missouri  should  be  admitted  with  slavery,  but  that  no  slave 
States  should  afterwards  be  admitted  north  of  the  line  of 
thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  of  north  latitude.  This 
disposed  of  the  question  for  that  time,  and  although  it  long 
afterwards  rankled  and  served  as  an  element  in  the  politics  of 
the  day,  the  compromise  act  was  never  disturbed  until  its 
repeal  at  the  last  session  of  Congress.  With  all  respectful 
deference  to  those  who  may  think  otherwise — and  there  are 
many — in  my  belief  this  matter  of  repeal  has,  in  its  conse- 


J 
1854.]       "HARDSHELL"  on  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY.  493 

quence,  been  vastly  overrated ;  for  practically,  as  a  mere  leg 
islative  act,  I  have  never,  since  I  gave  the  subject  considera 
tion,  believed  it  had  any  binding  force,  for  I  cannot  find  any 
power  delegated  to  Congress  by  the  Constitution  to  authorize 
such  legislation.  Its  whole  efficacy,  in  my  judgment,  con 
sisted  in  .its  having  been  employed  by  the  patriotic  of  both 
sections,  by  mutual  consent,  to  allay  a  disturbing  excitement 
and  quiet  an  angry  controversy,  and  in  the  respect  with 
which  it  had  been  since  acquiesced  in  by  the  people  and  by 
Congress,  until  most  of  the  actors  upon  the  theatre  at  the 
time  of  its  adoption  had  passed  away. 

In  view  of  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  originally  em 
ployed,  and  the  ends  it  had  answered,  I  do  not  believe  that 
either  section  of  the  Union  should  have  sought  its  repeal 
without  the  full  assent  and  cooperation  of  the  other,  and 
especially  of  the  section  protected  by  it,  for  the  reason  that 
it  was  supposed  to  separate  two  great  interests ;  and  although 
it  was  enacted  mainly  to  prevent  slave  States  from  coming 
north  of  the  line,  in  the  process  of  time  events  had  so  changed 
the  current  of  affairs  that  it  could  serve  no  other  practical 
purpose  than  to  prevent  free  States  from  going  south  of  it, 
according  to  the  implied  sense  of  the  provisions  authorizing 
the  line  of  division.  My  views,  then,  are,  that  although  it 
had  no  legal  force  as  an  act  of  Congress,  because  of  the  lack 
of  constitutional  power  in  Congress  to  pass  it,  yet  that  in 
comity  and  good  faith  it  was  obligatory,  in  a  moral  sense, 
until  it  had  discharged  its  office,  or  until  both  parties,  and 
especially  the  one  supposed  to  be  protected  by  it,  should 
assent  to  its  obliteration. 

In  speaking  of  this  question,  I  allude  only  to  that  principle 
of  the  bill  which  has  so  much  engaged  the  public  attention — 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  line.  It  is  not  my  business  or  my 
purpose  to  pursue  the  details  of  legislation,  nor  to  weigh  the 
expediency  of  the  introduction  of  the  measure ;  for  I  am  not 
here  to  discuss  matters  of  expediency,  but  to  enforce  great 
principles,  which  can  never  change.  Non-intervention,  as  a 
principle,  is  eminently  right  and  Democratic,  and,  as  I  conceive, 
was  declared  to  be  the  settled  policy  of  Congress  by  its  action 
in  1850,  and  such  policy  was  sanctioned  and  approved  by  the 
popular  verdict  of  1852.  It  is  then  the  settled  policy  of  the 


494:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

country;  and  therefore  it  was  no  violation  of  good  faith  on 
either  part  for  loth  to  repeal  a  barrier  erected  between  them, 
and  make  it  conform  to  the  non-intervention  policy.  I  have 
often  declared  that  I  supported  the  non-intervention  principle 
because  it  was  right,  because  it  was  true  self-government,  and 
not  because  it  would  be  likely  to  give  a  free  State  here,  or  a 
slave  State  there ;  but  I  must  express  my  surprise  to  see  this 
measure  of  repeal  so  violently  assailed  at  the  North,  when,  in 
my  opinion,  it  is  so  clearly  apparent  that,  if  either  slave  labor 
or  free  labor  cross  the  line,  slave  labor  will  not  come  over  it 
north,  but  free  labor  will  extend  over  it  south. 

This  is  proved  by  the  geological  character  and  geograph 
ical  position  of  the  territory ;  by  soil,  climate  and  production, 
and  by  the  diverse  character  of  the  two  systems.  Slave  labor, 
from  its  very  nature,  is  slow  in  its  movements,  expensive  and 
unwieldy.  Free  labor  marches  off  with  its  axe  upon  the 
shoulder,  and  is  at  the  competing  point  with  its  improve 
ments,  before  slave  labor  is  provisioned  and  equipped  for  the 
journey.  Slave  labor  is  employed  upon  the  plantation,  where 
heavy  investments  and  expensive  outlay  are  necessarily  made 
to  render  it  productive.  If  one  set  of  slaves  be  removed, 
another  must  be  supplied,  costing  a  large  sum,  and  the  material 
force  of  the  plantation  cannot  be  readily  transferred.  The 
free  laborer  who  seeks  a  home  in  the  Territories  has  few 
embarrassments  upon  his  hands,  and  his  capital  consists  in  the 
muscles  of  his  arm,  and  his  own  energy  and  industry.  Slave- 
holding  is  timid,  and  must  dwell  in  communities,  and  cannot 
profitably  adjoin  free  States  or  settlements,  much  less  mingle 
with  them.  The  tendency  of  free  labor  is  every  day  further 
south,  and  not  of  slave  labor  further  north.  The  intrepid 
laborers  from  the  free  States  and  foreign  countries  will  flock 
there  to  find  farms  of  easy  cultivation,  in  a  more  genial  clime. 
The  land  speculator  will  be  there  for  the  investment  of  his 
capital,  the  young  and  adventurous  will  go  there  for  the  sake 
of  adventure,  and,  last,  though  not  least,  fanaticism,  with  her 
loins  girt  about,  and  shod  with  sandals,  will,  like  Peter  the 
Hermit,  march  at  the  head  of  her  ardent  legions,  to  rescue 
this  holy  land  of  Nebraska  from  the  grasp  of  the  infidel  slave 
holder.  All  this  population  will  rush  down  there,  since  the 
present  organization,  like  the  pent  up  flood  when  the  gates  are 


1854.]       "HARDSHELL"  OE  NATIONAL  DEMOCRACY.  495 

hoisted ;  nor  will  there  ever  be  from  all  this  vast  territory  a 
single  slave  State  formed. 

This  is  all  there  is  of  the  famous  Nebraska  question,  over 
which  so  much  patriotic  sensibility  has  been  expended.  Let, 
then,  every  man  who  has  ever  been  a  true  Democrat,  or  who 
ever  intended  to  be  one,  see  that  all  the  clamor  upon  this 
vexed  slavery  question  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  proceedings 
of  1848,  which  have  given  so  many  cause  of  regret.  Let 
him  adhere  to  the  true  National  Democratic  standard,  and 
obey  the  Constitution  in  its  letter,  spirit,  and  intent,  leaving 
slavery  in  the  States  to  those  who  have  it  in  charge,  and  upon 
whom  its  responsibility  has  been  cast ;  and  as  to  the  Territo 
ries,  observe  strict  non-intervention,  because  it  is  right  as  well 
as  in  accordance  with  the  whole  structure  of  our  government 
and  theory  of  our  institutions;  because  it  will  do  jastice  to 
all  and  visit  wrong  upon  none;  because  it  will  inculcate 
peace  and  harmony  and  friendship  between  the  members  of 
this  glorious  Confederacy,  and  because  it  accords  best  with 
the  symmetrical  framework  of  the  Constitution. 

I  invoke  all  not  committed  to  one-idea  abolitionism,  and  all 
who  do  not  intend  to  espouse  the  cause  of  a  sectional  anti- 
slavery  party,  to  join  in  maintaining  the  principles  of  the 
National  Democracy,  upon  which  the  Constitution  and  the 
stability,  peace,  and  safety  of  our  political  fabric  rest.  And  I 
know  well  in  what  latitude  and  longitude  it  is  that  I  make 
this  appeal.  The  Democracy  of  the  County  of  Delaware,  in 
times  past,  upon  all  the  great  questions  of  popular  liberty  and 
Constitutional  right,  have  ever  stood  firm  as  her  fast-rooted 
hills,  and  won  a  character  of  honorable  regard  throughout  the 
Republic  for  intelligent  patriotism  and  true  devotion  to  sound 
principles  and  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  Their  sons 
— those  who  occupy  their  honored  places  in  the  great  drama 
of  the  present,  upon  whom  the  high  trusts  of  American 
citizenship  have  descended — cannot  be  less  regardful  of  the 
eternal  principles  of  truth,  right,  justice,  and  equality,  nor 
less  highly  value  the  nation's  welfare,  the  great  bond  of  union 
and  amity  between  the  States,  the  continued  harmony  and 
good-fellowship  of  the  different  sections,  and  the  approving 
judgment  of  mankind. 


SPEECH 

ON   THE   MAINE    LAW    QUESTION. 

DELIVERED  AT  A  DEMOCRATIC  ^RATIFICATION  MEETING,  HELD  AT  THE  BROADWAY 
TABERNACLE,  NEW  YORK,  November  1,  1854. 

ANXIOUS  as  I  was,  Mr.  President  and  fellow-citizens,  to  see 
my  New  York  friends,  I  did  not  expect  to  enjoy  that  pleasure 
so  soon,  for  I  was  given  to  understand,  by  my  invitation,  that 
the  meeting  would  take  place  on  Friday  evening  next.  How 
ever,  I  came  to  the  city  on  business  connected  with  the  courts, 
and  that  I  missed,  too.  I  came  just  too  late  for  it ;  but  I  find 
that  I  came  in  good  time  for  this  meeting  ;  and  so  here  I  am, 
to  address  a  few  words  to  you  on  the  subject  of  our  political 
affairs.  This,  I  understand,  is  a  ratification  meeting — a  meeting 
to  ratify  the  State  and  city  nominations.  There  are  others 
present  who  understand  the  affairs  of  the  city  much  better  than 
myself,  and  who  can  with  far  greater  propriety  address  you 
upon  them.  It  has  been  customary  on  such  occasions  to  discuss 
great  political  principles  and  topics  ;  but  I  have  so  recently  laid 
my  views  before  the  public,  upon  general  questions,  and  they 
have  been  so  extensively  published,  that  it  is  hardly  necessary 
I  should  enter  upon  that  branch  of  public  discussion  now.  It 
is  well  known  that  the  National  Democracy  uphold  the  great 
national  principles  of  freedom  as  opposed  to  all  sectarianism  and 
sectionalism.  They  have  continued  to  occupy  that  distinctive 
position;  and  now,  in  national,  State  and  city  politics,  they 
stand  decidedly  and  emphatically  by  those  principles.  They 
have  nominated  their  candidates  as  the  representatives  of  those 
principles,  and  they  purpose  to  try  the  issue  at  the  polls  dis 
tinctly  upon  them. 

It  is  stated,  by  some  paper  curious  in  such  matters,  that 
about  fourteen  organizations  are  now  before  the  public,  claim- 


1854.]  THE   MAINE   LAW   QUESTION.  497 

ing  consideration  in  the  coming  election.  It  is  unnecessary  that 
I  should  go  through  with  the  whole  list ;  I  will,  however,  men 
tion  the  principal  political  organizations.  There  are  the  Dem 
ocrats,  Hards,  or  National  Democrats  •,  the  Whig  party,  includ 
ing  all  the  factions  arid  all  the  isms,  "  too  numerous  to  mention," 
as  the  auctioneer's  advertisement  says,  and  the  Softs,  or  Ad 
ministration  party.  The  questions  which  they  fain  would  press 
upon  us  are  not  the  great  measures  and  principles  of  government 
which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  discuss ;  but  issues  which 
have  been  facetiously  denominated  by  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  present  national  administration  as  "  the  battle  of  the 
kegs."  It  is  said  emphatically,  and  with  considerable  truth, 
that  the  issues  in  the  coming  election  are  to  be :  "  Bronson 
and  good  liquor,"  "  Seymour  and  poor  liquor,"  and  "  Clark  and 
no  liquor  at  all."  These  propositions  having  entered  so  largely 
into  the  political  contests  in  our  State,  they  seem  to  require  dis 
cussion. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  add  that  there  is  another  very  im 
portant  issue  raised — as  I  have  seen  by  the  public  prints — or 
rather  a  side-bar  issue,  as  the  lawyers  would  say ;  but  it  is 
nevertheless  an  issue  of  great  importance — that  is,  as  to  where 
one  of  the  gubernatorial  candidates  was  born.  I  recollect  that 
the  celebrated  Yankee  poet,  William  Ray,  in  giving  an  account 
of  his  captivity  and  the  abuses  that  he  suffered  in  a  Turkish 
prison,  wrote  what  he  called  an  exordium.  He  therein  said 
what  may  well  be  repeated  of  this  candidate  : — 

"  That  I  was  born  you  well  must  know, 
For  any  fool  could  tell  you  so  ; 
But  more,  perhaps,  you  wish  to  hear, 
The  day,  the  month,  the  hour,  the  year. 
All  this  I  very  well  remember ; 
'Twas  on  the  ninth  day  of  December ; 
And  just,  if  you'll  believe  my  story, 
As  chaste  and  blushing  fair  Aurora 
Burst  the  dark  arms  of  negro  night, 
A  Ray  from  darkness  peeped  to  light." 

Now  whether  any  of  this  will  apply  to  the  individual  alluded 
to,  I  leave  those  who  are  curious  in  such  affairs,  and  to  those 
most  interested,  to  wit,  the  Whig  papers,  to  ascertain.     There 
32 


498 

is  no  doubt  that  the  candidate  was  born  somewhere,  and  when 
they  have  ascertained  exactly  where — the  time,  the  place  and 
the  circumstances — I  hope  they  will  be  satisfied,  and  not  trouble 
the  public  any  more  with  that  issue. 

The  Democratic  party  has  gained  its  high  position  before 
the  country  for  having  rejected  and  repudiated  all  "  isms."  It 
has  not  been  a  temperance  party  exclusively,  because  it  has  re 
garded  temperance  as  but  one  of  the  social  virtues  that  are  to 
be  inculcated  and  practised.  It  has  not  been  a  liquor  party, 
because  it  has  considered  the  liquor  interest  as  being  but  a  sin 
gle  one,  among  many,  to  be  recognized  and  cared  for.  Its 
province  and  policy  are  to  protect  and  preserve  all  interests  and 
lop  off  all  abuses,  and  to  found  its  position  on  no  one-ideative- 
ness  in  any  respect  or  particular  whatever.  It  has  rejected 
abolitionism,  sectarianism,  and  every  ism  that  has  figured  in 
the  catalogue  of  factions.  Hence  its  strength  ;  hence  the  favor 
it  has  received  from  the  people,  from  the  foundation  of  our 
governments,  State  and  national ;  and  which  it  will  continue  to 
receive  so  lon<r  as  it  leaves  all  these  detestable  isms  to  be  taken 

O 

care  of  by  those  to  whom  they  legitimately  belong — by  those 
who  are  not  satisfied  with  the  great  national  principles  on  which 
government  should  be  administered,  and  on  which  our  State 
and  national  affairs  have  been  conducted — those  who  wish  to 
seek  out  some  new  inventions,  and  to  climb  up  to  success  in 
some  other  way. 

I  shall  not  have  time  to  discuss  the  merits  of  all  the  numer 
ous  candidates  in  nomination  in  New  York,  and  therefore  I  will 
take  up  the  leaders — say  the  candidates  for  Governor.  And 
first,  Greene  C.  Bronson,  a  name  of  which  every  citizen  of  New 
York,  every  citizen  of  the  nation,  may  well  be  proud.  Standing 
on  an  eminence  of  judicial  integrity,  of  learning,  of  high  ca 
pacity,  from  our  earliest  acquaintance  with  him  down  to  the 
date  of  his  last  public  official  act,  when  he  had  certain  corre 
spondence  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury — who  does  not 
look  upon  his  whole  career  with  pride  and  with  satisfaction  ? 
And  if  he  should  be  elected,  what  citizen  of  the  State  is  there 
who  will  not  feel  proud  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  State  ? 
He  stands  forth  as  the  representative  of  Democratic  principles 
— of  National  Democratic  principles — opposed  to  sectionalism, 
abolitionism  and  temperance,  in  its  ultra  and  forced  significa- 


1854.]  THE  MAINE   LAW   QUESTION.  499 

tion  ;  but  in  favor  of  all  those  great  cardinal  principles  on  which 
the  Democratic  party  has  reposed,  and  on  which  it  will  con 
tinue  to  repose  and  to  rely  for  its  strength  and  vindication. 
The  position  which  he  occupies  before  the  public  on  the  liquor 
issue  of  the  day — if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression — is  that 
which  the  Democratic  party  has  ever  maintained  on  this  and 
similar  questions.  It  is  one  not  for  destroying,  but  for  protect 
ing  ;  for  lopping  off  abuses  and  preserving  interests.  It  is  not 
for  fanatical  temperance  principles  ;  it  is  not  for  unbridled  and 
unlicensed  traffic  in  liquor  ;  but  it  is  for  correcting  and  adjust 
ing  all  abuses  as  they  may  appear.  The  position  of  Greene  C. 
Bronson  is  such  as  the  common-sense  of  the  country  will  ap 
prove,  and  as  the  Democratic  feeling  will  applaud  and  support. 
It  stands  in  broad  contrast  with  that  of  Myron  H.  Clark,  the 
author  of— or,  at  any  rate,  the  man  who  presented  in  our  State 
Legislature  that  abortive  and  ridiculous  measure,  the  Maine 
liquor  law. 

The  Whig  party  is  like  a  play-actor  breaking  down,  and 
who,  having  failed  to  draw  full  houses  in  his  old  characters,  an 
nounces  that  he  will  appear  in  some  half  dozen  different  char 
acters  in  appropriate  disguise.  It  is  going  to  play  as  Whig,  as 
Abolitionist,  as  Maine  Lawite,  as  Free  Democrat,  as  Free- 
soiler,  as  Anti-!N"ebraskaite,  and  I  do  not  know  in  how  many 
other  different  characters — very  numerous,  however — all  in  the 
person  of  Myron  Holly  Clark,  its  candidate  for  Governor.  He 
has  been  nominated  so  many  times  that  he  must  be  fairly  worn 
smooth  with  nominations,  commencing  at  the  fashionable  water 
ing  place  of  the  State — Saratoga — and  bringing  up  at  the  State 
Prison  city — Auburn.  Every  faction  that  has  been  heard  of  in 
this  age  prolific  of  factions,  has  honored  this  man  with  a  nomi 
nation.  And  why  all  these  nominations  ?  They  have  simply 
congregated  together  all  these  interests  for  the  purpose  of  fast 
ening  the  Whig  policy  on  this  State.  Well,  whether  they  will 
succeed  remains  to  be  seen. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  and  it  is  creditable  that  it  is  so,  that 
there  is  a  feeling,  a  strong  moral  feeling — there  always  has 
been,  and  there  always  will  be — in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  tem 
perance.  That  moral  feeling  was  making  rapid  advances  in  the 
cause  of  reformation  a  few  years  since ;  but  those  who  cannot 
let  well  enough  alone — who  are  restless,  uneasy,  fanatical — and 


500 

who  wish  to  raise  the  stream  higher  than  the  fountain  from 
which  it  flows,  must  resort  to  legislation ;  they  must  cast  this 
question  of  fine  moral  sentiment  upon  the  turbid  waters  of  po 
litical  strife.  And  thus  they  have  retarded  the  cause  of  tem 
perance  reform  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  at  least,  by  their  ul- 
traisms.  We  do  not  allege  this  against  them  as  men  ;  we  hold 
it  to  be  a  mistaken  policy,  and  condemn  it  as  an  attempt  to 
fasten  a  mistaken  policy  of  government  on  the  country,  by  call 
ing  in  this  moral  question  to  their  aid,  and  prostituting  that 
sacred  sentiment  to  the  base  uses  of  party. 

But  there  is  the  third  political  party — the  Softs,  or  Admin 
istration  party.  I  will  not  stop  now  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the 
Administration,  for  I  have  not  time  to  meddle  with  insignifi 
cant  matters.  The  Administration  party  of  this  State,  being  in 
the  general  category  of  decaying  substances,  have  sought  some 
mode  of  preservation,  and,  finding  no  other  means  more  avail 
able,  have  taken  refuge  in  alcohol — knowing  that  to  be  one  of 
the  best  preservatives  and  the  best  suited  to  their  condition. 
They  seem  to  be,  according  to  all  accounts,  in  better  spirits 
than  they  were ;  not  because  their  spirits  bear  the  Custom- 
House  brand,  for  I  believe  they  have  taken  the  brand  off  the 
casks  and  put  it  upon  the  candidates.  And  their  candidate  for 
Governor — the  present  Governor  of  this  State — has  placed  him 
self  upon  this  bung-hole  issue  alone.  His  declaration  on  the 
subject  is  equal  to  that  of  his  illustrious  predecessor,  Jack  Cade, 
who  declared  that  in  his  reign  the  three-hooped  pot  should  have 
ten  hoops,  and  that  he  would  make  it  felony  to  drink  small 
beer.  The  Governor  is  the  declared  champion  of  that  interest. 
He  seeks  to  gain  a  victory  thereby — a  party  victory ;  a  victory 
for  the  Softs,  or  Administration  party,  a  victory  which  would 
have  to  be  estimated  by  the  quart,  or  measured  by  the  gallon. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  Democratic  party  places  it 
self  on  no  such  issue  ;  and  I  repeat  what  I  have  said,  that  such 
an  issue  is  disgraceful  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  to  any 
party  which  presents  itself  upon  it.  And  this  I  say,  knowing 
what  I  say,  and  in  whose  hearing  I  say  it — that  of  the  liquor 
dealers  themselves.  And  I  will  have  them  to  agree  with  me  in 
a  moment,  if  they  only  listen  to  me.  The  Democratic  party  is 
adequate  to  the  reformation  of  all  abuses  in  the  government. 
It  is  adequate  to  the  protection  of  every  class,  and  every  in- 


1854.]  THE   MAINE  LAW   QUESTION.  501 

terest,  and  every  citizen.  And  no  one  interest  and  no  one  class 
is  entitled  to  an  exclusive  protection. 

What  right  has  the  liquor  business  to  come  forward  and  ask 
that  a  particular  and  exclusive  issue  be  made  over  it  ?  It  has 
none.  It  is  but  one  of  many  interests.  It  is  an  interest  requir 
ing  to  be  more  carefully  guarded  than  any  other.  It  is  one 
liable  to  more  abuses  than  most  others.  But  it  has  no  right 
to  require  more  than  that,  with  all  other  interests,  it  shall  be 
guarded,  and  that  what  is  right  and  just  accorded  to  it.  The 
Democratic  party  are  opposed — and  I  am  opposed — to  the  Maine 
liquor  law,  or  any  other  fanatical  legislation,  in  every  form  that 
you  can  present  it,  without  any  circumlocution  or  mental  res 
ervation.  That  is  enough.  It  is  all  that  the  liquor  interest  has 
a  right  to  demand  ;  and  so  long  as  it  stands  by  those  who  are 
willing  to  protect  it,  it  will  be  so  protected.  It  has  no  moral 
right  to  ask  protection  for  itself  exclusively.  No  interest  before 
the  country  can  stand  in  this  way  ;  and  least  of  all  can  the  liquor 
interest  so  stand.  It  should  be  protected  in  all  its  just  rights  ; 
it  will  be  so  protected  so  long  as  the  Democratic  party  of  the 
country  have  the  power. 

Look  to  the  history  of  the  National  and  State  legislation  of 
the  government.  For  three-fourths  of  the  time,  at  least,  has  the 
government  both  of  the  State  and  Union  been  exercised  by  the 
Democratic  party  ;  and,  I  ask,  on  what  interest  has  it  ruthlessly 
laid  its  hand  ?  What  interest  has  it  thrown  down  ?  What 
great  interest  has  it  rooted  up  ?  None  whatever.  But  let  any 
interest — and  particularly  one  liable  to  so  much  abuse  as  this 
liquor  interest  is — raise  an  issue  on  its  exclusive  protection,  and 
it  will  be  overthrown  by  the  moral  feeling  of  the  country.  It 
cannot  fail  to  be  overthrown  by  it ;  and  whatever  interest  thus 
makes  an  exclusive  issue  deserves  to  be  overthrown. 

Now  the  great  mass  of  our  fellow-citizens — the  great  ma 
jority  of  the  reasoning  men  of  all  parties — will  go  along  together 
to  preserve  that  interest,  with  other  interests.  And  they  will 
go  on  the  old  beaten  democratic  track,  preserving  every  inter 
est,  protecting  every  class,  lopping  off  abuses  from  all,  and 
sustaining  and  protecting  all  alike.  No  interest  has  a  right 
to  demand  that  we  should  do  otherwise ;  and  whenever  a  class 
steps  out  from  among  the  great  brotherhood  of  interests  that 
defend  each  other,  and  asks  especial  protection,  that  moment 


502 

it  will  be  set  upon  by  its  enemies,  and  eventually  overthrown. 
And  if  one  tithe  of  the  effort  had  been  made  use  of  to  sustain 
the  true  democratic  principles  which  lias  been  to  overflow  the 
country  with  defiled  liquor,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  Greene 
C.  Bronson  would  be  elected  Governor  of  the  State,  by  such  a 
majority  as  has  not  been  seen  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 
It  is  not  yet  too  late  to  do  it.  But  while  the  democratic  party 
discard  the  ultra  temperance  party  on  the  one  side,  they  also 
discard  the  ultra  liquor  party  on  the  other ;  they  would  treat 
that  interest  as  they  would  any  and  every  industrial  pursuit — 
reform  its  abuses  and  protect  it  in  all  its  rights.  Is  not  that 
all  that  it  has  a  right  to  demand  ?  And  if  that  interest  and 
the  great  mass  of  interests  in  the  community  separate,  and  it 
attempts  to  claim  exclusive  protection  through  a  party  organ 
ization,  it  and  political  temperance  will  come  in  collision — 
fanaticism  and  ultraism  on  the  one  and  the  other  side ;  and 
if  both  are  not  destroyed,  one  or  the  other  will  be ;  and  it  will 
not  be  very  difficult  to  predict  which. 

What  brought  the  Empire  State — the  first  State  in  the 
Union — to  the  proud  and  prominent  position  which  she  now 
occupies  ?  It  was  not  by  fanaticism  or  spurious  temperance 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  by  ultraism  and  spurious  liquor  upon  the 
other.  Xo,  sir ;  it  was  by  going  on  in  the  old  democratic  track, 
protecting  and  fostering  all  valuable  interests  alike,  and  giving 
exclusive  protection  to  no  one.  The  honest  importer  and  those 
who  deal  in  liquors  should  think  of  their  own  interests — they 
should  look  at  the  morality  of  the  issue,  and  see  that  reason 
and  sound  policy  demand  that  they  should  in  this  contest,  in 
common  with  those  with  whom  they  have  in  times  past  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  exert  their  strength  in  behalf  of  democratic 
principles,  their  party  and  their  country.  I  invoke  them,  as  hon 
orable  men — as  I  know  many  of  them  to  be — to  give  up  this 
bootless  crusade — one  which  can  only  tend  to  array  them  against 
the  country,  which  will  be  destructive  of  their  interest  and  of  the 
interests  of  society,  injurious  to  them  and  to  the  morals  of  the 
community — and  to  come  back  to  those  who  protect  them,  and 
who  will  continue  to  protect  them  in  all  that  belongs  to  them 
that  deserves  to  be  protected.  The  democratic  party  will  not 
turn  aside  from  its  great  purposes  to  protect  that  interest  in  es 
pecial  ;  nor  will  any  considerable  number  of  any  party.  Come 


1854.]  THE   MAINE   LAW    QUESTION.  503 

back,  I  say,  to  the  democratic  fold,  and  range  yourselves  under 
the  democratic  banner,  where  all  abuses  shall  be  rectified  as  far 
as  practicable,  and  where  all  classes  shall  be  protected  and 
guarded  in  their  just  interests.  Fanaticism  will  always,  if  time 
be  given  it,  overflow  its  own  boundaries,  and  its  excesses  bring 
their  own  cure.  If  one  such  bill  as  the  Maine  liquor  law  bill 
should  pass  a  Legislature — if  one  such  bill  should  be  signed  by 
a  Governor — how  long,  pray  tell  me,  would  it  be,  before  every 
vestige  would  be  swept  from  the  statute  book  ?  There  is  a 
spirit  of  freedom  abroad.  The  principle  of  the  democratic  party 
to  protect  all  interests  fairly  and  justly  alike  is  so  deep,  so 
broad,  so  wide-spread  in  its  influence  that  it  will  never  allow  a 
material  industrial  pursuit  to  be  abolished  without  the  consent 
or  the  fault  of  those  materially  interested,  and  nothing  but  the 
most  flagrant  abuses  on  the  part  of  the  liquor  dealers  them 
selves  will  bring  about  such  a  juncture. 

It  is  true,  my  fellow-democrats,  that  on  looking  abroad 
through  the  Union,  the  democratic  party  seems  to  have  been 
overthrown.  We  all  know  the  cause  of  that.  We  are  held  re 
sponsible  by  the  people  for  the  commission  of  a  very  great  error 
in  our  rulers — not  our  rulers,  but  our  servants.  We  are  responsi 
ble  for  that  error ;  and  the  people  have  held  us  responsible  and 
brought  us  to  judgment.  It  is  no  matter  how  gravely  the 
error  may  be  characterized,  but  no  one  should  be  filled  with 
consternation  and  alarm  because  the  elections  have  o-one  against 

O  O 

the  democratic  party  in  the  various  States  of  the  Union.  The 
administration  of  the  national  government  has  been  voted  to  be 
a  failure.  The  people  have  passed  judgment  upon  it,  and  they 
will  not  consider  that  they  have  had  satisfaction  by  execution, 
until  its  power  has  been  overthrown  in  every  State  in  the 
Union.  But  it  is  no  time,  my  fellow-citizens,  when  the  ship  of 
state  is  beset  by  storms,  to  abandon  her.  When  she  is  afloat 
upon  a  prosperous  sea,  and  wrhen  the  crew  are  joyous — when 
her  colors  are  flying  and  every  sail  is  set,  and  she  rides  before 
a  prosperous  breeze,  then  all  is  going  well,  and  a  faithful  crew 
may  well  relax  their  energies  and  their  solicitude;  but  when 
the  storm  comes,  when  the  tempests  howl,  when  the  officers- 
prove  treacherous,  or  imbecile,  or  incompetent,  when  some  of 
her  crew  are  mutinous  and  the  truest  are  driven  to  their  wit's 
end,  it  then  becomes  those  who  are  faithful  to  endeavor  to  place 


5(M 

the  most  brave-hearted  and  trusty  at  the  helm,  and  bestir  them 
selves  to  see  that  she  is  well  taken  care  of.  Let  no  one  abandon 
the  ship  because  she  is  in  peril.  Let  all  stand  by  and  each  de 
clare,  with  the  gallant  Captain  Luce,  that  "  the  vessel's  fate 
shall  be  mine  !  "  And  who  would  not  choose  rather  to  be  one 
of  that  hapless  crew  of  the  Arctic — that  fated  vessel — to  go 
down  in  the  ocean  with  her,  rather  than  one  of  the  cowardly 
gang  who  fled  with  the  means  that  should  have  been  employed 
for  the  rescue  of  the  women  and  children  ?  Who  would  not 
rather  be  with  those  who  went  down,  with  none  to  tell  the 
story  of  their  end  in  the  caverns  of  the  mighty  deep,  than 
among  those  who  took  the  life-boats  designed  for  the  safety  of 
the  gentle  and  trusting,  and,  like  cowards  as  they  were,  fled  to 
save  their  own  lives,  and  left  all  behind  them  to  destruction  ? 
Who  in  the  democratic  ship  would  not  rather  stand  by  and  go 
down  with  her,  than  to  turn  his  back  upon  her  because  she 
is  seriously  in  peril  ? 

It  is  a  time  now,  my  fellow-citizens,  when  democrats  should 
stand  by  their  noble  ship  ;  and  they  may  rest  assured,  if  they 
do  so  fearlessly  and  faithfully,  she  will  be  carried  through  in 
safety  and  triumph.  Let  what  may  be  the  cry,  turn  not  aside 
from  the  great  beaten  track  of  democracy.  Our  duty  is  plain ; 
reject  all  isms,  all  peculiar  and  exclusive  interests,  all  cliques, 
all  sections,  and  march  forward  with  the  bcdy  of  the  great 
democratic  party.  But  we  maybe  overthrown,  it  will  be  said. 
What,  supposing  we  are  overthrown  ?  This  is  not  the  end  of  all 
things  ;  and  if  it  were,  how  much  better  to  be  sacrificed  nobly 
and  in  a  noble  cause,  than  fly  like  base  cowards  in  a  time  of 
trouble  ?  Suppose  we  are  overthrown,  we  can  rally  to  the 
charge  again — rally  like  men,  and  attain  great  ends.  We  may 
be  dispersed  by  hostile  foes  and  false  friends,  but  we  shall  rally 
another  day  to  the  charge,  and  then  . 

"  Woe  to  the  riders  that  trampled  us  down !  " 

The  democratic  party  is  simply  disorganized.  Its  genius  is 
neither  asleep,  nor  has  it  gone  a  journey.  It  is  destined  to  rally 
and  at  no  distant  day,  with  more  power  than  ever  before ;  to 
achieve  greater  triumphs  than  it  has  ever  achieved,  because  it 
has  more  fools,  and  more  isms  to  achieve  them  over.  It  has 
fallen  to  pieces,  because,  in  its  great  victory  of  1852,  it  had  no 


1854.]  THE   MAINE   LAW   QUESTION.  505 

other  foe  to  conquer.  Its  heel  was  upon  the  neck  of  sectional 
ism,  which,  if  it  had  not  been  revived  and  fanned  into  new  life, 
would  have  lain  there  prostrate  still.  Like  Alexander,  it 
mourned  that  it  had  nothing  more  to  conquer ;  but  its  old  foe 
has  risen  up  again ;  like  the  dragon's  teeth,  its  mischiefs  have 
been  sown  far  and  wide. 

The  democratic  party  has  a  new  battle  to  fight.  It  is  called 
upon  to  buckle  on  its  armor  and  take  the  field  anew  against 
every  ism  that  has  grown  up  from  the  organization  of  the  gov 
ernment  to  the  present  moment.  Though  defeated  once  and 
again,  they  renew  the  struggle,  and  who  would  not  be  proud 
to  be  first  and  foremost  in  the  great  contest  ?  Who  would  not 
be  proud  to  be  one  of  the  combatants  in  that  great  battle  for 
liberty?  To  preserve  inviolate  the  Constitution  against  sec 
tionalism  in  national  affairs ;  to  protect  every  interest  in  our 
State  policy — not  only  as  regards  this  domestic  question  which 
we  have  discussed,  but  every  other  affecting  the  social  well- 
being  ;  to  promote  justice,  temperance,  charity,  goodness,  truth ; 
to  stay  up  every  hand  and  to  correct  every  abuse ;  this  is  the 
mission  of  the  democratic  party ;  nothing  more  and  nothing 
less.  Its  candidates  in  the  field  have  been  placed  there  not  as 
candidates  merely,  but  as  the  representatives  of  great  princi 
ples.  They  are  nominated  because  it  is  believed  they  will  rep 
resent  those  principles  truly.  They  are  placed  before  us  upon 
no  temporary  issue,  that  commenced  in  an  ism  and  is  to  end  in 
one  ;  that  originated  in  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature,  and 
will  have  its  quietus  in  the  next ;  but  upon  principles  which  con 
cern  every  individual,  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  Chris 
tendom.  The  ship  of  state  in  which  we  are  embarked  is 
freighted  with  a  precious  cargo.  Every  one  should  endeavor 
to  preserve  her,  and  speed  her  upon  her  great  errand,  carrying 
the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  throughout  the  world — preserv 
ing,  upholding,  and  diffusing  the  principles  which  have  been  so 
successful  here — not  principles  which  begin  and  end  in  such 
miserable  and  narrow  questions  as  that  relating  to  the  manu 
facture  or  sale  of  foreign  or  domestic  liquors,  but  which  embrace 
all  interests,  all  peoples,  every  section  of  the  globe — principles 
as  broad  as  the  universe  and  as  universal  as  truth.  These 
principles,  my  democratic  fellow-citizens,  we  are  called  upon  in 
this  contest  to  uphold,  to  cherish,  and  sustain.  It  is  not  the 


506  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

election  of  Greene  C.  Bronson,  or  the  defeat  of  Myron  H.  Clark, 
or  whether  one  man  shall  drink  liquor  and  another  none ;  but 
the  great  principles  of  democratic  equality  and  constitutional 
liberty  which  protect  all,  uphold  all,  and  rectify  all  errors  and 
abuses,  and  they  alone  are  at  stake. 

Greene  C.  Bronson  stands  forth  as  the  exponent  of  the 
principles  which  I  have  endeavored  to  inculcate.  Myron  H. 
Clark  is  the  champion  of  his  party,  with  all  the  isms  of  the 
day  combined,  and  stands  upon  them  as  the  issue  alone.  Now 
I  call  upon  my  democratic  fellow-citizens — and  I  go  farther — 
I  call  upon  every  man  of  sense  and  honesty  to  come  forward 
and  say  what  principles  he  will  maintain  in  this  contest.  If 
beside  the  great  and  vital  principles  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
he  would  uphold  temperance  also,  but  does  not  wish  to  join 
fanaticism  with  it,  but  to  take  a  rational  and  practical  view  of 
the  question,  to  preserve  and  regulate  but  not  destroy  the  in 
terest,  he  will  support  Greene  0.  Bronson.  If  he  would  sup 
port  Abolitionism,  Sectionalism,  Maine  Law-ism,  Woman's 
Rights-ism,  and  every  other  ism  that  can  be  conceived  of,  let 
Lim  vote  for  Myron  H.  Clark,  and,  if  his  election  be  secured, 
he  will  have  them  all  mixed  together  in  one  universal  dra^- 

O  ^ 

net.  If  he  desire  to  place  himself  upon  the  liquor  question 
alone,  to  have  his  whole  political  action  tested  by  liquid  meas 
ure  and  gauged  like  a  beer-barrel,  to  have  everything  deter 
mined  by  its  bearing  upon  the  liquor  question  and  degraded 
to  a  liquor  issue  before  the  country,  let  him  support  Horatio 
Seymour. 

But  I  devoutly  trust  that  this  contest  will  be  determined 
upon  no  such  degrading  issue.  I  trust  that  the  interests,  the 
principles,  and  the  moral  feeling  of  the  country  are  against  it. 
The  interest  of  the  liquor  dealer  is  simply,  that  he  have  all  his 
rights  preserved  to  him,  and  notlrng  more.  If  he  would  se 
cure  this,  he  must  stand  by  and  help  to  preserve  the  rights  of 
others.  Men  surrender  many  of  their  natural  rights  for  the 
preservation  of  their  social  and  political  rights.  Other  inter 
ests  demand  the  aid  of  the  liquor  dealer  as  much  as  he  de 
mands  theirs.  Then  let  all  associate  and  go  together,  in  order 
to  preserve  all ;  but  not  ask  that  any  one  interest  be  made 
paramount,  either  in  opposition  or  support.  All  that  is  at 
issue  is  in  the  keeping  or  under  the  control  of  good  men,  if 


1854.]  THE   MAINE   LAW   QUESTION.  507 

they  will  act  together  and  act  efficiently.  But  when  they  sep 
arate  themselves  into  sections,  they  are  cut  up  in  detail  and 
their  influence  broken  and  destroyed.  I  invoke  you,  fellow- 
citizens,  in  repetition  and  conclusion,  to  act  together  upon  this 
question.  It  would  be  a  disgrace  to  see  New  York,  the  Em 
pire  State  of  the  Union,  forgetting  all  the  great  interests  of 
society,  go  off  upon  the  retail  liquor  question.  It  might  do 
for  Neal  Dow  and  his  Maine  Law-ites  ;  but  would  be  too  much 
for  us  to  abandon  every  other  interest  and  every  object  of 
great  and  general  public  consequence,  and  make  this  the  great 
controlling  issue  of  the  time. 

I  thank  you,  fellow-citizens,  for  the  honor  of  this  enthusi 
astic  reception,  and  for  the  patient  hearing  you  have  extended 
to  my  remarks. 


SPEECH 

AT   A   MASS     MEETING     HELD    TO    RATIFY   THE    NOMINATIONS   OF 
THE   CINCINNATI   CONVENTION. 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  COURT-HOUSE  IN  BINGHAMTON,  N.  Y.,  June  21,  1856. 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS — The  exercise  of 
the  popular  franchise,  at  all  times  a  subject  replete  with  inter 
est,  becomes  so  in  a  tenfold  degree  to  the  American  people 
when  the  period  approaches  for  the  election  of  Chief  Magis 
trate  of  the  United  States.  It  is  indeed  a  spectacle  of  impos 
ing  grandeur  when  nearly  thirty  millions  of  free  people,  com 
posing  thirty- one  sovereign  and  independent  yet  united  States, 
acting  in  obedience  to  a  constitution  and  laws  of  their  own 
voluntary  construction,  proceed  in  concert  to  the  election  of 
President  and  Vice-President  by  the  declaration  of  popular 
opinion.  No  bayonets  bristle,  no  martial  airs  fall  upon  the 
ear,  no  sentinel  guards  this  portal  of  liberty,  no  civil  process 
even  is  permitted  to  disturb  or  intimidate  the  humblest  elec 
tor  ;  but  he  deposits  the  ballot  for  the  candidate  of  his  choice, 
the  popular  heart  swells  and  throbs  for  a  moment  with  the 
pulsations  of  a  mighty  struggle,  as  the  balances  vibrate — the 
result  is  declared,  and  no  trace  of  the  agitation  remains  save 
in  remembrance,  and  the  administration  is  approved  or  con 
demned  as  it  deserves  or  disappoints  the  confidence  by  which 
it  was  created. 

The  beneficent  Being  who  rules  over  us  has  given  us  a  land 
abounding  in  all  the  elements  of  good ;  stretching  from 
beyond  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  territory  of  the  Montezumas — 
from  the  St.  John's  to  the  Pacific ;  embracing  almost  every 
variety  of  soil,  climate,  and  production,  and  teeming  with  a 
free,  happy,  and  intelligent  people.  .N"o  standing  armies  dis- 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION   NOMINATIONS.  509 

figure  and  demoralize;  no  grievous  taxation  consumes;  but 
industry  enjoys  its  liberal  reward,  the  means  of  education  are 
laid  at  every  door,  and  each  worships  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  his  own  conscience.  Contrast  for  a  moment  this 
happy  condition  with  the  despotisms  and  monarchies  of  the 
earth.  See  their  self-created,  consuming,  pensioned  aristocracy ; 
their  standing  armies,  crushing  out  the  life-blood  of  the  people 
and  wasting  their  own  in  unholy  and  murderous  wars ; — their 
system  of  taxation  which  robs  labor  of  its  reward  and  rolls  on 
its  ponderous  chariot-wheels  from  generation  to  generation 
over  the  necks  of  a  subjugated  people,  regardless  of  the  cry 
of  breadless  children  who  have  long  raised  up  their  little 
hands  in  judgment  against  it ;  and  when  we  have  looked  upon 
and  contemplated  both  systems,  we  shall  be  the  better  able  to 
appreciate  the  value  of  the  institutions  under  which  it  has 
pleased  Heaven  to  cast  our  destiny,  and  to  determine  whether 
a  fountain  from  which  so  much  goodness  flows  is  worthy  of 
preservation.  It  was  the  fruit  of  a  great  and  mighty  struggle 
waged  by  opinion  upon  the  king-craft  of  earth.  Its  guaran 
ties  were  written  in  the  heart-blood  of  patriotic  devotion  and 
sanctified  by  the  tears  of  widows  and  orphans.  Its  Constitu 
tion  was  framed  in  the  spirit  which  inspired  the  Revolution  ; 
in  that  exalted  patriotism  which  yields  individual  advantage 
for  the  general  good,  and  temporary  and  minor  benefits  to 
those  more  comprehensive  and  enduring.  O,  that  it  might  be 
upheld  and  all  its  provisions  maintained  in  the  same  generous 
spirit  of  true  national  liberty ;  that  the  last  vestige  of  sec 
tional  spirit  and  strife  might  be  banished  from  amongst  us 
forever,  and  that  we  might  go  on  our  way  in  the  discharge 
of  liberty's  benign  mission,  to  the  consummation  of  that 
glorious  destiny  before  us. 

In  obedience  to  usage,  as  the  Presidential  election  ap 
proaches,  the  several  political  parties  have  entered  the  lists 
and  placed  their  candidates  in  nomination.  The  names  of 
Buchanan  and  Breckinridge  represent  the  Democratic  party ; 
Fillmore  and  Donelson  the  American,  and  Fremont  and  Day 
ton  the  Republican.  If  the  question  were  merely  whether  one 
or  the  other  of  these  tickets  should  be  elected ;  whether  one 
or  another  should  enjoy  a  high  office  and  administer  the  gov 
ernment  and  distribute  the  patronage;  however  great  the 


510 

choice  might  be  between  these  individuals,  the  great  mass  of 
the  American  people  as  such,  would  care  very  little  for  the 
contest,  and  few  would  participate  in  it  except  those  moved  by 
considerations  of  personal  friendship,  or  the  expectation  of 
sharing  in  the  distribution  of  the  treasury  rewards.  But  it  is 
a  question  shooting  deeper  and  rising  higher  than  individual 
merit.  It  reaches  down  to  the  foundation  upon  which  rests 
the  ark  of  our  political  safety.  It  is  interwoven  with  the 
fabric  of  our  social  structure,  and  interests  every  being  associ 
ated  in  this  great  political  copartnership.  The  ensuing  cam 
paign  presents  one  of  a  series  of  struggles  for  the  maintenance 
of  sound  principles  which  have  signalized  the  history  of  the 
countiy,  and  rendered  memorable  the  triumphs  of  the  Democ 
racy.  An  old  line  Democrat,  with  no  claims  to  extreme  par 
tisanship  ;  personally  acquainted  with  all  the  candidates,  and 
having  been  associated  with  most  of  them  in  the  affairs  of  gov 
ernment,  I  propose  to  treat  of  them  in  their  representative 
character  merely,  regarding  them  personally  for  all  the  pur 
poses  of  this  discussion  as  equally  of  good  character  and  fair 
ability. 

The  Democracy  may  well  contemplate  the  ticket  pre 
sented  by  the  Cincinnati  convention  with  pride  and  exulta 
tion,  and  not  only  ratify  the  nominations,  but  applaud  them 
to  the  echo  as  nominations  worthy  of  the  leading  party  of  this 
great  republic ;  as  nominations  suited  to  the  temper  of  the 
times  and  demanded  by  the  spirit  of  the  people.  James  Bu 
chanan,  just  placed  in  nomination  for  the  highest  earthly  sta 
tion — the  first  office  in  the  gift  of  a  free  people — though  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  term  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  of  pure 
morals,  familiar  address,  and  cultivated  manners ;  of  finished 
education,  strong  ability,  conceded  statesmanship,  and  long 
experience,  is  not  supported  merely  because  of  his  eminent  fit 
ness  to  adorn  and  discharge  the  duties  of  the  station  with 
which  his  name  is  associated ;  but  because  he  is  the  chosen 
standard-bearer  in  a  contest  for  principles  which  the  Demo 
cratic  party  believe  are  not  only  best  calculated  to  advance 
the  interests  of  the  country,  but  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  our  free  institutions.  Nor  is  his  worthy  associate,  John  C. 
Breckin ridge,  the  young,  gallant,  and  chivalrous  Kentuckian, 
whose  future  is  so  full  of  hope  and  promise,  justified  by  the 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION   NOMINATIONS.  511 

fruition  of  the  past,  supported  for  his  manly  and  generous 
bearing,  his  glowing  eloquence,  his  able  and  vigorous  discharge 
of  public  duties  ;  but  because  he  has  been  deemed  worthy  by 
reason  of  the  integrity  of  his  character  to  stand  the  represen 
tative  of  principles  to  which  his  life  has  been  devoted. 

If  I  read  aright  the  signs  of  the  times,  the  candidates  of  the 
American  party,  Messrs.  Fillmore  and  Donelson,  of  whom  I 
speak  with  high  personal  regard,  will,  when  the  day  of  trial 
comes,  scarcely  bear  a  part  in  the  contest ;  and  it  will  be  more 
profitable  to  discuss  the  great  issue  which  we  have  so  often 
met  in  a  variety  of  forms,  and  which  we  are  again  to  com 
bat  in  the  hands  of  the  same  old  enemy,  under  a  new 
name  and  a  new  disguise.  The  ancient  and  hereditary  oppo 
nents  of  the  Democracy  have  never  had  but  one  consistent 
settled  line  of  policy,  and  that  has  been  unyielding  and  relent 
less  opposition  to  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party. 
Every  great  and  beneficent  measure  which  has  been  instituted 
in  the  history  of  the  government  has  been  of  Democratic  ori 
gin.  Every  considerable  abuse  which  has  been  checked, 
every  considerable  reform  which  has  been  practised,  have  been 
the  fruits  of  Democratic  administrations.  And  yet  every  lead 
ing  Democratic  measure  in  its  progress  has  been  resisted  with 
the  same  systematic  virulence  ;  every  proposed  reformation  has 
been  characterized  as  mad  and  revolutionary,  and  every  at 
tempt  to  check  abuses  has  been  denounced  with  as  much  noisy 
zeal  and  ill-tempered  vehemence  as  signalize  the  denunciations 
of  the  present  day  and  present  hour.  And  it  is  eminently 
worthy  of  remark,  that  not  a  single  leading  Democratic  meas 
ure,  from  first  to  last,  has  failed  to  meet  the  approbation  of 
the  people  ;  and  if  our  opponents  had  the  power,  there  is  not 
one  of  them  which  they  would  venture  to  disturb.  In  this  con 
test  with  the  principles  of  Democracy,  they  Inve  from  time  to 
time  assumed,  worn  out,  dishonored,  and  cast  off  almost  every 
conceivable  name ;  they  finally  harnessed  the  name  of  Whig 
and  rode  it  hard,  as  one  does  a  borrowed  horse  ;  and  when  it 
was  worn,  tired,  jaded,  and  about  to  expire  from  ill-treatment 
and  hard  usage,  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  country  aroused 
the  patriotism  of  the  lamented  Webster  and  Clay  and  their 
associates,  who,  stepping  aside  from  their  party  associations, 
in  connection  with  Democrats,  raised  their  mighty  voices  in 


512  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

support  of  the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  sovereign  States. 
and  faction  slunk  away  again  to  hei;  hiding-place.  From  that 
day  forward  the  tarnished  honor  of  the  Whig  name  revived ; 
but  its  illustrious  leaders  were  no  more.  The  name  was  too 
replete  with  patriotic  associations  for  a  party  whose  stock-in- 
trade  was  traffic  in  the  public  peace ;  and  in  this  instance  the 
the  name  really  wore  out  and  cast  off  the  party,  and  not  the 
party  the  name.  It  was  time  too  for  a  new  designation ;  all 
had  become  accustomed  to  the  old  disguise  ;  no  recruits  filled 
up  the  ranks,  depleted  by  desertions  to  the  Democracy ;  even 
gudgeons  declined  to  bite  at  a  hook  thus  baited,  and  hence  a 
change  was  imperatively  required.  Well3  they  retire  to  rest 
as  Whigs  and  Abolitionists,  and  wake  up  "  Republicans  !  " — 
not  red  Republicans,  after  the  fashion  of  France  and  Germany, 
but  Republicans  more  sable  than  sanguine  in  complexion. 
Borrowing  for  the  occasion  a  mantle  of  sombre  hues,  and  fold 
ings  sufficiently  ample  to  cover  a  multitude  of  pretensions,  at 
least,  they  claim  to  be  a  new  party,  devoted  exclusively  to  the 
cause  of  freedom.  The  same  voices  which  were  attuned  to 
ribald  songs  against  the  immortal  Jefferson  for  the  Louisiana 
purchase ;  which  were  hoarse  with  curses  against  the  war  of 
1812;  which  sung  funeral  dirges  over  the  prostration  of  the 
United  States  Bank ;  which  denounced,  arraigned,  tried,  con 
demned,  and  would  almost  have  executed  the  patriotic  Jack 
son  for  his  warfare  upon  that  hideous  monster ;  which  cried 
aloud  on  the  annexation  of  Texas ;  prophesied  national  and 
individual  bankruptcy  in  the  revenue  tariff  of  1846,  and  insist 
ed  upon  final  and  irretrievable  ruin  on  the  acquisition  of  Cali 
fornia,  are  making  night  hideous  with  outcries  against  the 
Democratic  party,  its  principles  and  its  candidates,  and  in 
singing  hosannas  to  Fremont  and  freedom  !  Of  Col.  Fremont, 
their  candidate,  emphatically  theirs  by  the  highest  title  known 
to  civilization — the  title  by  discovery — or  of  Mr.  Dayton,  his 
associate,  for  whom  I  entertain  great  personal  respect,  I  have 
little  to  say,  except  that  the  experience  of  the  former  with  the 
affairs  of  government  is  too  limited  to  make  him  either  a  suita 
ble  or  safe  person  to  administer  the  government  of  this  Re 
public.  That  he  possesses  merit  as  an  enterprising  pioneer  trav 
eller  and  successful  borderer,  and  has  endured  the  hardships 
and  privations  incident  to  such  a  service,  is  conceded ;  but 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION  NOMINATIONS.  513 

these,  however  meritorious  of  themselves,  must  be  regarded  by 
all  sensible  men  as  feeble  evidences  of  statesmanship. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  from  humble  begin 
nings  has  become  one  of  the  great  powers  of  earth.  The 
unwilling  admission  has  been  wrung  from  monarchy  that  the 
mysterious  problem  of  self-government  has  been  solved  suc 
cessfully,  and  we  stand  now  as  well  the  admiration  as  the  envy 
of  the 'world.  The  agitations  amidst  the  decaying  govern 
ments  of  Europe  ;  the  struggle  of  crowned  heads  for  existence, 
and  the  combination  formed  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power 
between  them,  and  to  watch  with  the  eye  of  jealous  hatred  the 
vigorous  progress  of  our  people,  has  rendered  the  subject  of 
our  foreign  relations  so  delicate,  difficult,  and  complicated,  as 
to  require  the  highest  order  of  statesmanship.  Our  relations 
at  this  moment  are  precarious  and  unsatisfactory  with  Eng 
land,  France,  Spain,  and  Denmark,  and  we  are  menaced  with 
war.  Questions  of  serious  moment,  requiring  extraordinary 
prudence,  sagacity,  and  the  aid  of  large  and  familiar  experi 
ence  in  their  treatment,  are  pending,  and  many  of  them  must 
remain  subjects  of  greater  or  less  irritation  for  years.  Col. 
Fremont  has  no  qualifications  whatever  for  the  discharge  of 
such  duties,  nor  have  his  pursuits  permitted  him  to  have.  Mr. 
Buchanan,  it  will  not  be  denied,  has  qualifications  of  the  high 
est  character.  Questions  of  domestic  origin,  too,  of  alarming 
import  are  agitating  and  convulsing  our  otherwise  happy  coun 
try  ;  arraying  State  against  State,  section  against  section,  bro 
ther  against  brother,  and  man  against  man.  In  short,  the  as 
pect  of  affairs  at  home  and  abroad  admonishes  us  to  the  exer 
cise  of  wisdom.  In  troublous  times  the  ablest  and  most  expe 
rienced  sailor  should  be  selected  for  the  helm,  if  we  would 
outride  the  tempest.  Mr.  Buchanan's  life,  after  retiring  from 
the  bar,  where  he  stood  unrivalled,  has  been  devoted  to  the 
public  service — not  in  places  of  pecuniary  emolument,  but  in 
those  of  a  responsible  representative  character,  requiring  in 
their  successful  and  honorable  exercise  talents  of  a  high  order, 
and  those  qualifying  the  incumbent  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
Chief  Magistrate  with  satisfaction  and  honor  to  the  country. 
There  are  no  catchwords  or  clap-traps  associated  with  his  name 
or  history ;  but  whether  in  the  councils  of  his  own  noble  State., 
whether  the  representative  of  his  district  in  Congress,  of  his 


514:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

State  in  the  Senate,  of  the  nation  as  premier,  or  of  his  gov 
ernment  at  the  ablest  court  in  Europe,  he  has  stood  side  by 
side  with  the  most  honored  and  respected.  In  the  forum  he 
was  the  peer  of  Wright,  Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster,  in  the 
days  when  intellectual  giants  shivered  lances ;  in  the  cabinet, 
of  Peel,  Nesselrode,  Russell,  Palmerston,  and  Clarendon. 
Even  his  nomination  has  inspired  the  country  with  confidence, 
for  the  people  regard  him  as  a  statesman  and  not  a  mere  poli 
tician.  They  are  familiar  with  his  career ;  they  revere  his  pru 
dence,  wisdom,  and  learning,  and  admire  his  statesmanship, 
and  not  only  will  he  be  supported  by  all  true  Democrats,  but 
by  all  conservative  Whigs  who  are  unwilling  to  forsake  a 
national  to  rally  under  a  sectional  standard ;  by  all  who  love 
their  country  and  desire  to  preserve  its  institutions. 

Not  being  able  to  question  the  integrity  of  his  character, 
the  purity  of  his  life,  the  wisdom  of  his  public  conduct,  our 
opponents  content  themselves  with  asserting  that  he  was  once 
a  Federalist,  and  that  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate  on  the  sub- 
treasury  question  he  declared  that  the  wages  of  labor  ought  to 
be  ten  cents  a  day.  These  grave  charges  will  be  treated  of  in 
their  order.  As  to  the  first,  I  scorn  to  inquire  what  were  Mr. 
Buchanan's  opinions  in  early  and  other  times  upon  questions 
that  have  passed  away  with  the  times  and  events  in  which 
they  originated.  Political  associations  with  the  young  arise 
oftener  from  social  relations  than  otherwise,  and  Mr.  Buchan 
an's  were  quite  likely  thus  influenced.  The  old  Federal  party, 
with  all  its  heresies  and  errors,  had  one  redeeming  feature 
which  its  successor  has  not.  It  never  stooped  to  foment  sec 
tional  strife  and  disunion  over  the  question  of  negro  slavery, 
and  it  would  be  a  decided  improvement  if  Democracy  could 
find  an  opponent  so  high-toned  and  elevated  in  its  opposition 
to  its  principles.  What  we  have  to  do  with  now  is  the  prac 
tical  responsible  history  of  our  candidate  as  a  man  and  a 
statesman  since  he  entered  upon  the  great  theatre  of  public 
life.  In  1812  Mr.  Buchanan  volunteered  and  bore  arms  in 
defence  of  the  country.  He  was  from  the  first  a  warm  sup 
porter  and  a  friend  of  General  Jackson,  that  model  Democratic 
leader.  He  enjoyed  in  a  high  degree  the  confidence  of  that 
most  eminent  patriot,  and  was  by  him  honored  with  distin 
guished  marks  of  favor.  For  thirty  years  and  upwards  he  has 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION   NOMINATIONS.  515 

been  an  active,  uniform,  and  faithful  member  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  ;  one  of  its  great  acknowledged  leaders — fighting 
its  battles,  promulgating  its  doctrines — in  favor  and  sympathy 
with  its  masses  ;  has  been  laden  with  its  honors  ;  has  withstood 
the  assaults  of  its  opposers ;  and  has  finally,  in  a  time  when 
none  but  true  and  tried  men  are  trusted,  been  unanimously 
selected  at  one  of  the  ablest  national  conventions  which  ever 
assembled,  the  Democratic  standard-bearer  in  the  stirring  cam 
paign  of  1856.  If  any  one  can  challenge  a  record  so  extended, 
BO  complete,  and  so  spotless,  let  him  be  presented. 

The  charge  that  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  the  Senate,  upon  the  sub- 
treasury  bill,  or  elsewhere,  advocated  the  reduction  of  the 
laborer's  wages  to  ten  cents  a  day,  has  at  all  times  been  pro 
nounced  by  him  as  a  wanton  fabrication  out  of  the  whole  cloth, 
and  it  certainly  has  not  the  slightest  shadow  of  authority. 
The  speech  in  which  it  is  said  he  made  the  ridiculous  declara 
tion — a  declaration,  I  venture  to  say,  never  made  by  any  sane 
man  in  the  United  States — stands  on  record  fully  reported  in 
the  Congressional  Globe.  I  read  it  at  the  time  it  was  deliver 
ed,  and  have  perused  it  again,  and  that  carefully,  within  the 
last  few  days,  with  entire  satisfaction  ;  and  I  invite  every  one 
within  the  hearing  of  my  voice  to  read  it  too.  If  Mr.  Bu 
chanan  had  no  other  or  higher  claims  to  statesmanship  than 
are  furnished  by  that  speech  alone,  his  friends  might  safely 
rest  his  claims  upon  it.  I  would  it  were  in  the  hands  of  every 
elector  in  the  United  States.  It  will  stand  as  a  monument  of 
wisdom  and  justice  so  long  as  the  ink  shall  remain  faithful  to 
its  trust,  and  live  when  its  maligners  and  assailants  shall  be 
forgotten. 

The  sub-treasury  reform  was  one  of  a  series  of  Democratic 
measures.  It  was  assailed  by  our  political  opponents  with  all 
the  violence  which  characterizes  assaults  upon  our  measures  of 
the  present  day,  and  with  tenfold  more  manly  ability.  It  was 
asserted  by  the  opponents  of  the  bill  that  it  would,  by  reduc 
ing  the  circulating  medium  to  a  metallic  basis,  curtail  and 
cripple  business  interests,  and  reduce  the  wages  of  labor  to  a 
standard  with  that  of  European  cities,  and  our  laborers  to  a 
level  with  the  "  paupers  of  Europe."  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  his 
advocacy  of  the  measure,  took  opposite  ground,  and  declared 
that  its  office  would  be  beneficial  to  all  the  great  interests  of 


516  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  country,  especially  to  the  wages  of  labor ;  that  it  would 
operate  as  a  healthy  check  and  regulator  upon  undue  expan 
sions  ;  preserving  and  regulating  sound  banking  institutions  ; 
exposing  and  winding  up  the  fraudulent  and  insolvent ;  and 
giving  to  the  farmer  for  his  production,  the  mechanic  for  his 
wares,  and  above  all  the  laborer  for  his  wages,  either  specie  or 
its  equivalent  in  convertible  paper.  There  is  not  in  the  speech  or 
round  it  or  about  it  one  single  word  of  assertion  or  argument 
advocating  or  approving  of  the  reduction  of  the  wages  of  the 
laborer,  nor  anything  which  can  be  tortured  into  such  an  idea. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  an  able  and  statesmanlike  view  of  the 
whole  question ;  replete  with  evidences  of  experience  in  and 
familiarity  with  the  industrial  pursuits  of  life ;  advocating  the 
bill  because  of  the  protection  it  would  give  to  the  laboring 
classes  and  the  guaranty  it  would  furnish  them  against  fraud 
ulent  and  bubble  banking.  The  anticipations  in  which  the 
speaker  indulged  have  been  fully  realized,  and  had  he  been  gift 
ed  with  prescience  he  could  not  have  more  truly  portrayed  the 
benefits  which  were  to  result  from  its  enactment.  Those  who 
are  now  inclined  to  listen  to  opposition  croaking  against  Demo 
cratic  measures  and  Democratic  candidates  might  derive  great 
profit  by  turning  back  and  perusing  the  lugubrious  warnings 
and  oracular  prophecies  which  then  as  now  were  thundered 
against  us.  It  is  the  same  old  song  by  the  same  choir,  set  to  a 
different  tune.  Drive  them  from  their  personal  objection  to  our 
candidate,  our  opponents,  according  to  invariable  usage,  if 
not  a  natural  instinct,  fall  back  upon  the  Democratic  party  and 
its  principles ;  accusing  it  of  sins  of  omission  and  commission, 
which,  if  they  are  to  be  believed,  are  always  great  on  the  eve 
of  an  election  ;  and  proposing,  themselves,  to  take  the  govern 
ment  in  charge  and  administer  it  according  to  the  principles 
of  Fremont  and  freedom !  It  is  charged  by  these  self-heralded, 
self-constituted,  and  self-named  "  Republican  "  champions  of 
liberty  with  being  at  war  with  the  best  interests  of  the  coun 
try  ;  a  pro-slavery  party  opposed  to  the  principles  of  freedom, 
and  especially  in  favor  of  the  extension  of  slavery !  The 
charges  will  be  answered  in  their  order. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  great  masses  of  the  people  of 
all  parties,  however  diverse  or  mistaken  their  sentiments,  are 
honest  in  the  opinions  they  entertain.  This  difference  of 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION   NOMINATIONS.  517 

opinion  is  consistent  with  the  integrity  of  all.  It  arises  as 
well  from  inherent  causes  as  from  education,  association,  and 
unseen  influences.  It  is  not  only  to  be  tolerated  but  should 
be  regarded  as  profitable — nay,  essential  to  the  preservation  of 
our  liberties.  The  day  that  finds  the  American  people  exempt 
from  an  active  interest  in  political  affairs  will  be  one  boding 
no  good  to  the  Republic.  It  is  doubtless  true,  too,  that  the 
great  majority  of  political  leaders  of  all  parties  are  influenced 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  considerations  of  personal  ambi 
tion,  and  the  hope  of  gaining  power  for  their  party,  if  not  for 
themselves.  Those,  then,  who  would  pursue  a  course  best 
calculated  to  advance  their  country's  happiness,  interest,  and 
honor,  must  look  on  with  a  calm  and  dispassionate  judgment, 
and  determine  for  themselves  which  political  party  will  most 
surely  contribute  by  its  principles  and  policy  to  the  desired 
result.  They  must  look  back  on  the  history  of  the  past,  and 
see  what  political  parties  have  accomplished ;  they  must  con 
template  the  present,  and,  from  the  experience  thus  gained, 
forecast  the  future.  Democracy  fears  no  analysis  of  her 
principles,  no  exhumation  of  her  history.  She  may  at  times 
have  selected  unfaithful  or  incompetent  agents,  but  this  is  an 
incident  to  all  human  institutions,  and  is  no  evidence  against 
Democratic  doctrines.  Her  principles  will  stand  the  tests  of 
fire  and  the  inquisitions  of  the  crucible,  and  come  forth  as 
gold  seven  times  tried.  They  are  the  political  new  testament 
upon  earth — the  principles  of  true  rational  liberty,  equality, 
freedom,  and  peace.  None  can  stand  so  high  but  they  reach 
up  to  wrest  from  him  the  tyrannical  exercise  of  power ;  none 
can  be  so  lowly  but  they  will  stoop  down  to  console  and  pro 
tect  him.  They  inculcate  a  simple  and  frugal  government, 
restrained  within  its  own  legitimate  boundaries ;  confined  to 
the  exercise  of  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  functions, 
leaving  the  common  pursuits  of  life  to  be  regulated  by  the 
laws  of  trade — by  demand  and  supply.  They  build  up  no 
overshadowing  swindling  monopolies  ;  they  wage  no  war  upon 
private  interests  or  pursuits  ;  they  give  to  thrift  the  enjoyment 
of  its  accumulations,  and  to  labor  the  bread  it  has  earned. 
They  preserve  the  masses  from  the  curse  of  grinding  taxation, 
and  diifuse  protection  to  life,  liberty,  and  pursuit  of  happiness 
as  equally  and  impartially  as  the  genial  beams  of  sunlight. 


518 

They  regard  man  for  his  positive  worth,  and  inquire  not  for 
his  birthplace  nor  for  the  religious  creed  he  professes.  They 
require  strict  fidelity  and  rigid  and  prompt  accountability  in 
all  public  functions,  and  the  frequent  return  of  power  to  the 
original  source.  In  our  relations  with  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  they  ask  nothing  but  what  is  clearly  right,  and  submit 
to  nothing  wrong.  They  regard  peace  as  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  which  Heaven  has  vouchsafed  to  man,  and  war, 
except  when  it  is  waged  to  disenthral  a  people  or  to  avenge 
some  great  national  indignity,  an  unmitigated  evil.  The  tax 
ation  which  it  originates,  the  violence  it  practises,  the 
destruction  of  life  and  property  it  causes,  the  women  and 
children  it  bereaves  of  their  protectors,  the  inequalities  it 
indulges  and  justifies,  and  the  demoralization  which  follows  in 
its  train,  are  all  inconsistent  with  the  benign  principles  of  true 
Democracy. 

The  Democratic  party  is  neither  a  slavery  nor  an  anti- 
slavery  party.  It  upholds  the  principles  of  the  Constitution 
and  all  its  compromises  and  guaranties  in  good  faith,  and 
respects  the  rights  of  independent,  sovereign  States — sisters 
united  in  a  great  Confederacy.  But  a  few  years  since  the 
institution  of  slavery  existed  in  New  York  as  well  as  in 
Virginia.  The  people  of  New  York  abolished  it  without  aid 
or  interference  from  other  States,  and  Democracy  is  willing 
that  other  States  should,  like  us,  be  judges  of  the  matter  for 
themselves.  Democracy  believes  in  the  practical  as  well  as 
theoretical  capacity  of  man  for  self-government,  and  that  each 
political  community  is  better  calculated  to  govern  itself  upon 
principles  of  true  freedom  than  any  other  community  is  to 
govern  it. 

The  Democratic  policy  has  carried  the  country  forward 
upon  a  tide  of  success  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the 
world ;  and  yet  this  is  the  party  whose  men  are  derided  and 
whose  measures  are  maligned  by  the  orators  and  songsters 
and  presses  of  a  party  who,  when  they  have  attained  power 
through  Democratic  divisions,  for  they  have  never  through 
the  confidence  of  the  people,  have  gone  out  as  speedily  and 
with  far  greater  unanimity  than  they  came  in;  who  cannot 
point  to  a  single  great  measure  of  government  which  they 
ever  inaugurated,  and  who  are  on  record  in  a  bitter,  entire. 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION   NCM  NATIONS.  519 

and  unyielding  opposition  against  every  great  measure  of 
progress  in  the  eventful  history  of  the  government  and 
country.  Nor  is  the  character  of  either  party  changed  by 
the  fact  that  patriotic  men,  for  a  time  associated  with  our 
opponents,  have  been  constrained  by  the  dangerous  tendency 
of  their  action  to  leave  this  organization  and  join  the  Deino- 
.cratic  standard;  nor,  because  the  disaffected,  factious  or 
abolitionized,  who  remained  in  the  Democratic  camp  so  long 
as  rations  were  bountiful  and  service  slight  and  free  from 
danger,  have  sought  more  congenial  associations  in  the  camp 
of  the  enemy,  where  they  hope  at  least  the  flesh-pots  are 
nearer, — and  where  they  can  care  exclusively  for  the  interests 
of  three  millions  of  colored  population,  and  see  that  they 
suffer  no  inconvenience  by  passing  from  a  State  into  a  Terri 
tory,  should  such  transition  happen,  and  with  far  less  care 
for  the  thirty  millions  of  whites  to  whom  the  destinies  of  this 
government  and  country  have  been  confided. 

This  whole  question  of  slavery  agitation,  as  originated  and 
treated,  is  without  exception  one  of  the  most  impudent  and 
shameless  humbugs  which  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  an 
intelligent  people  ;  for  it  is  bitter,  and  wicked — disturbing  the 
relations  of  sister  States  and  neither  doing  nor  proposing  to  do- 
good  to  either  race.  The  questions  of  territorial  acquisitions 
being  at  rest,  and  the  policy  of  the  country  becoming  settled,, 
"  Othello's  occupation  "  was  gone.  The  opposition  had  no 
other  sing-song  but  slavery.  They  ceased  to  play  upon  their 
old  jarring  harp  of  a  thousand  strings,  and  commenced  upon 
a  single  string,  without  either  turn,  chorus,  or  variation. 
Slavery  is  to  them  what  ale  was  to  Boniface — meat,  drink,  and 
lodging.  Their  war  is  upon  a  people  who  are  our  brethren,, 
and  States  which  are  our  sovereign  equals ;  which  are  associat 
ed  with  us  in  the  great  and  beneficent  work  of  human  pro 
gress.  They  declare  that  they  make  no  war  upon  these 
States  or  upon  their  people,  and  yet  they  heap  upon  both 
from  day  to  day  epithets  and  denunciations  fit  only  to  be 
hurled  upon  the  most  mean,  ferocious,  and  murderous  despot 
isms  of  earth.  Some  declare,  with  a  commendable-  manliness, 
that  their  purpose  is  disunion ;  others,  and  the  great  major 
ity,  that  their  only  object  is  to  prevent  slavery  from  passing 
from  the  States  to  the  Territories ;  and  yet  if  there  were  dan- 


520 

ger  that  the  entire  white  population  would  become  enslaved, 
we  should  scarce  expect  a  greater  outcry. 

It  has  been  the  Democratic  policy  to  regard  the  people  of 
a  Territory  when  organized,  like  the  people  of  a  State,  capable 
of  self-government.  No  power  on  earth  can  prevent  any  State 
in  the  Union,  new  or  old,  under  the  federal  Constitution,  from 
becoming  a  slave  State,  when  its  people  choose.  It  is  therefore 
and  must  ever  remain  a  question  with  the  people  of  a  State  to 
dispose  of  for  themselves,  and  the  Democratic  party  propose  to 
leave  the  same  question  with  the  same  people  w^hile  yet  a  Terri 
tory — regarding  the  people  of  a  Territory  precisely  as  wise 
while  composing  a  Territory  as  they  will  be  when  they  consti 
tute  a  State.  But  modern  "  Republicanism,"  insists  that  Con 
gress  ought  to  legislate  for  them,  and  this  is  the  great  point  in 
issue.  Let  those  who  have  confidence  in,  and  those  who  distrust 
the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government,  whether  in  a  State  or 
in  a  Territory,  whether  in  an  old  country  or  in  a  new,  range 
themselves  upon  this  question  accordingly.  The  Democrats  will 
meet  the  issue  fairly,  directly,  and  boldly,  and  have  no  fears  for 
the  result.  It  was  an  alleged  grievance  by  our  fathers  that  the 
British  Parliament  would  not  permit  them  to  legislate  for  them 
selves,  but  insisted  on  the  right  to  legislate  for  them,  when  the 
colonies  held  the  same  relation  to  Parliament  that  the  Terri 
tories  do  to  Congress.  This  is  in  substance  the  same  question 
now,  and  if  we  have  an  organized  Territory,  whose  people  are 
not  n't  to  be  entrusted  with  their  own  local  legislation,  we 
should  turn  them  over  to  the  British  Parliament  until  they  have 
sufficient  intelligence.  But  this  distrust  is  a  libel  upon  the  peo 
ple  of  our  Territories,  and  upon  the  good  sense  of  the  age. 
They  are  much  better  acquainted  with  their  wants  than  is  Con 
gress,  and  better  calculated  to  redress  their  own  wrongs. 

When  the  ordinance  of  1787  was  passed,  the  foreign  slave 
trade  existed,  and  it  was  a  question  between  Africa  and  the  fer 
tile  regions  of  the  JSTorthwest ;  but  that  trade  was  long  since 
prohibited,  and  it  is  now  a  mere  question  whether  slaves  shall 
stay  where  they  are  in  the  States  or  go  into  the  Territory,  and 
this  is  a  question  belonging  to  the  people  of  the  Territory,  and 
may  well  and  safely  be  left  with  them. 

Neither  the  Democratic  party  nor  the  Southern  States  are 
responsible  for  the  origin  of  slavery.  It  was  inherited  from 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION  NOMINATIONS.  521 

slave-hating  England,  whose  cupidity  planted  it  here  so  deeply 
that  it  could  not  be  readily  obliterated,  if  those  where  it  is  de 
sired  it.  In  the  formation  of  the  government  it  was  found  an 
embarrassing  question,  and  it  required  all  the  forbearance  which 
characterized  the  patriotism  of  that  day  to  compromise  the  dif 
ficulty.  But  our  fathers  saw,  as  we  ought  to  see,  that  the  great 
benefits  which  a  Union  of  the  States  would  confer  should  not 
be  rejected  in  disagreements  over  this  question ;  that  slavery 
was  no  worse  with  a  Union  than  slavery  without  one,  and  hence 
the  compromises  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  a  question  over 
which  a  portion  of  the  States  will  and  have  a  right  to  feel  deep 
sensibility.  However  much  its  existence  may  be  deplored  by 
the  benevolent,  none  will  unnecessarily  wound  the  feeling  or 
heighten  the  embarrassments  of  those  who  have  it  in  charge 
unless  it  be  the  fanatic,  the  bigot,  and  the  demagogue. 

But  it  is  said  that  there  has  been  violence  and  bloodshed  in 
Kansas  ;  that  foreign  interference  has  prevented  the  exercise  of 
the  elective  franchise,  and  that  life  and  property  are  not  pro 
tected.  Let  this  all  prove  true,  and  what,  pray  tell  me,  does  it 
establish  against  the  Democratic  party — against  the  doctrine  of 
true  self-government — against  the  Democratic  candidates ;  or 
in  favor  of  this  new-fangled  "  Republicanism  "  or  its  nominees. 
The  lawless  violence  in  Kansas,  like  lawless  violence  elsewhere, 
is  not  only  to  be  deplored  but  condemned  of  all  good  men. 
When  we  look  for  the  cause,  we  should  look  for  a  true  one, 
and  when  we  seek  a  remedy  we  should  adopt  one  certainly  not 
worse  than  the  disease.  There  has  evidently  been  much  wrong 
doing  in  Kansas,  and  whoever  was  first  or  foremost  in  the 
wrong,  it  would  be  strange  indeed  if  much  could  not  be  finally 
imputed  to  all.  But  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  approaching 
contest  over  the  Presidency  has  given  to  some  of  the  movements 
there  an  air  of  exaggeration.  When  the  negro  question  is  the 
only  stock-in-trade  of  a  desperate  party,  such  elements  as  the 
Kansas  controversy  furnishes  are  not  likely  to  be  understated. 
I  condemn  all  outside  interference  on  either  side,  come  from 
which  it  might,  in  the  popular  elections  of  Kansas.  It  was 
alike  the  right  of  those  holding  pro-slavery  or  anti-slavery 
opinions  to  settle  there,  and  personally  exercise  the  right  of 
franchise  unmolested.  But  it  was  unwise  for  either  interest  on 
the  organization  of  the  Territory,  under  an  irritated  state  of 


522 

feeling  too,  to  blow  a  trumpet,  and  give  notice  that  it  was  go 
ing  forward  to  take  possession  of,  and  control  the  Territory.  It 
was  calculated  if  not  intended  to  provoke  antagonism  and  col 
lision,  and  should  be  regarded  as  the  first  great  wrong  amongst 
the  wrongs  there  perpetrated.  And  yet  this  was  done  by  the 
anti-slavery  saints  of  some  of  the  States,  who  complain  loudest 
of  the  very  interference  which  they  summoned  to  the  strife. 

But  whether  one  or  the  other  or  both  interests  were  in  fault, 
and  responsible  for  the  disgraceful  violence  which  has  followed, 
it  is  no  argument  against  the  Democratic  doctrine  of  self-gov 
ernment  in  Territories.  It  only  proves  that  exasperated  men 
have  interfered  with  and  prevented  the  ordinary  and  healthful 
working  of  a  salutary  rule.  This  doctrine  has  upon  all  other 
occasions  proved  successful,  .even  in  California  with  all  its 
temptations  to  conflict.  It  will  operate  well  there  if  left  alone, 
and  no  system  is  a  guaranty  against  violence.  It  will  be  suc 
cessful  hereafter  when  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  have 
beset  this  Territory  shall  have  passed  by.  The  disregard  or 
violation  of  a  law  is  an  argument  against  the  breaker  and  not 
against  the  law.  One  man  cuts  his  throat  with  a  razor  : — this 
does  not  prove  that  men  should  not  be  permitted  to  shave 
(which  quite  too  many  neglect,  in  my  judgment),  but  that  one 
has  abused  what  was  necessary  and  useful  to  many.  The 
numerous  shocking  wife-murders  we  read  of,  where  the  wife  is 
in  the  power  of  the  husband  and  beyond  the  reach  of  assistance, 
are  no  argument  against  the  marriage  relation.  They  merely 
prove  that  the  husband  has  not  only  violated  the  confidence  re 
posed  in  him,  but  has  committed  a  great  crime  against  God  and 
man.  But  we  may  as  well  prohibit  all  from  the  instrument  be 
cause  one  has  abused  its  use,  or  prohibit  marriage  by  Congress, 
because  the  husband  has  murdered  the  wife,  as  to  cry  out 
against  self-government  and  popular  sovereignty,  because  bad 
men  have  by  violence  prevented  its  fair  and  peaceful  exercise. 

But  what  is  the  attitude  of  this  party  of  Fremont  and  free 
dom  before  the  people  of  the  United  States  ?  They  are  quite 
lavish  of  denunciation  upon  others.  Let  us  see  for  a  moment 
how  their  own  strange  position  will  stand  the  scrutiny  of  ex 
amination  when  arrayed  for  trial  at  the  bar  of  opinion.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  government  a  party  claiming  to 
be  one  of  the  great  parties  of  the  country  have  planted  them- 


1856.]  CINCINNATI   CONVENTION   NOMINATIONS.  523 

selves  entirely  upon  an  irritating  anti-slavery  issue ;  have  nomi 
nated  for  the  first  time  sectional  candidates ;  have  for  the  first 
time  ignored  and  blotted  from  the  constellation  of  the  Union 
fifteen  of  those  glorious  stars  which  help  to  compose  the  pride 
and  hope  and  joy  of  every  true  American,  and  with  a  fragment 
of  stars,  comprising  a  majority  of  electoral  votes,  broken  off, 
dissevered,  and  disjointed  from  the  others,  with  the  black  flag 
of  anti-slavery  floating  over  the  piratical  craft,  are  cruising  for 
power,  regardless  of  the  admonition  of  the  Father  of  our  Coun 
try  ;  regardless  of  the  holy  memories  which  should  bind  us  to 
gether  as  one  people ;  regardless  of  the  great  mission  in  the 
cause  of  human  progress  with  which  we  are  charged  in  com 
mon,  and  regardless  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Candidates 
for  the  first  and  second  offices,  it  is  true,  have,  in  other  days, 
been  selected  fom  the  same  section  of  the  Union,  but  not  upon 
sectional  issues,  and  it  has  been  left  for  the  "  Republican " 
party  of  1856,  professing  to  be  influenced  by  questions  of  tho 
most  elevated  patriotism,  to  put  nearly  one-half  the  States  of 
this  Union  at  defiance  by  the  nomination  of  sectional  candidates, 
upon  an  irritating  sectional  issue.  When  I  say  it  insults  and 
degrades  a  portion  of  the  States  of  this  Confederacy — that  it 
threatens  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  I  inquire,  if  the  slave 
States  held  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes,  and  they  should,  at 
a  time  of  such  internal  strife  and  disturbed  relations,  assemble 
and  form  issues  of  a  sectional  character,  and  nominate  candi 
dates  pledged  to  their  enforcement,  whether  we  should  not 
complain  that  we  were  not  both  insulted  and  degraded  by  being 
thus  placed  beyond  the  pale  of  fellowship  ;  and  finally,  if  they 
should  elect  such  sectional  ticket  and  inaugurate  their  govern 
ment  upon  that  principle,  whether  we  would  cheerfully  and 
tamely  submit  to  its  rule.  If  we  did,  I  can  only  say,  there  is 
less  of  the  spirit  of  1776  left  than  is  generally  imagined. 

Such  nominations,  upon  such  questions,  are  well  calculated 
to  fill  the  mind  with  apprehension  and  alarm,  and  should  cause 
the  country  to  pause  and  reflect  upon  this  career  of  madness 
which  jeopards  interests  so  sacred  in  its  insatiable  grasp  for 
power.  It  is  a  question  which  it  becomes  the  actors  themselves, 
in  common  with  the  American  people,  to  consider.  It  is  one 
which  cannot  be  answered  or  turned  aside  by  sneers  at  Union- 
savers  ;  for  that  which  destroys  fraternal  feeling — which  arrays 


524 

one  section  against  another — which  provokes  strife  and  irritation 
where  there  should  be  peace  and  friendship,  has  violated  the 
spirit  of  the  compact,  and  he  who  has  helped  to  produce  these 
results  is  as  guilty  in  the  sight  of  Heaven  as  if  he  had  sundered 
the  bonds  which  bind  these  States  in  a  common  Union. 

We  have  now  seen  the  candidates  and  the  principles  of  the 
two  great  parties  before  the  country  placed  in  contrast.  It  is 
for  the  people  to  determine  whose  principles  are  most  just, 
sound,  and  wholesome,  and  which  of  the  candidates  are  best 
fitted  to  discharge  a  trust  so  elevated,  delicate,  and  responsible, 
at  a  time  of  unusual  interest  in  public  affairs.  We  can  await 
with  confidence  their  decision,  for  it  cannot  fail  to  condemn 
principles  so  barren  and  bigoted  that  they  embrace  but  one- 
half  of  the  States  of  the  Union  and  candidates  who  represent 
them.  It  cannot  fail  to  approve  the  time-honored  principles 
which  have  proved  so  salutary  and  successful,  nor  can  it  fail  to 
choose  by  startling  acclamation  the  champions  of  that  cherished 
faith  as  President  and  Yice-President  of  the  United  States. 


EXTRACT. 

A     PICTURE     OF     DISUNION". 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT  A  MASS  MEETING  OF  THE  DEMOCRACY  OP  INDIANA. 
HELD  ON  THE  BATTLE  GROUND  OP  TiPPECANOE,  September,  1856. 

"Be  thou  a  spirit  of  health  or  goblin  damned, 
Bring  with  thee  airs  from  Heaven  or  blasts  from  Hell, 
Be  thy  intent  wicked  or  charitable, 
Thou  comest  in  such  a  questionable  shape, 
That  I  will  speak  to  thee." 

THE  spirit  of  sectional  hate  which  is  being  inculcated  by  the 
votaries  of  a  rude  and  impracticable  Abolitionism ;  by  bigots, 
zealots,  fanatics,  and  demagogues ;  in  desecrated  pulpits,  in 
ribald  songs,  in  the  productions  of  an  incendiary  press,  and  in 
strife-stirring  orations  from  the  political  rostrum,  has  already 
promoted  a  feeling  of  irritation  which  should  fill  the  patriotic 
mind. with  apprehension  and  alarm. 

No  feud  is  so  bitter  as  that  which  exists  between  brethren, 
no  persecutions  so  relentless  as  that  which  pursues  an  es 
tranged  friend,  no  war  so  ruthless  as  one  of  domestic  strife ; 
and  yet  its  evil  genius,  disguised  with  the  garb  of  superior 
sanctity — the  blear-eyed  miscreant,  Disunion — is  walking  up  and 
down  the  earth  like  Satan  loosed  from  his  bondage  of  a  thou 
sand  years,  endeavoring  to  array  one  section  of  the  Union  against 
the  other  upon  a  question  which  was  wisely  disposed  of  by 
those  who  laid  the  broad  and  deep  foundations  of  our  govern 
ment.  With  one  hand  it  essays  to  tear  out  from  the  Constitu 
tion  the  pages  upon  which  are  written  its  solemn  guaranties, 
and  with  the  other  to  erase  from  the  nation's  flag  fifteen  of  the 
stars  which  join  to  compose  the  pride  and  hope  and  joy  of  every 
American.  It  would,  in  pursuit  of  its  miserable  abstractions, 
array  man  against  man,  brother  against  brother,  and  State 


526 

against  State,  until  it  covered  our  fair  land  with  anarchy  and 
blood,  and  filled  it  with  mourning  and  lamentation  ;  until  every 
field  should  be  a  field  of  battle,  every  hill-side  be  drenched  in 
blood,  every  plain  become  a  Golgotha,  every  valley  a  valley  of 
dry  bones  ; — until  fire  should  blast  every  field,  consume  every 
dwelling,  destroy  every  temple,  and  leave  every  town  black 
with  ashes  and  desolation ; — until  this  fiendish  spirit,  com 
pounding  all  the  elements  of  fury  and  horror,  should  sweep  over 
this  now  happy  portion  of  God's  heritage,  leaving  it  blasted  and 
desolate ; — a  monument  of  worse  than  barbarian  vengeance. 
This  pestilent  spirit  of  disunion,  the  poisonous  tree  of  Java  in 
the  political  world,  is  taking  root  in  our  soil,  and  stings,  as 
with  a  serpent's  venom,  all  who  fall  within  reach  of  its  deadly 
malaria.  No  plant  or  herb  can  grow  near  it,  no  animated  ex 
istence  can  repose  under  its  shadow  or  rest  in  its  branches,  no 
bird  can  fly  over  it,  and  under  and  about  it  is  appalling  death. 

More  ferocious  than  the  decree  of  Herod,  it  will  spare  chil 
dren  of  no  age,  nor  sturdy  manhood,  nor  woman's  beauty,  nor 
the  gray  hairs  of  age.  More  fearful  than  the  destroying  angel 
of  Egypt,  it  will  pass  over  no  one's  dwelling,  though  the  blood 
be  sprinkled  on  the  door-posts.  I  arraign  it  for  trial  and  judg 
ment  in  the  holy  name  of  humanity  ;  by  the  blood  and  tears  in 
which  our  liberties  were  achieved  ; — by  the  great  memories  of 
the  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  sacred  compact  of  our 
fathers  ; — in  the  name  of  the  oppressed  children  of  earth,  who 
would  flee  to  this  asylum  of  hope,  and  whose  footsteps  we  hear 
in  the  mighty  distance ; — by  the  blood  which  cries  from  the 
ground  of  this  great  battle-field. 

The  ruthless  savages  who  mangled  the  remains  of  the  brave 
soldier  upon  this  field,  whose  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife 
reeked  with  the  blood  of  women  and  children  in  the  valley  of 
the  W abash,  in  the  great  day  of  final  account  will  draw  near 
to  the  judgment-seat  and  extenuate  their  crimes  in  comparison 
with  him  who  imperils  this  Union.  They  were,  according  to 
their  ferocious  instincts,  warring  upon  the  enemies  of  their 
race.  He  is  at  strife  with  friends  and  brethren — those  who  sur 
rounded  the  same  home-hearth,  and  knelt  at  the  same  altar. 
They  were  born  amid  deeds  of  blood  and  educated  in  slaughter. 
He  was  taught  the  gentle  precepts  of  the  Saviour  of  men,  and 
baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 


1856.]  A   PICTURE  OF   DISUNION.  527 

Holy  Ghost.  They  fought  for  their  rude  homes — for  the  banks 
of  the  stream  where  their  childhood  had  sported,  where  their 
council-fires  had  been  kindled,  and  where  repose  the  remains  of 
their  beloved  dead.  He  would  make  homes  of  friends  and 
kindred  desolate,  and  quench  the  altar-lights  of  civilization  and 
Christianity.  They  were  true  to  the  integrity  of  their  people, 
and  sought  to  uphold  and  enforce  the  principles  of  their  bloody 
compact.  He  would  subvert  and  destroy  the  Constitution 
under  which  he  lives,  and  the  government  which  shelters  and 
protects  him. 


SPEECH 

HELD   AT    THE 

UNION    CABIN,    IN   THE   CITY    OF   BROOKLYN,    ON   THE    EVEN 
ING  OF  October  21,  1856. 

IN  every  department  of  human  life,  Mr.  President  and  Fel 
low-Citizens,  there  is  a  continual  conflict  between  the  great  prin 
ciples  of  truth  and  falsehood,  good  and  evil ;  and  this  is  no 
where  better  demonstrated  and  illustrated  than  in  matters  of 
political  opinion.  In  the  policy  and  affairs  of  our  government, 
there  always  have  been,  since  the  day  of  its  organization,  there 
always  will  be,  two  great  principles  striving  for  the  mastery ; 
and  both  cannot  be  right.  One  must  be  true  and  the  other 
false  ;  one  just,  the  other  unjust ;  one  tending  to  the  elevation 
and  advancement  of  the  best  interests  of  the  people,  the  other 
to  their  depression  and  defeat.  They  are  represented,  in  the 
political  arena,  by  the  two  great  parties  into  which  the  people 
have  been  divided. 

The  Democratic  principle  which  I  advocate  and  which  we 
believe,  is  no  mere  partisan  principle ;  it  has  no  party  catch 
words,  and  no  relation  to  mere  office-seeking  or  spoils-hunting 
politics ;  it  relates  not  to  the  elevation  of  this  man  to  place  or 
the  rejection  of  that.  Its  mission  is  that  justice,  truth,  and 
equity  may  prevail  in  matters  of  government ;  that  the  en 
croachments  of  the  few  upon  the  rights  of  the  many  may  be 
prevented  ;  that  the  strong  shall  not  oppress  the  weak.  The 
spirit  of  Democracy  is  the  idea  of  the  people,  the  mind  and 
common  sense  of  the  masses,  the  reason  and  judgment  of  the 
majority.  The  Democratic  j  rinciple  seeks  to  preserve  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  people,  that  they  may  themselves  exercise  it  in 
every  department  of  government,  in  the  choice  of  rulers  (not 
rulers,  either,  in  the  proper  signification  of  the  word,  for  the 


1856.]          UNION   CABIN   DEMOCEATIC   MASS   MEETING.  529 

people  themselves  are  the  rulers),  whether  it  relate  to  those 
who  are  to  make  or  those  who  are  to  administer  the  laws.  It 
intends  that  the  people  shall  reserve  that  power  to  themselves, 
and  exercise  it  according  to  their  own  good  sense  and  pleasure. 
It  asserts  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  self-government ;  but 
as  they  are  engaged  in  the  various  pursuits  of  life,  taking 
thought  "  what  they  shall  eat,  what  they  shall  drink,  and 
wherewithal  they  shall  be  clothed,"  it  undertakes  that  error 
shall  not  steal  upon  arid  mislead  them,  on  pretence  that  it  can 
administer  to  them  better  than  they  can  to  themselves,  or  by 
promises  to  give  them  by  circuity, — by  some  roundabout,  patent 
right  system  of  governmental  gratuities,  what  it  would  filch 
from  them  by  political  jugglery  or  deny  to  them  as  an  inherent 
right. 

The  grand  idea  of  Democracy  is  equality — equality  in 
every  sense  of  the  word.  Providence,  it  is  true,  has  given  to 
some  men  more  physical  power  and  higher  mental  capacity  than 
to  others,  and  in  these  respects,  as  the  poet  expresses  it, — 

"  Some  are  and  must  be  greater  than  the  rest." 

But  political  rights  can  be  equal  as  the  golden  light  of 
heaven  that  falls  upon  all  God's  children  alike.  And  this  De 
mocracy  claims  and  teaches.  As  in  the  natural  world  we  see  the 
elements  spread  out  for  all — to  bask  in  the  warm  sunlight, 
and  drink  together  at  the  sparkling  fountain,  or  look  alike 
upon  the  beauteous  sky  and  bright  earth,  rejoicing  in  its  sunny 
slopes  and  lovely  valleys,  its  grand  hills  and  rushing  streams — 
so  in  the  moral  world  a  beneficent  Providence  has  not  designed 
that  its  excellencies  shall  be  monopolized  by  the  few  while  the 
many  grovel  in  spiritual  bondage.  Democracy  therefore  main 
tains  that  every  one  should  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience,  to  wor 
ship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  heart,  and  there 
fore  be  held  accountable  to  no  one  but  his  Maker  ;  and  it  does 
not  reject  any  one  because  he  believes  or  does  not  believe  in  this 
doctrine  or  that,  or  in  this  form  or  the  other  in  relation  to  the 
worship  of  Deity.  It  inquires  not  whether  a  man  was  born  on 
this  side  or  the  other  of  the  Atlantic,  in  respect  to  his  enjoy 
ment  of  the  blessings  of  our  institutions,  but  whether  he  is 
honest,  faithful,  and  has  an  American  heart.  It  intends  that  he 
34 


530 

who  labors  shall  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  industry, — that  it  shall 
not  be  wrung  from  him  by  onerous  taxation  or  governmental 
exaction  ;  that  enterprise  shall  reap  the  reward  of  its  endeavors  ; 
and  that  government  shall  pursue  the  great  objects  of  its  crea 
tion  as  the  agency  of  the  people,  protecting  all  alike  and  grant 
ing  exclusive  favors  to  none. 

Democracy,  in  the  nomination  of  its  candidates,  seeks  to  put 
forward  for  public  places  those  who  will  stand  by  these  doc 
trines  and  carry  them  out  in  practice.  It  selects  them  for  their 
fidelity  to  the  Constitution,  their  purity  and  elevation  of  char 
acter,  and  it  strives  to  elect  them,  not  as  mere  men,  but  as  rep 
resentatives  of  the  people ;  and  woe  be  to  them,  if,  when 
elected,  they  prove  unfaithful  to  their  trust.  In  this  great  cam 
paign,  the  Democratic  party,  in  accordance  with  its  usages  and 
policy,  has  come  forward  with  its  creed  and  its  candidates  ;  and 
it  appeals  to  the  great  tribunal  of  the  people  to  judge  parties 
by  their  acts,  and  say  which  is  right  and  which  is  wrong ; — 
whether  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  or 
those  of  its  antagonists  are  the  true  principles  and  policy  upon 
which  to  conduct  the  government. 

Upon  this  occasion,  regarding  it  as  a  time  of  difficulty  and  peril, 
it  has  selected  its  candidates  with  unusual  caution.  It  has  nomi 
nated,  I  need  not  say  to  you,  as  its  candidate  for  President,  a  man 
of  very  great  experience,  well  known  through  this  broad  land  for 
his  virtue  and  integrity  and  acquaintance  with  public  affairs,  and 
well  qualified  to  conduct  the  ship  of  state  and  steer  her  safely  on 
the  turbulent  ocean  before  her, — and  that  candidate  is  James 
Buchanan.  Second  upon  the  ticket  is  one,  though  young  in 
years,  no  less  worthy  in  proportion  to  his  experience,  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky.  At  home,  we  have  presented  as 
oar  candidate  for  Governor  of  the  Empire  State,  Amasa  J. 
Parker,  a  man  identified  with  the  institutions  of  the  country ; 
long  known  in  the  councils  of  the  State  and  nation ;  an  expe 
rienced  and  able  lawyer ;  an  upright,  learned,  and  inflexible 
judge,  and  now  brought  forward  for  the  first  office  in  the  gift 
of  the  electors  of  the  State.  And  shall  I  tell  you,  or  will  you 
tell  me,  of  John  Yanderbilt,  your  own  citizen  and  neighbor, 
who  is  part  and  parcel  of  your  community,  who  is  nominated 
for  the  high  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor  and  President  of  the 
Senate  ?  A  man  who  has  discharged  with  fidelity  every  duty 


1856.]          UNION   CABIN   DEMOCRATIC   MASS   MEETING.  531 

and  every  trust,  whether  those  of  a  private  citizen  in  all  their 
varied  responsibilities,  or  as  a  Senator  of  your  State,  or  as  a 
judge  of  your  courts  ; — whose  character  is  your  pride  and  boast, 
and  whose  elevation  will  be  your  elevation  and  the  elevation  of 
your  principles. 

It  is  such  men  that  the  Democratic  party  has  placed  in 
nomination,  and  asks  for  them  your  suffrages,  not  for  their  sakes 
merely,  however  worthy  we  may  deem  them,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  principles  resting  upon  them,  and  which  they  are  to  carry 
out  and  exemplify.  Look  over  the  list,  and  I  venture  to  say  that 
for  learning,  for  integrity,  for  public  ability,  for  purity  of  private 
character,  such  a  ticket  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  placed  before 
the  American  people.  It  may  safely  challenge  all  the  criticism 
of  the  opposition  ;  and  all  their  poisoned  arrows  will  fall  harm 
less  before  it.  This  ticket  is  presented  to  you,  not  upon  a  plat 
form  made  up  for  the  occasion,  too  narrow  for  a  single  indi 
vidual  to  stand  upon — so  short  that  he  can  neither  take  a  step 
forward  nor  backward — but  upon  a  creed  whose  principles 
reach  wherever  the  sunshine  of  heaven  sheds  its  rays  ; — whose 
influence  is  calculated  to  extend  throughout  the  habitable  globe, 
travelling  wherever  civilization  and  intelligence  have  travelled. 
In  our  own  happy  land  it  embraces  the  North  and  the  South,  the 
East  and  the  West  in  common,  and  is  everywhere  the  same.  It 
blots  out  no  star  from  the  constellation  of  the  Union.  Its  flag 
reflects  in  beams  of  light  not  sixteen  but  thirty-one  stars,  each 
the  emblem  of  a  sovereign  State.  And  with  these  candidates 
and  these  principles  we  appear  before  the  American  people 
upon  the  broad  platform  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  name  of  the 
Constitution,  in  the  name  of  the  Union,  in  the  name  of  equality, 
freedom,  humanity,  and  the  rights  of  man.  And  not  only  in  the 
name  of  the  present  generation,  but  of  their  children  arid  chil 
dren's  children  after  them,  and  in  the  name  of  oppressed  hu 
manity  throughout  the  earth.  We  see  from  abroad  the  Genius 
of  Liberty  stretching  out  her  hands  to  us  and  imploring  us  to 
preserve  this  heritage  of  freedom,  as  a  refuge  for  her  oppressed 
children ;  that  they  may  come  and  sit  down  here  under  the 
great  tree  of  liberty,  and  with  us  repose  under  its  branches  and 
partake  of  its  fruit. 

How  is  it  with  our  political  opponents  ?  We  have  none,  ex 
cept  in  a  portion  of  the  States.  The  late  Whig  party  that  bat- 


532 

tied  so  long  with  us,  with  which  we  shivered  so  many  lances 
on  fields  of  strife,  though  it  sometimes  courted  the  aid  of  Abo 
litionism,  was  in  its  chief  characteristics  a  national  party.  But 
where  is  it  now  ?  Its  Clay  and  Webster  have  gone  to  their  re 
wards,  and  rest  from  the  agitations  of  life  in  the  peaceful  bosom 
of  the  tomb.  Its  Choates,  its  Everetts,  its  Johnsons,  its  Pratts, 
its  Parsons,  where  are  they  ?  They  and  thousands  with  them 
have  turned  away  from  the  factious  portion  that  is  left,  and  ral 
lied  with  the  Democratic  party  to  the  support  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  It  is  broken  up,  and  presents  only  the  disjointed  fragments 
of  a  party.  A  factious  band  in  a  portion  of  the  States,  made  up 
of  the  bad  remnants  of  the  Whig  party,  of  deserters  and  outcasts 
from  the  Democratic  party,  of  honest  fanatics,  disappointed  office- 
seekers,  political  priests  and  adventurers  in  general,  now  consti 
tutes  the  opposition  to  the  Democracy.  It  is  a  congregation  of 
all  the  restless,  doubtful,  disturbing,  incendiary  political  elements 
in  the  country.  Like  the  drag-net  mentioned  in  Scripture,  they 
have  gathered  of  every  kind  ;  but,  unlike  that  example,  they  have 
retained  the  bad,  casting  only  the  good  away.  The  Democratic 
and  the  late  Whig  parties  were  like  two  opposing  armies,  each 
holding  prisoners  from  the  other.  The  Whigs  held  a  part  of 
our  forces  in  bondage,  while  we  had  an  element  that  did  not  be 
long  to  us,  and  they  have  merely  effected  an  exchange.  The 
remnant  of  the  Whig  party  (after  the  honest  conservatism  it 
held  had  been  liberated),  and  the  disunion  elements,  that  have 
heretofore  distracted  the  Democratic  party,  have  all  gathered 
together  and  call  themselves  the  "  Republican  party  ;  " — self- 
named,  and  christened  by  some  of  their  political  priests,  in  the 
dark  and  troubled  waters  of  sectionalism. 

They  lay  claim  to  great  benevolence  and  philanthropy, 
and  in  pretence  go  forth  seeking  great  good  for  their  fellow- 
men  ;  but  in  truth  they  are  going  up  and  down,  like  that 
spirit  that  had  been  cast  out  and  walked  through  by-places, 
seeking  rest  and  finding  none,  and  finally  returned  with  seven 
other  spirits  more  wicked  than  itself;  and  the  only  possible 
result  of  their  self-appointed  mission,  if  they  could  secure  suc 
cess  to  their  endeavors,  would  be,  to  make  the  last  state  of  the 
people  worse  than  the  first.  In  what  I  say  of  our  newly  em 
bodied  opponents  I  speak  not  in  disparagement  of  individuals ; 
I  treat  of  them  as  an  organization  merely — an  antagonism  of 


1856.]         UNION   CABIN   DEMOCRATIC   MASS   MEETING.  533 

opinion  to  the  Democratic  party.  Speaking  freely,  as  we  al 
ways  should  speak,  and  tenderly,  also,  as  we  should  do  of 
those  in  desperate  circumstances,  even  though  engaged  in  a 
bad  cause,  I  can  say  there  never  was  a  cleverer  set  of  men  nor 
a  worse  set  of  politicians  ;  and  what  are  they  going  to  do  ? — 
to  help  fi'eedom.  Freedom  for  whom?  Their  every  effort 
jeopardizes  freedom,  and,  if  they  should  prevail,  free  govern 
ment  would  be  placed  in  the  gravest  danger.  Turning  aside 
from  the  great  destinies  of  humanity  on  this  continent,  leav 
ing  the  country  and  the  race  to  whom  its  hopes  were  commit- 
ed,  they  go  off  upon  a  crusade,  jeoparding  the  Constitution, 
menacing  the  harmony  of  the  States  and  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  under  the  pretence  of  fear  that  slavery  may  be  ex 
tended.  What  do  the  politicians  who  lead  this  movement,  and 
for  the  time  cheat  the  honest  Abolitionists  out  of  their  occupa 
tion,  care  for  slavery  ?  They  would  rivet  shackles  upon  thirty 
millions  of  people  and  upon  human  progress  for  all  time  to 
come,  that  their  crude,  incendiary  ideas  might  be  carried  out — 
whether  slaves  should  pass  from  a  State  into  a  Territory.  We 
believe  in  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government ;  that  he 
was  created  with  faculties  and  dispositions  which  render  him 
competent  to  govern  himself ;  that  he  derives  his  power  and 
his  right  of  self-government  from  his  Maker,  and  not  from  leg 
islatures,  congresses,  parliaments,  or  kings ;  that  whether  in  a 
State  or  a  Territory  he  has  the  same  right,  and  in  either  case 
may  be  entrusted  to  exercise  it  with  equal  safety  and  propri 
ety.  Our  opponents  believe  that  man  is  capable  of  self-gov 
ernment — if  he  will  do  precisely  as  they  say ;  that  he  should 
be  permitted  freedom  of  opinion — if  he  will  exercise  it  just  as 
they  require  ;  but,  like  the  old  lady  who  at  the  time  of  the  great 
eclipse  thought  the  world  was  coming  to  an  end,  and  was  in 
great  anxiety  for  fear  her  son,  who  was  out  in  "  the  Genne- 
sees,"  would  be  caught  out  in  it,  they  are  very  much  afraid 
that  if  he  should  be  trusted  to  himself  too  far  he  might  come 
to  harm.  They  admit  that  man  is  capable  of  self-govern 
ment  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  but  if  he  gets  out  into 
Kansas  they  would  put  a  kind  of  political  baby-jumper  about 
him,  to  protect  him  from  himself  and  learn  him  to  walk,  before 
they  would  trust  him  to  make  the  attempt.  They  think  that 
although  a  man  has  brains  in  a  State,  and  has  been  a  voter 


534  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

and  enjoyed  and  exercised  all  the  rights  of  citizenship,  the  mo 
ment  he  gets  into  a  Territory,  particularly  if  he  has  to  cross 
the  Missouri  River  in  doing  so,  he  must  lose  his  common- 
sense,  intelligence,  and  judgment,  and  rely  upon  the  wisdom 
he  has  left  so  many  thousand  miles  away,  in  the  sole  possession 
of  the  Republican  party.  Truly  it  is  a  modest  party,  but  it  is 
a  formidable  party.  It  comes  scattering  tire-brands ;  -  and, 
whether  it  enters  into  the  intention  or  not,  is  as  dangerous  as 
would  be  the  incendiary  who  should  undertake  to  light  up  the 
darkness  of  midnight  with  the  flames  of  your  dwelling.  It  is 
dangerous,  because,  from  the  nature  of  its  doctrines,  it  must  be 
confined  to  a  portion  of  the  States,  and  menaces  the  harmony 
and  integrity  of  the  Union,  which  was  founded  in  great  wis 
dom.  Our  fathers  did  not  enter  upon  the  contest  with  Great 
Britain  without  counting  the  cost.  They  marched  through 
blood  and  tears  and  hardships  and  great  suffering  to  ob 
tain  the  result  which  they  carved  out  for  us  with  offering  of 
their  lives,  fortunes,  and  sacred  honor.  They  have  left  it  to 
us  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  work  they  begun.  But  our 
new  party  opponents,  having  broken  up  and  destroyed  the  na 
tional  organization  of  the  old  Whig  party,  and  considering 
that  the  free  States  have  a  numerical  majority  of  population  in 
the  Union,  have  undertaken  to  inflame  the  sentiment  of  the  free 
States  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  gone  before  the  people 
on  a  sectional  platform,  with  an  insult  to  fifteen  States  of  this 
Union,  which  are  thus  placed  beyond  the  pale  of  their  politi 
cal  fellowship  and  branded  with  opprobrium.  They  do  this  in 
the  name  of  humanity,  and  carry  their  efforts  into  every  walk 
of  life — into  the  pulpit,  into  the  social  circle — that  they  may 
raise  up  strife  between  the  North  and  the  South ;  between 
brethren  of  a  common  tie,  who  have  garnered  up  together  the 
choice  fruits  of  the  Union.  But  we  do  not  fear  their  attacks 
upon  the  Constitution.  It  will  stand  the  test.  Its  strength 
is  in  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people.  Although 
they  may  cast  its  spirit  into  the  fiery  furnace  of  sectional  and 
party  strife,  it  will  walk  amid  the  flames  unscathed,  and 
will  triumph  over  all  the  evil  elements  that  can  be  arrayed 
against  it. 

They  have  nominated  their  candidates  and  hung  out  their 
banner — not  the  banner  of  the  Union,  that  is  the  pride  and 


1856.]          UNION    CABIN   DEMOCRATIC   MASS   MEETING.  535 

joy  and  hope  of  every  true  American,  but  shorn  of  fifteen  of  its 
stars ;  a  sectional  flag,  ominous  of  humiliation,  of  sorrow,  of 
deadly  peril.  And  who  are  their  candidates  ?  I  have  nothing 
to  say  against  them,  as  I  would  not  speak  in  disparagement 
of  individuals,  and  I  know  nothing  in  their  favor  that  would 
entitle  them  to  the  prominence  they  seek.  We  literally  know 
nothing  of  their  fitness.  They  know  nothing  of  them  them 
selves.  We  never  shall  know,  for  inexorable  fate  and  the  bal 
lot-box  will  make  their  connection  with  the  campaign  of  1856 
a  short  and  fruitless  one.  For  the  high  trust  of  the  Presiden 
cy  they  have  passed  by  their  Sewards,  their  Chases,  their 
Hales,  their  Sumners,  the  champions  of  what  they  call  "  free 
dom,"  and  taken  up  Col.  Fremont.  They  are  governed  in 
their  selection  by  the  necessity  of  their  position,  and  show 
their  sagacity  in  so  doing.  If  they  believed  the  American 
people  could  be  brought  to  favor  their  humbug  freedom,  would 
they  not  select  a  name  from  among  those  having  some  promi 
nence  upon  their  party  catalogue,  and  of  one  possessing  known 
qualifications  for  the  exalted  station  ?  But  they  have  not  dared 
to  give  their  true  principles  a  recognized  embodiment  in  their 
candidate.  They  have  taken  him  up  as  certain  jugglers  take 
a  sheet  of  paper  and  make  it  into  the  semblance  of  a  stove,  a 
bootjack,  a  hat,  or  anything  they  please.  With  an  Abolition 
ist  he  can  be  an  abolitionist ;  with  a  Maine  law  man,  for 
the  Maine  law,  and  so  all  shades  of  opinion  can  be  accommo 
dated  ;  and  in  lieu  of  presenting  any  guaranty  of  principles 
or  specification  of  qualifications,  and  as  a  piece  of  pleasant  al 
literation,  they  raise  the  shout  of  "  Fremont  and  freedom."  It 
Bounds  well ;  but  "  John  Snooks  and  freedom "  would  have 
just  as  much  meaning  in  it.  As  the  individual  said  on 
reading  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  "  I  don't  see  what  it  proves." 
What  has  Col.  Fremont  ever  done  for  freedom  that  you,  or  I, 
or  anybody  else  ever  heard  of?  They  say  he  has  struggled 
through  snow-drifts,  and  fed  upon  unsavory  food,  and  there 
fore  must  be  fit  to  be  President.  We  have  not  learned  to  ap 
preciate  such  qualifications.  We  select  men,  not  because  they 
have  toiled  through  natural  snow-drifts,  but  through  the  snow 
drifts  of  adversity  in  life  ;  not  because  they  have  climbed  up 
the  rough  sides  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  because  they 
know 


536  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

"  How  hard  it  is  to  climb  the  steep 
"Where  fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar." 

The  controversy  which  is  going  forward  is  one  between 
the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union, 
and  so  it  will  be  finally  developed.  I  speak  of  the  tendency 
of  the  principles  and  party  policy  of  our  opponents.  Why  is 
it  that  this  war  has  been  waged  on  the  subject  of  slavery? 
When  this  government  was  inaugurated,  slavery  had  a  footing 
in  all  the  colonies.  But  a  few  years  since  it  existed  in  New 
York.  She  abolished  in  obedience  to  her  own  interests — her 
own  sense  of  propriety  and  justice.  It  was  abolished  in  the 
same  way  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Connecticut  af- 
terwards.  It  is  rolling  its  dark  wave  South,  and  it  is  not 
within  the  field  of  our  responsibility,  nor  subject  to  our  legal 
or  constitutional  control  or  influence.  With  the  question, 
therefore,  we  have  practically  no  concern  whatever.  It  would 
be  equally  as  just  for  Virginia,  Carolina,  or  Georgia,  to  turn 
round  and  attack  our  system  of  railroads,  banks,  or  common 
schools.  We  are  partners  in  some  matters,  but  not  in  all.  If 
two  men  engage  in  merchandise  as  partners,  the  one  a  Metho 
dist  and  the  other  a  Presbyterian,  each  contributing  to  carry 
on  the  business,  the  arrangement  would  not  give  to  one  any 
right  to  assail  the  other  in  his  religious  belief  or  social  or  do 
mestic  affairs.  Such  conduct  could  be  productive  of  no  good. 
It  would  be  pernicious  and  outrageous.  These  States  united 
together  upon  great  principles,  and  for  great  and  beneficent 
purposes,  and  formed  a  common  union  to  promote  justice,  pro 
vide  for  domestic  tranquillity,  and  extend  the  blessings  of  free 
dom  to  mankind  ;  but  in  every  respect,  except  as  prescribed  in 
the  Constitution,  they  are  as  independent  of  each  other  as  they 
are  of  Great  Britain. 

It  is  incendiary  and  abominable  to  meddle  with  the  institu 
tions  of  other  States,  which  were  there  when  we  entered  into 
this  compact.  We  knew  they  were  to  be  there,  and  it  is  only 
for  us  to  discharge  our  part  of  the  obligations  of  the  compact. 
With  us  it  is  not  making  a  new  bargain,  but  keeping  the  terms 
of  one  already  made.  A  class  of  our  opponents  say  it  is  "  an 
atrocious  bargain ;  a  bargain  made  with  hell ;  "  and  probably 
they  ought  to  know  as  to  that.  But  we  say  it  was  a  bargain 


1856.]          UNION   CABIN   DEMOCRATIC   MASS   MEETING.  537 

for  true  freedom  to  mankind.  Here  was  a  little  slip  torn  from 
the  trunk  of  monarchy,  and  planted  on  this  continent.  It  has 
grown  up  to  be  a  great  tree,  and  will  extend  its  branches  not 
only  over  us  and  our  children,  but  over  two  hundred  millions  of 
freemen  who  will  come  after  us.  Why  should  it  be  uprooted 
now  for  any  temporary  question  ?  It  is  shameful  for  a  people  to 
spend  their  time  and  breath  over  this  question,  when  they  can 
not  benefit  an  individual,  white  or  black,  and  merely  jeopardize 
the  interests  of  both.  Our  fathers  saw  that  slavery  was  planted 
here  by  slavery-hating  Great  Britain — by  that  Stafford-House 
morality  which,  weeps  over  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  and  declares 
with  a  boast,  which  seems  the  keenest  of  satires,  that  slaves  can 
not  breathe  in  England  ?  They  found  slavery  here  upon  their 
hands.  It  was  like  tares  among  wheat ;  all  must  grow  together 
until  the  harvest.  They  saw  that  union  was  better  with  slavery 
than  disunion  with  slavery ;  and  they  formed  the  Constitu 
tion  in  the  spirit  of  humanity.  But  this  false  humanity,  this 
mock  liberty,  got  up  to  serve  the  purposes  of  party  politics,  is 
an  abortion  of  modern  times.  Why  is  it  .brought  out  now  ? 
Because  the  opposition  have  ceased  to  play  upon  "  their  harp 
of  a  thousand  strings."  They  have  but  one  string  now,  and 
the  instrument  with  one  string  is  always  called  a  Lyre.  That 
instrument  has  but  one  sing-song  note. 

The  effort  is  to  mislead  the  American  people.  Because  the 
Northern  people  are  opposed  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  as 
they  showed  themselves  by  abolishing  it,  it  is  sought  to  inflame 
their  minds  on  this  subject,  and  array  them  against  a  portion 
of  the  States,  for  no  nobler  or  higher  purpose  than  to  put  a 
party  into  power  that  cannot  get  there  in  any  other  way.  They 
have  congregated  themselves  like  the  army  of  Peter  the  Hermit, 
and  started  on  a  crusade,  declaring  that  they  must  rescue  the 
holy  land  of  Kansas  from  the  grasp  of  the  infidel  slaveholder. 
They  say  that  we  are  slave  propagandists — in  favor  of  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery,  and  this  is  preached  and  prayed,  and  pub 
lished  and  declared  from  Maine  to  Texas.  We  are  in  favor  of 
extension,  I  admit,  but  it  is  the  extending  of  the  Constitution. 
We  are  not  pro-slavery,  we  are  not  anti-slavery.  We  are  pro- 
constitution — in  favor  of  extending  its  genial  principles  through 
out  the  world  until  it  shall  throw  its  beams  athwart  the  Atlan 
tic,  and  enlighten,  cheer,  and  elevate  all  mankind.  I  leave  the 


538  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

question  of  slavery  to  those  to  whom  it  belongs.  If  there  are 
benefits  in  the  institution,  we  will  let  our  sister  States  enjoy 
them.  If  there  are  sins  to  answer  for,  we  will  let  them  answer 
for  them ;  believing  that  we  ourselves,  in  this  section  of  the 
Union,  have  sins  enough  to  answer  for  without  going  elsewhere. 
I  regard  it  as  a  question  which  time,  circumstances,  and  the 
wise  dispensation  of  Providence  will  settle  for  us.  This  coun 
try  has  been  committed  to  us,  not  for  the  purpose  of  brooding, 
hatching,  extending,  or  of  suppressing  negrodom,  but  of  pre 
serving  this  great  government  as  it  was  given  to  us.  We  are 
trustees,  charged  with  a  great  and  sacred  duty.  Our  fathers 
did  not  work  out  this  problem  of  government  merely  for  us — 
for  a  day,  or  a  generation,  but  for  mankind  and  for  all  time,  and 
gave  it  to  us  in  trust ;  and  we  have  as  much  right,  if  we  had 
the  power,  to  destroy  the  sunlight  or  the  beauteous  earth,  the 
natural  as  well  as  the  moral  elements,  and  blot  them  out  from 
those  who  are  to  come  after  us,  as  to  suffer  this  great  legacy  of 
freedom  to  be  lost  or  dissipated.  It  is  our  duty  to  uphold  and 
preserve  to  the  utmost  these  great  blessings. 

The  principles  and  policy  of  the  Democratic  party  upon  the 
great  questions  of  the  past  have  always  at  first  been  violently 
resisted  and  denounced  by  our  opponents,  then  reluctantly 
yielded  to,  and  in  the  end  acknowledged  to  have  been  right. 
We  rally  now  for  the  Union.  Our  present  opponents  menace 
it.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  government  they 
have  rallied  upon  a  sectional  platform,  with  sectional  candi 
dates,  and  with  fifteen  States  blotted  from  the  flag,  under  the 
folds  of  which  they  invite  their  followers  to  inaugurate  a  sec 
tional  party  warfare.  And  this  they  do  in  the  name  of  human 
ity.  Lip-service  is  always  cheap,  but  not  always  a  convincing 
token  of  sincerity. 

The  Union  of  the  States  is  like  that  of  man  and  wife — not  a 
union  of  law  merely.  Though  the  law  declares  that  they  shall 
live  together  and  be  one,  the  real  union  must  come  from  mu 
tual  affection,  love  and  regard ;  from  discharging  the  obliga 
tions  of  life  together,  mingling  in  the  holy  offices  of  religion, 
rearing  their  mutual  pledges  of  love,  and  training  them  up  in 
virtue ;  or  together  committing  to  the  dust  the  children  of 
their  bodies.  Thus  it  is  that  the  union  becomes  valuable,  con 
soling,  and  sanctifying.  The  Union  of  the  States  will  not  be 


1856.]         UNION   CABIN  DEMOCRATIC   MASS   MEETING.  539 

worth  a  rush  when  the  feelings  which  should  bind  them  togeth 
er  in  the  holy  spirit  of  our  fathers  has  fled  and  gone.  When 
they  shall  be  arrayed  against  and  assail  each  other  with  sec 
tional  bitterness,  the  spirit  of  the  Union  will  have  departed, 
and  the  paper  Union  might  as  well  be  at  any  time  committed 
to  the  flames.  But  this  government  can  never  exist  as  a  re 
public,  nor  as  two  republics,  when  the  Union  is  gone.  The 
laws  of  trade  and  commerce,  the  contiguities  of  our  people, 
our  streams  and  highways,  would  bring  us  into  perpetual  con 
flict  ;  and  no  conflicts  are  so  bitter,  destructive,  and  terrible, 
as  those  of  families  and  brethren.  To  avert  this,  the  Union 
must  be  maintained  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  letter.  This  is  not 
my  opinion  alone.  It  was  the  opinion  of  a  Clay  and  a  Web 
ster,  and  the  wise  men  who  have  gone  before  us.  If  you  will 
not  take  Democratic  advice,  take  Whig  advice.  If  you  will 
not  take  counsel  of  the  living,  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the 
tomb.  What  would  Henry  Clay  have  said — he  who  was 
always  true  to  his  country  and  his  country's  constitution  ?  He 
differed  with  us  Democrats  upon  the  internal  policy  of  the 
country,  but  never  upon  great  foreign  questions  nor  upon  the 
integrity  of  this  Union.  Oh,  could  Henry  Clay  come  forth  from 
his  grassy  tomb  in  Kentucky,  what  would  he  say  of  this  par 
ty  ?  How  he  would  tower  up  like  the  wild  horse  in  the  valley 
of  Idumea  !  How  his  form  would  rise  erect,  his  eye  dilate,  his 
arm  poise,  and  his  finger  point  to  that  carrion  vulture  of  dis 
union,  with  its  bloody  beak  and  its  dirty  talons !  Could  Web 
ster  come  from  his  repose  in  Marshfield,  what  would  he  declare 
of  that  party  ?  Though  he  was  at  war  with  us  on  many  points, 
yet  he  was  the  counsellor  of  Jackson  when  the  country  was 
imperilled.  Could  he  come  forth  now,  how  the  clouds  would 
gather  on  his  massy  brow  !  How  the  thunder  would  roll,  the 
winds  howl,  the  .storm  descend,  and  the  lightnings  flash  upon 
that  party  of  disunion  !  He  would  pray  again  that  when  his 
eyes  should  be  turned  to  behold  for  the  last  time  the  sun  in 
heaven,  he  might  not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dis 
severed  fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union  ! 

Oh,  could  those  spirits  come  forward,  and  be  now  in  the 
midst  of  the  American  people,  would  they  not  turn  even  these 
misguided  men  from  their  pernicious  and  destructive  errand  ? 
I  believe  this  sectional  spirit  to  be  arrayed  against  the  best 


54:0  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

interests  of  humanity.  I  believe  it  to  be  dangerous  to  the 
peace,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  the  country.  I  believe  it 
to  be  pursuing  the  spirit  of  liberty  like  a  hungry  and  remorse 
less  hound  upon  the  track  of  a  wounded  and  dying  deer.  I 
know,  for  I  have  felt  its  vindictiveness  and  its  persecutions ; 
but  in  the  travestie  of  Macpherson,  I  am  still  ready  to  ex 
claim — 

"  Oh,  what  is  death  but  parting  breath  ? 

On  many  a  bloody  plain 
I  have  met  its  face,  and  in  this  place 
I  scorn  it  once  again  !  " 

In  a  few  years  we  shall  be  in  the  dust,  but  these  institu 
tions  are  too  valuable,  too  priceless,  to  be  jeoparded.  I  would 
have  this  spirit  resisted  in  the  name  of  humanity  and  freedom, 
which  it  mouths  and  abuses.  I  would  have  it  resisted  by  the 
Democracy ;  not  in  a  party  sense,  but  by  that  great  conserv 
ative  element  which  pervades  the  country.  I  invoke  all,  wheth 
er  Democrats  or  Whigs,  to  come  up  to  the  support  of  the 
Constitution.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  the  constitution  can 
endure  all  these  trials,  and,  in  view  of  any  possible  result,  that 
the  North  is  not  dependent  upon  the  South.  The  dependence 
and  the  benefits  are  no  doubt  reciprocal ;  but  even  if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  still  appeal  to  you  upon  the  principles  of  jus 
tice  and  of  right.  What  God  has  joined  together,  let  no  man 
put  asunder. 

We  must  be  united,  because  demagogueism  has  united  all 
its  forces  against  us.  The  democratic  party  and  all  the  con 
servative  elements  must  come  together  and  act  together  as  in 
a  common  cause.  We  must  not  only  elect  our  President  and 
Yice-President,  our  Governor  and  our  Lieutenant-Governor, 
but  a  Congress  and  a  Legislature  to  sustain  them  in  the  sound 
principles  they  will  carry  forward  ;  and  let  no  narrow,  person 
al  considerations  of  any  kind  interpose  between  you  and  your 
candidates  regularly  nominated.  The  laboring  democratic 
masses  cannot  make  themselves  felt  in  any  way  without  organ 
ization.  The  opposition  is  at  the  telegraph  office,  the  publica 
tion  office,  and  at  the  receipt  of  customs,  and,  like  old  Barti- 
meus,  blind  at  that.  But  the  democrats  are  at  their  labor  in 
the  fields  and  in  the  workshops,  providing  for  those  whom 
Providence  teaches  to  look  to  them  for  subsistence.  Thev  can- 


1856.]         UNION   CABIN  DEMOCRATIC    MASS   MEETING.  541 

not  be  felt  except  through  their  organization  and  the  success 
of  their  candidates,  and  therefore  I  invoke  you,  in  support  of 
the  constitution  and  the  Union,  in  support  of  the  great  princi 
ples  of  equality,  to  come  together  and  sustain  your  nomina 
tions,  that  we  may  not  only  have  a  victory,  but  a  complete 
victory,  and  that  our  opponents  maybe  routed  forever.  What 
will  come  next  we  cannot  tell,  but  it  will  be  the  last  experi 
ment  upon  the  constitution  and  the  Union. 

The  interests  of  this  Union  and  of  humanity  are  committed 
alike  to  the  North  and  the  South.  We  are  brethren  of  a  com 
mon  tie.  We  should  discharge  these  duties  together,  and  the 
blessing  of  heaven  will  never  rest  upon  us  in  any  other  direc 
tion.  What  being,  black  or  white,  heretofore  or  hereafter,  has 
been  or  will  be  benefited  by  this  spirit  of  sectionalism  ?  Sup 
pose  the  blacks  were  liberated  at  once,  whom  would  that  ben 
efit  ?  Not  them,  for  they  have  been  for  generations  in  a  state 
of  tutelage,  and  are  not  prepared  for  immediate  emancipation. 
Their  definition  of  liberty  would  be  to  do  as  they  pleased. 
They  would  rush  to  the  North.  Their  vicious  would  fill  our 
prisons,  the  poor  our  almshouses,  and  their  laborers  compete 
with  our  laboring  men.  But  why  should  slavery  go  to  Kansas  ? 
It  would  have  to  leave  the  rice  and  cotton  plantations  where 
it  is  in  demand,  and  go  to  Kansas  where  it  would  not  be  profit 
able.  There  is  no  probability  of  it,  and  any  one  who  believes 
in  the  principle  of  self-government  will  be  willing  that  a  peo 
ple  organizing  themselves  into  a  great  social  community  shall 
determine  their  own  local  institutions,  within  the  constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  decide  that  as  well  as 
other  questions  of  internal  policy  for  themselves.  This  is  our 
solution  of  this  vexed  question ;  a  solution  saving  the  rights 
of  all  parties  and'  the  peace  of  the  Union.  Kansas  will  soon 
be  a  State,  and  then  neither  North  nor  South  can  prevent  her 
people  from  acting  upon  it  as  they  please.  We  are  not  pro- 
slavery.  Our  party  has  had  control  of  the  government  during 
three  fourths  of  the  time  of  its  existence ;  and  from  thirteen 
slave  colonies  we  have  grown  to  thirty-one  States,  sixteen  of 
which  are  free,  and  in  some  of  the  other  fifteen  slavery  has 
only  a  nominal  existence  ;  and  if  this  meddling  abolition  spirit 
had  not  interfered,  there  is  no  doubt  that  before  this  time  laws 
for  its  gradual  abolishment  would  have  been  in  operation  in 


542  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

some  of  the  slave  States.  It  is  a  spirit  of  irreligion  in  the 
name  of  religion ;  a  spirit  of  strife  and  contention  in  the  name 
of  humanity.  It  must  be  overcome,  or  our  hopes,  built  upon 
the  heritage  of  the  Revolution,  will  turn  to  bitter  disappoint 
ments. 

I  repeat,  in  conclusion,  we  stand  by  the  Union,  let  whoever 
will  be  against  it /  and  let  all  good  men  rally  with  us  to  main 
tain  it  for  its  inestimable  benefits  already  conferred,  and  that 
they  may  descend  to  our  posterity  to  the  end  of  time. 


D-EDICATOKY    ADDRESS 

DELIVERED    AT    THE     OPENING    OF     THE     NEW    COURT-HOUSE   AT 
BINGHAMTON,  N.  Y.,  AT  THE  GENERAL  TERM  OF  THE  SUPREME 

COURT  FOR  THE  SIXTH  JUDICIAL  DISTRICT,  January,  1857. 

[The  Address  Valedictory  to  the  Old  Court- House,  interesting  in  its 
reminiscences  of  early  times  and  scenes,  was  delivered  by  Hon.  John 
A.  Collier,  and  responded  to  by  Hon.  Charles  Mason,  Presiding  Justice. 
Mr.  Dickinson  then  delivered  the  following  address  dedicatory  of  the 
new  edifice,  and  was  followed  by  their  Honors  Justices  Campbell  and 
Balcom,  of  the  Supreme  Bench,  and  Edward  Tompkins,  Esq.,  and 
other  members  of  the  Broome  County  Bar.] 

THIS  change  of  edifice  for  the  administration  of  justice  is 
suggestive  to  the  contemplative  mind  of  many  interesting 
reflections.  Nearly  thirty  years  since,  when  that  old  house 
was  new,  and  Binghamton  a  secluded  rural  village,  nestling 
between  these  beauteous  rivers  in  her  hill-formed  basin,  like 
the  Happy  Valley  of  Rasselas,  in  early  manhood  I  commenced 
professional  practice  here  with  life's  battle  before  me ;  and 
though  in  the  mutations  of  time  I  have  been  incidentally 
diverted  to  other  and  wider  fields  of  effort,  this  pursuit  has 
been  the  leading  purpose  of  life,  and  I  am  still  at  the  bar.  In 
the  mean  time,  many  waves  of  sorrow  have  swept  along  life's 
then  unruffled  sea — many,  alas  !  of  the  companions  of  that 
bright  morning  have  paid  the  debt  of  frail  humanity  ; — others, 
yielding  to  the  restless  spirit  of  the  age,  have  sought  fortunes, 
homes,  and  graves  in  other  and  less  lovely  lands,  and  some  are 
yet  here  to  gild  the  approaching  evening  with  their  society 
and  friendship.  In  the  progress  of  events,  Binghamton  has 
become  a  populous  city ;  physical  science  has  found  out  her 
seclusion,  and,  with  railroads,  canals,  and  telegraphs,  has  spread 
out  her  limits.  Commerce  and  the  mechanic  arts  have  invaded 


544  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  green  consecrated  to  youthful  sports  and  May-day 
festivals,  and  of  the  merry  throng  who  then  rung  out  the 
joyous  laugh — 

"  There  play  no  children  in  the  glen  ; 
For  some  are  gone,  and  some  have  grown 
To  blooming  dames  and  bearded  men." 

But  the  forsaken,  abandoned  Court-House,  where  we  have 
seen  exhibited  so  many  of  the  lights  and  shadows  of  existence  ! 
Though  more  eloquent  lips  have  pronounced  its  funeral  oration, 
may  I  not  be  permitted  in  passing  to  cast  a  single  chaplet 
upon  its  tomb  ?  In  the  language  of  the  British  peer,  "  with 
all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still."  How  much  of  life's  passion 
and  emotion,  of  its  follies  and  frailties,  of  its  joys  and  sor 
rows,  of  its  hopes  and  fears,  of  its  good  and  its  evil,  its  truth 
and  error  have  been  exhibited  within  thy  silent  walls  !  And 
in  that  dark  and  fearful  basement,  fashioned  for  the  home  of 
depravity  and  crime, 

"How  many  there  have  pined  in  dungeon's  gloom, 
Shut  from  the  common  air  and  common  use 
Of  their  own  limbs!  " 

How  many  evil  spirits  in  communion  have  there  held  their 
awful  court !  How  many  bitter,  unavailing  tears  have  there 
been  shed  !  How  many  repentant  prayers  whispered  through 
that  dismal  grating,  and  wafted  to  the  mercy-seat !  There  has 
languished  hoary  depravity,  blackened  and  defaced  beyond 
all  hope  of  reformation — there  the  iron  has  entered  into  the 
soul  of  erring  youth,  whose  heart  has  been  stained  but  by  a 
single  crime.  The  pen  of  the  recording  angel  alone  has  taken 
note  of  the  emotions  which  have  struggled  in  that  dark 
abode,  and  none  shall  read  the  secret  until  the  hearts  of  all 
are  laid  open  to  view.  But  the  light  of  heaven's  sunshine 
will  soon  penetrate  its  gloomy  recesses, — the  flowers  of  spring 
shall  germinate  upon  its  bed,  verdure  there  shoot  up,  birds 
sing  around  and  children  gambol  over  it,  and  few  shall 
remember  that  it  was  ever  the  abiding  place  of  so  much  sin 
and  sorrow. 

The  learned  and  experienced  member  of  the  bar  who,  with 


1857.]  DEDICATORY    ADDRESS.  54-5 

a  humor  so  peculiarly  his  own,  has  eloquently  sketched  the 
early  judicial  history  of  this  region,  interspersed  with  stirring 
personal  anecdotes,  has  suggested  that  the  changeful  spirit  of 
the  times  must  soon  supply  as  well  his  place  at  the  bar,  as  the 
new  Court-House  has  that  of  the  old.  May  the  time  be  far 
distant  when  this  vain  effort  shall  become  necessary.  This 
has  long  been  the  theatre  of  his  fame  and  usefulness,  and, 
unlike  a  change  of  structures,  in  such  a  change  there  can  be 
no  improvement.  When  the  artificial  structure  goes  to  decay 
and  fails  to  answer  the  varying  demands  of  convenience,  the 
combined  efforts  of  enterprise  and  skill  can  rear  up  another  of 
more  extended  proportions  and  better  suited  to  the  occasion ; 
but,  when  the  aged  and  experienced  member  of  the  bar  shall 
be  called  away,  who  shall  supply  again  the  results  of  his  toil 
and  labor  ?  Who  shall  garner  up  and  retain  the  rich  treasures 
of  legal  lore  which  a  life's  devotion  has  accumulated  ?  And 
when  society  shall  be  called  to  experience  a  bereavement  so 
painful,  it  will  realize  the  poetic  truth,  that  such  a  moral 
edifice 

"  When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  supplied." 

Come  we  now  to  this  spacious  Hall,  this  architectural  tri 
umph,  so  worthy  of  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed — 
so  well  exhibiting  the  growth  and  enterprise  and  refinement  of 
this  community — so  honorable  to  those  who  originated,  to 
those  who  designed  and  those  who  erected, — an  edifice  which, 
unless  destroyed  by  casualty,  may  stand  a  monument  of  archi 
tectural  pride  and  grandeur  for  many  succeeding  generations, 
consecrated  to  the  sacred  cause  of  justice,  humanity  and  truth — 
a  theatre  where  all  the  human  passions  are  delineated  in  pain 
ful  and  thrilling  reality — a  memorable  illustration  of  the  mel 
ancholy  proverb,  that  "  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction."  Here 
virtue  and  vice  shall  respectively  exhibit  their  choicest  offer 
ings  ;  here  truth  and  error  shall  struggle  for  the  mastery,  and 
falsehood  be  exposed  and  put  to  shame ;  here  avarice  shall  be 
arrested  in  her  greed,  and  the  victims  of  extortion  be  released 
from  her  fangs ;  here  the  hypocrite  shall  be  unmasked  in  his 
cunning,  and  the  oppressor  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan  be 
stricken  down  in  his  rapacity ;  here  shall  fraud  be  abashed, 
35 


546 

and  integrity  rewarded ;  here  brazen  guilt  shall  be  condemned, 
and,  pale  and  trembling,  smite  her  knees  together ;  here  shall 
lowly  innocence  be  raised  up  and  vindicated  ;  and  here,  though 
slumbering  truth  may  have  been  entombed  for  a  season,  the 
sympathetic  ear  of  justice  shall  detect  its  smothered  breathing, 
and  roll  away  the  stone  from  the  door  of  its  sepulchre  and  usher 
it  to  light  and  life. 

Courts  of  justice  are  the  upper  and  purer  air  of  the  moral 
world.  They  not  only  protect  life,  liberty,  and  property,  but 
they  form  the  foundations  of  our  social  structure.  The  lega] 
profession,  rightly  understood,  is  one  of  the  loftiest  and  noblest 
pursuits  of  man,  and  the  common  law  the  almoner  of  civilization. 
I  have  long  worshipped  at  its  shrine  with  the  devotion  of  East 
ern  idolatry,  and  my  respect  for  its  institutions  has  increased 
with  years.  It  has  been  sneeringly  inquired,  who  reads  an 
American  book  ?  Let  it  be  triumphantly  asked,  who  has  known 
a  corrupt  American  judge  ?  who  has  ever  seen  the  Bench  con 
nive  at  fraud  or  seek  to  uphold  injustice,  or  stain  its  ermine 
with  unholy  gain  ? 

The  beneficial  influence  of  courts  of  justice  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  the  controversy  decided  ;  their 
moral  teachings  go  out  as  upon  a  mission  of  light,  to  illumine 
the  darkest  corners  of  society,  to  give  fresh  hope  to  intelli 
gence  and  refinement,  and  to  elevate  and  instruct  the  most  be 
nighted.  NOY  would  they  be  profitless,  were  the  bitter  sarcasm 
of  the  poet  fully  realized,  that  any  one  who  had  a  cause  or  suit 

"  Might  come  up  hither  and  present  his  claim 
With  no  misgivings,  that  whoever  came 
With  a  good  cause,  good  witnesses,  good  men 
Upon  the  bench  as  judges,  and  again, 
With  twelve  good  honest  jurors,  if  he  saw 
That  well-feed  counsel  learned  in  the  law 
Had  courage — after  half  a  dozen  fights, 
Would  stand  an  even  chance  to  gain  his  rights." 


But  a  few  more  cycles  of  this  transitory  and  fleeting  exist 
ence  and  we  shall  all  be  laid  in  the  dust ;  others  shall  preside 
upon  the  bench,  shall  stand  at  the  forum,  sit  in  the  jury-box, 
and  depose  as  witnesses : 


1857.]  DEDICATORY    ADDRESS.  547 

"  And  then  at  last,  the  controversy  o'er, 
The  cause  all  settled,  to  be  heard  no  more, 
The  lengthened  years,  as  onward  they  have  swept, 
Shall  tell  how  calm  the  litigants  have  slept : 
Judge,  jury,  counsel,  parties,  have  withdrawn, 
And  to  a  higher  bar  together  gone, 
Where  every  right  decree  is  ratified, 
And  every  wrong  reversed  and  set  aside." 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED  AT   THE  CELEBS ATION  OF   THE  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE 
BATTLE   OF  NEW    ORLEANS,  AT  CORTLAND,  N.  Y.,  January  8, 

1857. 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN — We  have  as 
sembled,  upon  an  anniversary  replete  with  proud  and  cherished 
recollections,  to  celebrate,  by  appropriate  festive  ceremonials, 
the  triumph  of  American  arms,  under  a  distinguished  leader, 
over  the  veteran  hosts  of  a  powerful  and  haughty  nation  ;  and 
to  exchange  congratulations  upon  the  success  of  constitutional 
principles  in  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  strug 
gles  which  our  history  has  experienced — a  struggle  for  the 
mastery  in  a  game  where  the  peace  and  stability  of  the  Union, 
and  the  rights  of  the  sovereign  States,  were  the  hazards — 
which  threatened  to  disturb  the  foundations  of  our  political  and 
social  fabric,  and  subvert  the  principle  of  self-government,  that 
guiding  star  of  hope  and  safety  for  civil  and  religious  freedom 
— a  struggle  between  the  Democratic  masses  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  aggregate  elements  of  error,  fanaticism,  and  delusion  on 
the  other ;  the  former,  like  the  confiding  stripling  of  Judea, 
trusting  in  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  armed  only  with  the 
simplicity  and  truth  of  the  Constitution :  the  latter,  like  their 
boastful  exemplar  of  Gath,  relying  for  safety  and  success  upon 
their  brass,  and  thus  defying  the  armies  of  Democracy.  Nor 
does  the  parallel  terminate  here.  The  gigantic  braggart  now, 
as  of  yore,  has  been  vanquished,  and  the  armies  of  idolatry  now, 
as  then,  have  dispersed  and  fled. 

The  contest  which  has  resulted  in  the  election  of  those  emi 
nent  statesmen,  James  Buchanan  and  John  C.  Breckinridge, 
will  constitute  a  memorable  epoch  in  American  history.  The 
calm  reliance  of  Democracy  upon  the  intelligence  of  the  people 


1857.]         THE  BATTLE  OF  NEW  OELEANS.  549 

and  the  integrity  of  the  Constitution,  amidst  a  convulsion  so 
terrible,  will  form  a  distinguished  feature  ;  and  the  cunning  of 
the  demagogue,  the  rapacity  of  the  zealot,  and  the  relentless 
desperation  of  the  fanatic,  will  give  shade  and  coloring.  The 
elements  which  united  in  an  effort  to  overthrow  the  principles 
of  the  Constitution  have  never  yet  been  thoroughly  analyzed 
and  exposed ;  nor  has  the  importance  of  the  result  to  the  best 
and  dearest  interests  of  mankind  ever  been  estimated.  But 
we  can  best  show  our  appreciation  of  its  benefits  by  proving 
that,  though  most  organizations  can  sustain  defeat,  the  Democ 
racy  has  self-reliance,  wisdom  and  strength  sufficient  to  with 
stand  a  victory,  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  popular  contests. 
It  cannot  be  deemed  either  inappropriate  to  the  occasion,  or 
unprofitable,  to  consider  for  a  moment  the  hardy  virtues  of 
that  great  Democratic  leader,  whose  intrepidity,  intuitive  sa 
gacity,  and  noble  daring  in  the  field,  set  apart  the  day  we  cele 
brate  as  a  day  dear  and  sacred  in  a  nation's  memory ;  and  who, 
in  the  administration  of  the  civil  government,  reduced  to  rigid 
and  successful  practice  the  sublime  theories  of  Jefferson.  No 
man,  ancient  or  modern,  has  so  completely  illustrated  the  beauty 
or  benefits  of  our  institutions  as  Andrew  Jackson.  The  son  of 
a  humble  foreigner,  and  bereft  of  his  parents  and  brothers  at  an 
early  age,  he  was  friendless  and  alone.  At  fifteen  there  was 
none  on  earth  he  could  call  his  kindred.  The  world  before  him 
was  a  bleak  and  desolate  expanse,  and  with  slender  means  he 
was  left  to  buffet  life's  billows  by  the  energy  of  an  unaided 
arm.  Struggle  on,  bereaved  youth  !  nursling  of  nature,  rocked 
by  the  elements  in  the  cradle  of  adversity,  though  bereaved 
thou  art  not  an  orphan,  for  thou  art  the  child  of  a  glorious  des 
tiny.  Struggle  on,  for  thou  shalt  one  day  be  the  chosen  chief 
of  a  mighty  people — thou  shalt  shield  and  defend  them  amid  the 
calamities  of  war  by  the  valor  of  thine  arm,  and  in  peace  thy 
far-reaching  wisdom  shall  rescue  the  toiling  masses  from  the  fangs 
of  monopoly,  and  secure  to  them  equality  of  condition  and  free 
dom  from  unjust  taxation ;  thy  name  shall  be  honored  through 
out  the  world ;  thou  shalt  live  to  bless  and  adorn  thy  country 
to  a  good  old  age,  and  when  it  shall  please  Heaven  to  summon 
thee  home  to  thy  rewards  and  repose,  and  the  agitations  of  an 
eventful  life  are  hushed  in  the  tranquillity  of  the  tomb,  thy 
memory  shall  be  beloved  and  cherished  as  a  priceless  and  sacred 


550 

inheritance,  and  they  who  in  after  times  shall  stand  around  thy 
resting-place  at  the  Hermitage,  shall  desire  to  put  off  their 
shoes  from  their  feet,  because  it  is  holy  ground. 

Andrew  Jackson  entered  the  army  of  the  Revolution  at 
fourteen  years  of  age,  was  taken  a  prisoner  of  war  and  was  ex 
changed.  By  his  own  exertions  he  procured  an  education,  and 
was  admitted  to  practise  at  the  bar — was  Attorney-General  of 
the  Territory  of  Tennessee,  member  of  the  Convention  to  form 
her  State  Constitution,  a  Representative  and  a  Senator  in  Con 
gress  from  the  State,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Major-Gen 
eral  of  the  Tennessee  militia,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
7th  military  division,  which  included  most  of  the  Southern  States 
and  Territories,  in  the  war  of  1812.  Whether  seen  in  refusing 
to  discharge  a  menial  service  for  a  British  officer,  and  asserting 
his  rights  as  a  prisoner  of  war  when  a  mere  boy ;  in  his  skill 
and  bravery  in  defeating  his  country's  enemy  in  battle,  whether 
civilized  or  savage ;  in  chastising  the  treachery  and  insolence 
of  Spanish  governors  ;  in  proclaiming  military  law,  and  defying 
the  brief  authority  of  a  pragmatical  judge  ;  in  executing  spies, 
in  resisting  nullification,  in  bearding  in  its  den  and  strangling 
that  empty  and  infamous  engine  of  corruption,  the  United 
States  Bank ;  in  commanding  and  enforcing  the  observation  of 
treaty  obligations  by  foreign  nations,  or  in  resisting  the  currents 
of  corruption  which  incessantly  press  upon  the  public  treasury — 
the  same  native  sagacity,  the  same  singleness  of  purpose,  the 
same  high  and  holy  considerations  of  duty,  the  same  love  of 
country,  the  same  moral  daring,  the  same  iron  will,  and  the 
same  spotless  integrity  were  manifested.  Those  who  would 
fain  have  characterized  him  as  rash,  impetuous,  and  irreligious, 
were  silenced  and  abashed  when  he  proclaimed  a  day  of  thanks 
giving  and  prayer  to  the  Almighty  for  the  rescue  of  New  Or 
leans  from  a  savage  soldiery ;  and  those  who  would  have  held 
him  to  be  mercenary  and  selfish,  saw  him  pledge  his  entire  for 
tune  to  pay  a  fine  imposed  for  disobedience  to  a  process  of  the 
court,  and  distribute  the  money  forced  upon  him  by  the  grati 
tude  of  the  ladies  of  New  Orleans  for  that  purpose,  among  the 
destitute  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  those 
memorable  battles. 

He  was  a  Democrat,  not  in  a  mere  narrow  partisan  sense  of 
the  term,  but  in  his  faith  and  practice ;  a  Democrat  of  the 


1857.]         THE  BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  551 

great  and  catholic  school  of  justice,  equality,  and  freedom.  He 
sought  not  the  honors  of  station  nor  the  emoluments  of  the 
Treasury.  He  despised  the  back-door  scheming,  the  shallow 
gull-trap,  the  discreditable  shifts  and  dishonorable  resorts  of 
mole-eyed  and  trafficking  politicians.  He  knew  no  by-road  to 
duty.  He  never  "  crooked  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee  that 
thrift  might  follow  fawning."  No  one  forfeited  his  confidence 
by  a  too  rigid  adherence  to  principle, — no  such  miserable  word 
as  expediency  was  found  in  his  vocabulary.  His  unyielding 
nerve  as  a  statesman,  under  opposition  from  such  a  combined 
array  of  talent  as  the  world  has  rarely  seen — when  the  good 
faltered,  the  mercenary  were  purchased,  and  the  timid  fled 
trembling,  wrote  the  epitaph  of  monopoly,  and  hurled  it  to  the 
bottomless  pit  forever.  By  the  power  of  his  indignant  scorn  he 
scourged  all  money-changers  from  the  temple  of  legislation. 
He  comprehended,  as  by  intuition,  the  rights  of  the  laboring 
many,  and  sought  to  preserve  them  against  the  craft  and  capital 
of  the  scheming  and  privileged  few.  He  recognized  but  one 
standard  in  business,  politics,  and  morals,  and  that  was  truth. 
Oh,  that  a  double  portion  of  his  spirit  might  rest  upon  the  Demo 
cratic  party  now,  and  that  all  who  cherish  and  revere  his 
memory  would  strive  to  emulate  his  pure  and  noble  example ! 

Well  may  we,  my  Democratic  friends,  congratulate  each 
other  that  the  great  Constitutional  triumph  we  have  achieved 
has  given  us  for  Chief  Magistrate  a  statesman  of  large  experi 
ence,  of  spotless  character,  one  who  was  the  friend  and  contem 
porary  of  Jackson — who  enjoyed  his  confidence,  and  stood  faith 
fully  and  fearlessly  by  him  in  the  fierce  popular  conflicts  which 
characterized  that  memorable  administration,  and  who  now,  in 
the  full  maturity  of  wisdom,  is  about  to  enter  upon  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  government.  He  has  proved  a  true,  trusty,  and 
powerful  leader,  and  let  us  extend  to  him,  during  a  toilsome  and 
laborious  service,  that  generous  support  and  indulgent  confi 
dence  which  one  charged  with  the  affairs  of  this  great  nation  so 
eminently  needs,  and  which  his  life  and  character  assure  us  he 
will  so  well  deserve. 

The  contest  has  been  second  to  none  which  ever  agitated 
popular  feeling — the  result,  more  important  to  our  well-being  as  a 
people  than  any  which  has  preceded  it  since  the  ratification  of  that 
treaty  which  recognized  the  independence  of  the  United  States. 


552 

A  festive  occasion  like  the  present,  when  we  have  assembled 
to  recount  a  great  Democratic  triumph,  is  unsuited  to  argu 
mentative  details  ;  and  our  political  opponents,  by  the  usages  of 
civilized  warfare,  are  entitled  to  a  temporary  amnesty — to  gen 
erosity  rather  than  justice.  We  can  afford  to  extend  the  one, 
they  cannot  afford  to  receive  the  other.  But  while  we  banish 
from  the  festive  board  and  return  to  the  armory  the  weapons 
which  belong  to  the  field  of  strife,  we  may  take  a  passing  note 
of  the  elements  of  error  which  in  the  late  campaign  were  ar 
rayed  against  us  ;  men  of  all  climes  who  never  met  before — the 
Puritan  and  the  black-leg — the  political  preacher  and  the  polit 
ical  gambler — those  who  laughed  in  their  sleeves  and  those 
who  wept  in  them — strong-minded  women  and  weak-minded 
men,  and  miscellaneous  material  generally. 

The  question  of  domestic  servitude  or  slavery,  as  existing 
in  a  portion  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  is  well  calculated  to 
furnish  inflammable  elements  for  a  political  campaign.  It  is  a 
question  which  has  puzzled  and  embarrassed  the  wisest  and 
most  upright  statesmen,  whose  duty  it  was  to  consider  its 
necessities.  Its  wrongs,  real  or  imaginary,  furnish  an 
exhaustless  theme  for  the  ranting  demagogue;  and  an 
incendiary  press,  in  dilating  upon  its  evils,  can  lay  its 
missives  of  mischief  at  every  honest  man's  door,  Over 
it  the  hypocrite  can  weep  until,  to  employ  a  commercial 
phrase,  he  will  almost  go  into  liquidation.  To  the  fanatic 
it  is  a  never-failing  well-spring  of  self-satisfaction.  Without 
it  he  would  be  miserable  indeed.  To  him,  as  an  estate, 
it  is  real,  personal,  and  mixed;  as  nourishment  and  repose, 
it  is  meat,  drink,  and  lodging ;  in  logic,  cause  and  effect ;  in 
manufacturing,  warp  and  woof;  in  grammar,  it  is  gender, 
number,  person,  and  case.  Over  it  he  would  revel  in  day 
dreams  on  the  enormities  of  slavery  here,  and  at  his  death,  in 
obedience  to  an  ancient  British  act  of  Parliament,  be  buried 
in  wool. 

There  is  still  another  class  who  are  honest  and  sincere 
in  their  opinions  upon  the  question  of  slavery,  but  who 
have  not  carefully  considered  the  relations  which  should  exist 
between  the  federal  Government  and  the  States.  They  are 
inclined  to  be  quiet,  but,  like  the  tortoise,  run  whenever 
fanaticism  puts  a  coal  of  fire  on  their  backs ;  and  they  run 


1857.]  THE   BATTLE   OF  NEW   OKLEANS.  553 

too,  and  clamor  withal,  merely  because  they  are  artificially 
heated,  and  not  because  they  have  any  well-defined  object  in 
view.  These  various  and  varied  cliques,  clans,  and  combina 
tions,  together  with  a  large  class  who  instinctively  and 
intuitively,  studiously  and  deliberatively,  and  in  obedience  to 
an  inveterate  habit,  at  all  times  oppose  the  Democratic  party, 
its  principles,  its  candidates,  and  its  measures,  compose  this 
army  of  modern  crusaders,  who,  regarding  freedom  as 
insufficiently  born  the  first  time,  wish  to  give  her  a  second 
trial — they  themselves  proposing  to  be  in,  not  at  the  death, 
but  at  the  birth ;  many  of  them  doubtless  regretting  that 
they  were  not  permitted,  like  that  ancient  and  eminent  "  Re 
publican,"  Peter  the  Hermit,  to  walk  bare-footed,  Avith  loins 
girded,  with  long  beards,  and  longer  faces,  amid  suffering  and 
starvation,  to  the  theatre  of  their  exploits. 

When  the  campaign  opened,  it  found  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  field  with  its  illustrious  candidates — its  banner  hanging 
on  the  outer  wall — its  principles  genial  and  universal  as  the 
sunlight— its  theatre  the  whole  country — East,  West,  North, 
and  South.  It  was  met  by  those  who  modestly  styled  them 
selves  the  "  great  army  of  freedom ; "  who  had  located  their 
candidates  in  one  of  the  sections  of  the  Union ;  who  had 
neither  hope  nor  expectation  of  attaining  a  single  vote  beyond 
that  section ;  but  who  sought,  by  inflammatory  appeals  upon 
the  subject  of  Southern  slavery,  to  obtain  the  electoral  vote  of 
the  free  States  over  the  slave  States,  and  thus  seat  themselves 
in  power  upon  the  fruits  of  sectional  disturbance.  In  the 
selection  of  their  candidate  for  President,  they  passed  by  the 
great  champions  of  their  own  counterfeit  freedom,  and  selected 
as  their  standard-bearer  one  who  had  scarcely  rendered  any 
civil  service,  but  a  soldier  who,  like  young  ISTorval  in  the 
tragedy  of  Douglass,  had  "  heard  of  battles"  and  whose  brief 
record,  if  they  had  been  sincere,  should  have  been  to  them  an 
abomination.  With  such  a  general  and  such  an  issue,  and 
such  an  army  ("  we  ne'er  shall  look  upon  its  like  again  "),  they 
sought  to  conquer  the  spirit  of  the  people,  and  crush  out  the 
life-blood  of  the  Constitution.  They  abandoned  all  their 
former  issues,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  including  that  of 
coercive  temperance,  which,  but  one  year  previous,  had  been 
their  political  touchstone  (but  which  had,  as  railroad  conduc- 


554 

tors  say,  failed  to  make  connection),  and  staked  their  all  upon 
the  issue  of  slavery  alone. 

In  the  exuberance  of  their  zeal,  they  characterized  the 
Democratic  party  as  the  pro-slavery  party — as  advocates  for 
its  extension  throughout  the  Union — as  engaged  in  an  effort 
to  inaugurate  the  rapacious  slave  power  upon  the  ruins  of 
freedom.  They  denounced  the  Democratic  candidates  as  pro- 
slavery  candidates ;  and  copious  were  the  "  salt  tears  "  that 
were  shed  over  the  reflection  that  this  fair  heritage  was  to  be 
blasted  by  the  curse  of  slavery,  and  the  dreams  of  many  a 
doting  mother  were  filled  with  terror,  lest  perchance  the 
Democratic  candidates  should  be  elected  and  the  poor  slaves 
dispersed  and  distributed  throughout  all  the  States  and  Terri 
tories,  even  should  it  become  necessary  to  treat  them  as 
farmers  do  their  seed  potatoes — cut  them  in  pieces  so  that 
each  could  have  a  share.  They  sought  not  to  influence  the 
popular  judgment  by  argument  and  by  appeals  to  the  good 
sense  of  the  people,  but  by  intemperate  harangues,  by 
desecrated  pulpits,  by  debasing  and  poisoning  the  public 
mind  at  the  social  fountain,  and  by  political  psalm-singing, 
until  one  might  have  been  reminded  of  that  significant  if  not 
elegant  verse : 

"  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  had  great  qualms, 
When  they  translated  David's  psalms, 

To  make  the  people  glad ; 
But  had  it  been  poor  David's  fate 
To  hear  you  sing  and  them  translate, 

By  heavens !  'twould  made  him  mad." 

The  Democratic  party  takes  for  its  guide  the  Constitution. 
It  proscribes  no  one  because  he  did  not  choose  his  birth-place 
in  advance  ;  nor  because  of  his  religion.  It  assumes  not  to  be 
wiser  than  the  sacred  compact,  nor  more  patriotic  than  the 
fathers  of  the  Republic,  It  regards  the  question  of  domestic 
servitude  as  the  Constitution  regarded  it ;  it  proposes  to  treat 
it  as  our  fathers  treated  it,  leaving  to  the  States  where  it  ex 
ists  to  abolish  it  as  we  did,  or  continue  it,  as  to  them  seems 
best.  When  the  question  shall  arise  concerning  a  Territory, 
they  propose  to  leave  it  to  the  people  cf  that  Territory  to  dis 
pose  of  it  for  themselves,  and  not  turn  it  over  to  Congress, 


1857".]  THE   BATTLE   OF  NEW   OELEANS.  555 

composed  of  two  adverse  interests,  where  it  can  never  be  dis 
cussed  without  sectional  bitterness  and  public  detriment.  If, 
perchance,  the  wise  principles  of  self-government  shall  be  sub 
verted  by  violence,  and  its  operations  prevented  by  foreign  in 
fluences,  they  would  seek  to  correct  and  remedy  the  abuses, 
and  bring  the  wrong-doers  to  punishment,  rather  tha:i  change 
a  great  and  salutary  principle  which  forms  the  life  and  essence 
of  popular  liberty. 

The  States  of  this  Union  were  "  free  and  independent 
States,"  when  they  adopted  the  Federal  Constitution.  They 
united  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union  than  the  old  confederacy 
under  which  they  had  associated ;  to  establish  justice,  insure 
domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  pro 
mote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
themselves  and  their  posterity ;  and  not  for  -the  purpose  of 
officious  interference  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  each  other.  In 
every  respect,  except  those  enumerated,  these  States  are  still 
as  independent  of  each  other  as  of  the  governments  of  Europe, 
and  it  is  tenfold  more  officious  and  offensive  for  one  of  these 
United  States  to  intermeddle  with  the  domestic  affairs  of 
another,  than  to  insult  and  degrade  the  flag  of  any  other  inde 
pendent  soArereignty. 

But  the  great  stalking-horse  and  modern  bugbear  is  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery ;  and  many  an  honest  man  has  been  alarmed 
lest  the  dark  current  of  slavery,  like  a  swollen  stream,  should 
overflow  its  boundaries  and  sweep  away  the  last  refuge  of 
freedom.  It  may  be  stated  as  an  equally  important  fact,  that 
slavery  cannot  stretch  in  America ;  and,  if  it  is  extended,  it 
must  be  done  by  the  same  process  the  good  old  lady  decided 
the  leopard  could  change  his  spots  :  by  going  from  one  spot 
to  another.  Those  who  so  much  fear  its  extension  seem  to- 
suppose  that  it  can 

"  Live  through  all  time, 

Extend  through  all  extent, 
Spread,  undivided, 
Operate  unspent." 

The  United  States  have  a  population  of  nearly  thirty  mil 
lions  of  whites,  and  about  three  millions  of  blacks  held  in  sla- 


556 

very,  and  the  alarm  seems  to  be  concerning  where  the  black 
men  shall  stand  upon  the  national  checker-board.  The  politi 
cal  economist  sees  that  slave  labor,  like  other  labor,  will  be 
controlled  in  its  local  appointments  by  demand  and  supply — 
that  when  it  exercises  its  powers  of  locomotion,  it  will  follow 
the  sugar,  rice,  and  cotton  crops,  and  not  seek  the  grass  and 
grain-growing  regions  ;  that  until  the  whole  nature  of  man  is 
changed,  he  will  not  carry  his  slave  labor  from  where  it  is 
productive  and  profitable  to  where  it  cannot  earn  its  own  sub 
sistence,  and  where  soon,  "  if  the  slave  does  not  run  away 
from  the  master,  the  master  will  be  compelled  to  run  away 
from  the  slave." 

If  the  great  problem  of  self-government  should  finally 
prove  a  failure,  and  a  territory  of  people  against  their  own  in 
terests  and  wishes  should  adopt  slavery  as  a  domestic  institu 
tion,  the  next  question  arising  will  be,  from  whence  shall  they 
obtain  their  supply  ?  There  is  no  foreign  slave  trade,  and  is 
not  likely  to  be ;  and  slaves  of  flesh  and  blood  cannot  be  man 
ufactured  by  figures  of  speech  as  can  "  bleeding  "  Territories. 
Nor  will  the  anti-Malthusian  laws  of  population  come  to  the 
relief  of  those  who  tremble  for  the  extension  of  slavery 
throughout  the  Union,  but  go  on  under  that  Mcde  and  Per 
sian  law  of  nature,  which  says  there  is  a  time  for  all  things.  If 
slavery  should  be  extended,  and  the  laws  of  population  should 
not  be  extended  with  it,  those  who  make  up  the  extension 
would  be  drawn  from  some  territory  now  slave  territory ;  and 
thus,  if  new  territory  should  be  desecrated  by  slavery,  old 
slave  territory  would  be  given  back  to  the  captivating  arms 
of  "  Republican  "  freedom.  If  the  whole  three  million  slaves 
should  be  taken  to  the  Territories,  fifteen  States  would  be  re 
stored  to  freedom,  and  in  the  same  proportion  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree.  If  they  should  be  distributed  through  every 
State  and  Territory,  as  it  was  vehemently  urged  by  our  oppo 
nent  they  would  be  if  Mr.  Buchanan  should  be  elected,  there 
would  scarcely  be  enough  to  serve  as  monuments  for  State 
and  county  lines.  The  whole  pretence  of  its  extension  by  di 
version  from  the  planting  regions,  is  the  invention  of  the  de 
signing  to  alarm  the  prejudices  of  the  weak,  and  is  deserving 
of  more  ridicule  than  serious  notice. 

The  demagogue  never  yields  so  long  as  the  agitation  is 


1857.]  THE  BATTLE  OF   NEW   ORLEANS.  557 

profitable.  Success,  and  success  alone,  determines  how  long 
he  bestrides  the  hobby,  and  when  he  is  to  turn  it  loose  for 
another.  But  the  fanatic,  once  mounted,  rides  to  the  bitter 
end.  Neither  the  equestrian  exercises  of  John  Gilpin,  Mazep- 
pa,  Miss  Killimanseg,  or  Billy  Button,  rival  his  feats.  He 
rides  the  hobby  while  it  lives,  and  when  it  expires,  its  muscles 
become  rigid,  its  eyes  glazed,  and  even  when  it  gives  evidence 
of  natural  decay,  he  sits  astride  it  still  in  full  faith  that  it  will 
soon  revive  for  another  and  successful  heat.  And  the  more 
absurd  and  incendiary  and  dangerous  to  society,  the  more 
precious  to  him  and  the  more  tenaciously  he  will  hug  the  stu 
pid  conceit.  Having  mounted  the  question  of  slave  extension, 
though  a  mere  abstraction,  he  will  ride  it  long  after  slavery 
shall  only  exist  in  name ;  and  if  all  the  great  interests  of  man 
kind  were  thrown  into  one  scale  and  this  abstraction  into  the 
other,  he  would  jeopard  the  whole  rather  than  give  up  one  jot 
or  tittle  of  his  conceit,  or  cease  to  cry  over  it  like  a  howling 
Dervish. 

It  is  time  this  miserable  sectional  warfare  was  arrested.  It 
has  disturbed  the  harmony  of  society  long  enough,  and  should 
be  spoken  of  and  reprehended  as  it  deserves. 

"  Tender-handed  touch  a  nettle, 

And  'twill  sting  you  for  your  pains ; 
Grasp  it,  like  a  man  of  mettle, 
And  it  soft  as  silk  remains." 

The  agitation  of  this  sensitive  and  disturbing  element  in 
the  political  conflicts  of  the  day  has  not  been  merely  bootless 
in  its  results  or  negative  in  its  influence,  but,  without  bringing 
any  benefit  or  advantage  to  a  single  human  being,  black  or 
white,  has  sown  the  seeds  of  bitterness  and  dissension  between 
sister  States,  has  estranged  and  arrayed  one  section  against 
another,  has  riveted  the  fetters  of  slavery  afresh,  has  retarded 
the  course  of  final  emancipation  for  half  a  century,  and  is  at 
this  moment  visiting  upon  these  hapless  beings  the  terrible 
consequences  of  a  servile  insurrection. 

There  are  one  or  two  platoons  in  this  memorable  army  of 
freedom  worthy  of  especial  mention.  The  main  body  not  only 
had  the  indirect  aid  of  the  "American"  party  (who  proposed 
to  run  an  independent  candidate,  and  who,  according  to  rumor., 


558  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

did  actually  run  one  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  though  princi 
pally  in  a  less),  but  also  the  powerful  and  efficient  and  direct 
assistance  and  support  of  that  eminent  brotherhood  of  hope, 
the  Choctaws  or  North  "  Americans."  Their  motives,  it  is 
generally  conceded,  could  not  have  been  less  pure  than  their 
patriotism.  In  this  State  they  seem  to  have  quite  appropriate 
ly  copied  the  instincts  of  that  nondescript  in  the  fabulous  yet 
famous  war  between  beasts  and  birds,  and  on  which  occasion 

"  The  prudent  bat  joined  neither  cause, 
Among  so  many  teeth  and  claws, 
Till  in  the  battle's  thickest  heat 
He  thought  he  saw  one  side  would  beat, 
And  then  he  joined  the  strongest  part, 
And  fought  with  all  his  might  and  art." 


In  our  noble  sister  State,  Pennsylvania,  a  similar  interest 
or  organization,  guided  by  considerations  certainly  no  less  ele 
vated  than  those  of  their  brethren  of  the  Empire,  sought,  and 
with  partial  though  not  complete  success,  to  unite  with  the 
main  "  army  of  freedom  " — to  form  a  political  copartnership, 
each  party  contributing  to  the  capital  stock  and  each  putting 
in  its  effects  on  hand  as  capital,  each  devoting  their  time  to 
the  interest  of  the  joint  concern,  each  keeping  the  secrets  of 
the  trade,  neither  to  be  at  liberty  to  draw  out  capital  without 
the  consent  of  the  other,  and  each  to  be  entitled  and  liable  to 
share  the  profits  or  loss  in  proportion  to  the  amount  invested.* 
The  fruits  of  this  marriage  promised  a  specimen  as  rare  as 
that  of  a  most  remarkable  child,  born  a  few  years  since  at  the 


*In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  ISSti,  the  Republican  and  American  party 
managers  sought  to  carry  the  State  against  the  Democrats  by  a  novel  and  curious 
coalition.  They  formed  a  joint  electoral  ticket,  made  up  of  half  the  candidates  on 
the  Republican  and  the  American  electoral  tickets  respectively.  The  ticket  de 
signed  to  be  voted  by  the  Republicans  was  headed  by  the  name  of  the  Republican 
candidate  for  State  elector  or  elector  at  large,  and  that  to  be  voted  by  the  Ameri 
cans  was  headed  by  that  of  the  American  candidate  for  elector  at  large ;  under  the 
agreement  that  if  the  State  should  be  carried  by  the  coalition  ticket,  and  more  votes 
were  given  by  the  Republicans  than  by  the  Americans,  the  votes  of  the  State  in 
the  electoral  college  should  be  given  to  the  Republican  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice-President ;  but  if  the  most  votes  were  given  by  the  Americans,  then  the 
American  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President  should  receive  the  vote  of 
the  State. 


1857.]  THE   BATTLE   OF   NEW   ORLEANS.  559 

West,  of  such  peculiar  physical  development  that  the  problem 
was  submitted  to  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  the  age  for 
solution.  The  child,  the  professor  was  informed,  was,  by  a 
direct  line  along  the  centre  of  its  head,  face,  and  body,  one 
half  black — black  as  a  negro — and  stranger  still,  one  half  its 
head  had  the  wool  of  a  negro.  The  learned  professor  took 
refuge  in  abstract  physiology.  He  suggested  many  interesting 
theories,  and  essayed  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion  for 
a  time  ;  but  finally  inquired,  "  And  how  was  the  other  half  of 
the  child  ?  "  "  Oh,  that,"  said  his  informant, "  was  Hack  too? 
But  the  fates  were  adverse,  and  this  union,  instead  of  yielding 
its  fruits  in  season  and  after  its  kind,  was  smitten  with  barren 
ness  and  impotency ;  the  parties  to  it  sunk  into  premature  de 
cay,  without  lineal  descendants.  The  legacy  of  treasured  recol 
lections  which  they  bequeathed  has  already  lapsed,  for  the  lack 
as  well  of  those  who  could  as  of  those  who  would  consent  to 
take  it.  It  would  savor  of  discourtesy,  perhaps,  to  pass  by  that 
numerous  class  of  eminent  individuals  who,  becoming  wearied 
in  the  tame  and  spiritless  routine  of  saving  souls,  used  their  pul 
pits,  as  the  wicked  one  did  the  mountain,  as  a  high  place  from 
which  to  preach  temptation,  and  turned  their  attention  in  the 
late  campaign,  by  way  of  interest  and  variety,  to  the  gather 
ing  in  of  partisan  votes.  Since  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era, 
amid  all  the  agitations,  conflicts,  and  persecutions  which  have 
afflicted  society,  a  minister  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  a  follower 
of  that  meek  and  lowly  being  who  spake  as  never  man  spake, 
has  been  regarded  with  veneration  by  all  good  men.  He  has 
been  consecrated  to  the  high  and  holy  service  of  heaven  by 
appointment,  and  his  vocation  has  been  well  and  truthfully 
portrayed  by  an  eminent  writer. 

"  The  pulpit,  therefore  (and  I  name  it  filled  with  solemn  awe), 
Must  stand  acknowledged  while  the  world  shall  stand 
The  most  important  and  effectual  guard, 
Support  and  ornament  of  virtue's  cause. 
There  stances  the  messenger  of  truth,  there  stands 
The  legate  of  the  skies  !    His  theme  divine, 
His  office  sacred,  his  credentials  clear. 
By  him  the  violated  law  speaks  out 
Its  thunders ;  and  by  him,  in  strains  as  sweet 
As  angels  use,  the  gospel  whispers  peace. 


560  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

He  'stablislies  the  strong,  restores  the  weak, 
Reclaims  the  wandering,  binds  the  broken  heart, 
And,  armed  himself  in  panoply  complete 
Of  heavenly  temper,  furnishes  with  arms 
Bright  as  his  own,  and  trains,  by  every  rule 
Of  holy  discipline,  to  glorious  war 
The  sacramental  hosts  of  God's  elect. 
****** 

He  that  negotiates  between  God  and  man, 
As  God's  ambassador,  the  grand  concerns 
Of  judgment  and  of  mercy,  should  beware 
Of  lightness  in  his  speech." 

"  O  what  a  fall  was  there,  my  countrymen,"  when  the  legiti 
mate  functions  of  this  office  were  exchanged  for  the  hustings — 

o  o 

when  the  accents  of  redeeming  grace  and  dying  love  were  lost 
in  the  harsh  notes  of  an  election  harangue — when  the  subduing 
influences  of  sublime  gospel  truths  were  supplied  by  fabulous 
relations  of  a  partisan  political  adventurer — wfhen  the  counsels 
of  peace  were  laid  aside  for  counsels  of  strife  and  passion — 
when  the  house  of  prayer  was  made  the  theatre  of  a  political 
canvass.  Society  has  visited  with  execration  and  prescribed 
severe  penalties  against  those  who  poison  the  natural  fountain 
where  even  a  limited  number  are  accustomed  to  drink  occasion 
ally  ;  but  howr  much  greater  the  wrong  of  him  who  adulterates 
the  great  moral  fountain  from  which  an  entire  community  slake 
their  thirst.  The  evil  consequences  of  this  strife  could  never 
have  been  considered.  Its  pernicious  influences  can  never  be 
estimated,  nor  rooted  out  for  generations.  It  has  done  more  to 
demoralize  the  public  mind  than  every  other  social  evil  com 
bined,  for  it  has  planted  "  death  in  the  seat  of  life."  It  has 
done  more  to  desecrate  the  cause  of  religion  than  the  worst 
opinions  of  Paine ;  more  to  raise  up  an  army  of  scoffers  than 
the  writings  of  Voltaire  ;  more  to  manufacture  infidels  than  the 
seeds  sown  in  the  French  Revolution ;  and  when  all  these  in 
fluences  shall  have  been  exterminated  and  forgotten  forever,  the 
plague-spot  of  political  pulpits  will  rest  upon  society  like  a 
deadly  incubus.  It  is  the  mission  of  Democracy  to  preserve  the 
equality  of  the  masses  and  to  correct  all  abuses  which  threaten 
the  well-being  of  society.  They  will  meet  these  hooded  and 
plausible  pretenders  at  the  threshold,  and  expose  their  true 


1857.]         THE  BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  561 

character  and  designs.  Thank  Heaven !  while  many  clergymen 
sympathized  and  voted  with  the  Democratic  party  in  the  late 
contest,  not  one  prostituted  his  pulpit,  insulted  his  people,  or 
desecrated  his  robes  by  a  campaign  discourse. 

Political  parties  were  first  thoroughly  organized  upon  the 
struggle  for  the  Presidency  between  Thomas  Jefferson  and  the 
elder  Adams  ;  and  since  that  period,  the  Democratic  party  has 
wielded  the  power  of  the  federal  government  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  time,  and  as  a  nation  we  have  prospered  beyond 
the  conceptions  of  romance.  From  thirteen  feeble  States  strug 
gling  for  independent  existence,  we  have  become  one  of  the 
great  and  honored  nations  of  the  earth,  with  thirty-one  populous 
and  powerful  sovereignties  and  others  in  process  of  develop 
ment.  From  three,  our  population  has  reached  about  thirty 
millions.  From  the  Atlantic  slope  we  have  encompassed,  fer 
tilized,  and  reared  great  and  prosperous  States  upon  territory 
beyond  the  northwestern  lakes — have  overleaped  the  barrier  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  gone  down  the  western  declivities  to 
rear  happy  homes,  and  towns,  and  cities,  upon  the  broad  prairies 
of  Oregon  and  the  golden  streams  of  California.  No  wasting 
wars  consume  the  productions  or  drink  the  life-currents  of  the 
masses — no  onerous  taxation  gnaws  like  a  canker  at  the  root  of 
the  public  good,  but  happiness,  peace,  and  prosperity  attend  us 
as  a  people.  Labor  is  generously  rewarded — virtuous  industry 
and  want  are  strangers.  Every  interest  is  encouraged  and  pro 
tected — the  popular  heart  throbs  high  with  hope — the  eye 
beams  with  health  and  gladness,  and  the  brow  speaks  out  the 
independence  of  honorable  manhood.  Agriculture  spreads  out 
her  carpet  of  varied  colors — her  fields  of  golden  grain,  her  flocks 
and  herds  and  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills.  Commerce  drives  her 
prow  by  sail  and  steam  where  civilization  has  never  before 
penetrated,  and  ministers  to  the  great  interests  of  society  by 
exchange  of  earth's  varied  productions.  The  hum  of  the  manu 
factory  and  the  ring  of  the  artisan's  hammer  are  heard  upon 
either  hand — the  scream  of  the  locomotive  tells  us  that  distance 
has  been  conquered,  and  the  currents  of  thought,  coursing 
from  the  heart  to  the  extremities  of  the  Union  through  metallic 
veins,  assure  us  of  the  annihilation  of  both  time  and  space. 
There  points  the  sacred  spire  to  Heaven,  preaching  refinement 
and  religion — there  the  college  and  the  seminary,  and  there- 
36 


562  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

stand  by  the  wayside  those  impregnable  fortresses,  the  moral 
Gibraltars  of  America,  which  can  neither  be  conquered  by  siege 
nor  storm,  where  men  and  women  are  trained  for  duty  in  the 
great  battle-field  of  life — the  Common  Schools. 

"  O  Heaven  !  it  is  a  goodly  sight  to  see, 
What  God  hath  done  for  this  delicious  land, 
What  fruits  of  fragrance  blush  on  every  tree, 
What  goodly  prospects  o'er  the  hills  expand  ; 
But  man  would  niar  them  with  an  impious  hand." 

Under  the  guidance  of  a  beneficent  Providence,  which  has 
sustained  and  protected  us  through  every  vicissitude,  our  coun 
try  is  indebted  for  its  unparalleled  success  to  the  benign  princi 
ples  of  Jacksonian  Democracy.  Let  him  who  would  cavil  look 
back,  if  he  can,  dispassionately  upon  the  pathway  of  the  past — 
let  him  carefully  contemplate  the  glorious  present,  and  inquire 
what  would  be  our  condition  as  a  nation  with  the  Louisiana 
purchase,  including  the  whole  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the 
hands  of  a  foreign  power,  and  then  remember  that  this  purchase 
was  the  fruit  of  the  first  Democratic  Administration,  and  was 
assailed  by  all  the  eloquent  vehemence  and  vindictiveness  that 
the  opposition,  then  strong  in  numbers  and  powerful  in  talents, 
could  summon  to  its  aid.  Where  would  have  terminated  the 
impressment  of  our  brave  seamen — the  insults  offered  to  our 
flag — the  stimulating  of  merciless  savages  upon  our  border  to 
deeds  of  blood,  but  for  the  war  of  1812  ?  And  yet,  a  Demo 
cratic  Administration  carried  that  measure  by  a  single  vote  over 
the  combined  power  of  the  opposition,  amid  a  war  of  opinion 
as  fierce  as  that  which  a  common  enemy  has  waged  against  us. 
Where  would  have  been  that  great  Juggernaut — the  sea-serpent 
of  swindling  corporations — the  United  States  Bank,  with  its 
branches  and  pensioned  retainers  in  every  principal  town  to  sap 
the  foundations  of  public  virtue,  drawing  within  its  insatiable 
jaws  the  fruits  of  industry,  and  destroying  in  its  execrable 
career  whole  communities  by  slow  consumption,  but  for  the 
Democratic  party — aye,  but  for  the  Democratic  party,  with 
Andrew  Jackson  at  its  head?  It  had,  like  the  monster  of 
sacred  history,  begun  to  inquire  vauntingly,  who  was  able  to 
make  war  upon  the  beast  ?  Congress  fled  before  it  in  alarm,  or 


1857.]         THE  BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  563 

fell  within  its  seductive  grasp,  and  it  was  finally  throttled  and 
strangled  by  the  "  eternal  "  grasp  of  a  single  hand  !  The  his 
tory  of  that  day  is  written  as  with  a  pencil  of  fire,  and  will  re 
main  as  fadeless  as  the  stars.  It  need  not  be  re-written  or  re 
peated  here.  But  let  those  who  are  accustomed  to  scoff  at 
Democratic  measures  and  to  revile  Democratic  leaders,  contem 
plate  the  history  of  that  period  and  receive  instruction. 

Where  would  have  been  the  financial  reforms,  the  Inde 
pendent  Treasury  and  the  Revenue  Tariff  of  1846,  each  the 
result  of  a  hard-fought  contest,  hand  to  hand  and  steel  to  steel, 
with  the  opponents  of  Democracy !  Each  measure  was  de 
nounced  by  their  orators  and  presses  as  ruinous  to  the  best  in 
terests  of  labor  and  of  the  whole  country.  The  supporters  of 
these  measures  were  placed  high  in  the  pillory  of  their  indig 
nant  disapprobation,  and  the  dark  thunder-clouds  of  their  wrath 
were  relieved  and  lighted  up  only  by  the  flames  of  Democratic 
effigies.  Where  would  have  been  that  bright  and  beautiful 
star,  which  "  with  twinkling  lustre,  glimmers  through  the 
night "  upon  our  southern  border,  if  the  Democratic  party  had 
not,  in  1844,  sung  in  earnest  that  stirring  campaign  song, 
"  James  K.  Polk  and  Annexation,"  and  reduced  its  sentiments 
to  practice  ?  Who  would  have  coined  for  us  the  virgin  gold  of 
California,  have  furnished  our  seamen  a  Pacific  harbor,  and 
have  made  a  great  commercial  town  as  an  entrepot  for  the  com 
merce  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  World,  had  not  a  Demo 
cratic  Administration  chastised  the  lawless  insolence  of  Mexico, 
and  literally  planted  the  stars  and  stripes  on  the  ancient  halls 
of  the  Montezumas. 

And  last,  though  not  least,  amid  the  terrible  sectional  con 
flict  we  have  experienced,  where  would  have  been  preserved 
that  great  right,  the  Magna  Charta  of  freemen,  the  principle  of 
self-government  or  popular  sovereignty,  had  it  not  been  rescued 
from  the  dark  current  of  discord  which  burst  upon  us,  and  as 
serted  in  theory  and  maintained  in  practice  by  the  Democracy 
through  good  and  through  evil  report  ? — a  principle  which 
throbbed  with  the  embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims,  which  was 
formally  embodied  on  board  that  bark  freighted  with  the  best 
hopes  of  humanity,  the  Mayflower — which  nerved  the  arms  and 
buoyed  up  the  hearts  of  the  Adams  and  Eves  of  this  Republic 
at  the  Rock  of  Plymouth — which  resisted  tyranny  and  oppres- 


564 

sion  in  an  uninvited  tea-party  in  Boston  harbor — which  cried 
from  the  ground  at  Lexington  in  the  spirit  of  butchered  liberty 
— which  fought  at  Bunker  Hill  and  conquered  at  Saratoga  and 
Yorktown.  It  is  the  spirit  in  which  the  essence  of  our  institu 
tions  was  founded — it  proclaimed  man  to  be  free  and  equal,  and 
these  of  right  to  be  free  and  independent  States  in  the  Declara 
tion  of  American  Independence.  It  left  this  priceless  inherit 
ance — not  the  divine  right  of  kings,  but  the  divine  right  of  men 
— to  the  people  of  the  States  of  the  Union  in  forming  a  com 
mon  compact.  This  great  principle,  which  every  patriotic  heart 
must  cherish,  has  become  the  dividing  line  between  Democracy 
and  its  antagonism.  Its  application  to  Territorial  organization 
has  saved  the  Confederacy  from  results  which  no  friend  to  his 
country  can  calmly  contemplate.  Its  assertion  as  a  cardinal 
feature  in  the  Democratic  creed  has  carried  us  through  the 
late  great  contest  in  triumph,  and  secured  us  a  wise  adminis 
tration  of  public  affairs  for  the  term  of  four  years. 

But  \he  triumphs  of  Democracy  are  not  yet  completed. 
The  party  is  yet  destined  to  enjoy  a  victory  upon  the  question 
of  self-government,  as  final,  as  complete,  and  as  lasting  as  those 
they  now  enjoy  over  the  defunct  remains  of  the  United  States 
Bank.  They  have  other  acquisitions  to  achieve  by  the  opinions 
of  mankind — other  prejudices  to  subdue — other  races  to  assimi 
late  and  absorb — other  domains  to  fertilize — other  States  to  add 
to  the  constellation  of  hope. 

Many  years  since,  as  an  humble  agent  of  the  Democratic 
cause,  in  a  conspicuous  station,  I  had  the  honor  of  proposing 
what  I  believed  to  be  the  true  Democratic  principles  upon  the 
subject  of  the  acquisition  and  government  of  territory.  The 
principles  asserted  were : 

u  That  true  policy  requires  the  government  of  the  United  States  to 
strengthen  its  political  and  commercial  relations  upon  this  continent  by 
the  annexation  of  such  contiguous  territory  as  may  conduce  to  that 
end,  and  can  be  justly  obtained  ;  and  that  neither  in  such  acquisition 
nor  in  the  Territorial  organization  thereof  can  any  conditions  be  con 
stitutionally  imposed,  or  institutions  be  provided  for,  or  established, 
inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  the  people  thereof,  to  form  a  free  sove 
reign  State,  with  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the  original  members 
of  the  Confederacy. 

"  That,  in  organizing  a  Territorial  government  for  Territories  be- 


1857.]  THE  BATTLE   OF  NEW   ORLEANS.  565 

longing  to  the  United  States,  the  principles  of  self-government  upon 
which  our  federative  system  rests  will  be  best  promoted,  the  true  spirit 
and  meaning  of  the  Constitution  be  observed,  and  the  Confederacy 
strengthened,  by  leaving  all  questions  concerning  the  domestic  policy 
therein  to  the  Legislatures  chosen  by  the  people  thereof." 


It  is  with  no  ordinary  emotions  of  pride  and  gratification 
that  I  see  sentiments  thus  enunciated  upon  a  subject  then  so 
imperfectly  understood,  after  a  discussion  so  elaborate  and  a 
consideration  so  mature,  approved  in  theory  and  adopted  in 
practice  by  the  entire  Democratic  party  of  the  Union.  I  had 
an  early  and  abiding  faith  that  such  would  be  the  result,  and 
had  I  at  any  moment  been  inclined  to  retreat,  like  Fernando 
Cortez  I  would  have  committed  all  means  of  escape  to  destruc 
tion.  The  great  principle  of  popular  sovereignty  upon  which 
the  Democratic  party  is  completely  and  thoroughly  united,  will 
"  stand  the  test  of  talent  and  of  time."  The  thunder  of  the 
opposition  may  roar,  the  winds  may  howl  and  the  storms  beat, 
but  it  will  withstand  them  all,  for  it  is  founded  upon  the  spirit 
of  the  written  Constitution,  and  rests  in  the  inherent  rights  of 
man. 

Democracy  is  not  a  creation  of  yesterday  or  to-day,  nor  its 
party  a  temporary  combination  to  attain  power.  The  principles 
form  the  party  and  not  the  party  the  principles,  for  the  princi 
ples  are  eternal.  It  is  the  natural  and  uniform  foe  of  inequality, 
injustice,  oppression,  or  privilege.  It  engrafts  no  schemes  nor 
designs — no  idle  dreams  of  social  reform,  no  moon-stricken  con 
ceits  upon  its  broad  and  benevolent  charter.  It  admits  no 
Utopian  ideas  of  this  earthly,  matter-of-fact  world ;  it  seeks  to 
uphold  society  by  the  self-sustaining  power  of  its  own  moral  in 
fluences,  and  believes  that  man  should  govern  himself  and  not 
his  neighbor.  It  reposes  for  its  security  upon  popular  intelli 
gence  and  not  upon  bolts  and  bars  and  the  defence  of  physical 
agencies.  It  wins  by  its  justice  and  seeks  not  to  terrify  by  its 
power.  Its  conquests  are  bloodless,  for  they  are  won  by  the 
omnipotence  of  opinion  and  not  by  the  sword. 

The  destinies  of  this  great  and  happy  land  are  committed  to 
the  guidance  of  the  Democracy,  and  that  designation  is  intended 
to  include  all  true  friends  of  the  Constitution,  regardless  of 
former  differences.  They  are  charged  with  a  duty  alike  inter- 


566 

esting  and  responsible.  By  a  firm  and  judicious  exercise  of  the 
trust  confided  to  them,  the  world,  which  has  so  long  groaned 
under  the  iron  exactions  of  tyranny,  may  yet  pay  back  to  liberty 
and  humanity,  with  interest,  its  long  accumulated  debt.  With 
the  principles  of  Thomas  Jefferson  for  our  guiding  star,  and  the 
spirit  of  Andrew  Jackson  at  the  helm,  the  ship  of  state  shall 
weather  every  storm  and  be  moored  in  the  haven  of  peace.  The 
ensign  of  this  Republic  shall  be  seen,  "  its  arms  and  trophies 
streaming  in  their  original  lustre — not  a  stripe  erased  or  pol 
luted — not  a  star  obscured,  but  everywhere  spread  all  over  in 
characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds  as  they 
float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land  in  every  wind  under  the 
whole  heavens,  that  sentiment  dear  to  every  American  heart — 
4  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable.'  " 


REMARKS 

MADE  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  PRESENTATION  OF  A  TESTIMONIAL 
TO  W.  B.  GILBERT,  ESQ.,  AT  SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  April  29,  1857. 

[The  employees  on  the  Syracuse  and  Binghamton  Kailroad  presented 
to  W.  B.  Gilbert,  Esq.,  on  his  retiring  from  the  superintendency  of  the 
road,  a  magnificent  gold  watch  and  chain,  appropriately  inscribed,  for 
his  own  use,  accompanied  by  a  fine  gold  watch,  chain  and  pin,  as  a  pres 
ent  to  Mrs.  Gilbert,  and  a  handsome  cameo  set,  pin,  earrings  &c.,  for 
his  daughter.  The  presentation  took  place  at  the  Syracuse  House,  in 
the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Gilbert.  Among 
the  invited  guests  were  Hon.  Erastus  Corning,  President  of  the  N.  Y. 
Central  Railroad  Co.,  Geo.  Peabody,  Esq.,  the  London  banker,  Mr. 
Lamson  of  London,  several  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  a 
large  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

Mr.  Schemerhorn,  President  of  the  Eoad,  announced  the  object  of 
the  gathering,  and  introduced  Hon.  Mr.  Dickinson,  one  of  the  Directors, 
who  made  the  presentation  in  behalf  of  the  donors,  with  the  following 
remarks,  to  which  Mr.  Gilbert  appropriately  responded. — Syracuse 
Courier.} 

ME.  SUPERINTENDENT— Those  who  have  been  engaged  in 
constructing  and  operating  the  Syracuse  and  Binghamton  Rail 
road,  under  your  general  superintendence,  having  learned  that 
the  official  relations  which  have  so  long  existed  between  you 
and  them  were  about  to  be  dissolved,  that  you  might  enter 
upon  a  new  and  more  extended  field  of  labor  and  usefulness, 
have  determined  to  signalize  their  high  appreciation  of  your 
personal  and  official  character,  and  evince  their  friendship  for 
yourself  and  family,  by  offering  for  your  and  their  acceptance 
some  appropriate  testimonial,  and  have  devolved  upon  me  the 
pleasing  duty  of  a  formal  presentation, 

About  five  years  since,  Syracuse  and  Binghamton  were  sep 
arated  by  a  tedious  two  days'  journey.  Under  your  guidance, 


568  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

these  places — the  lakes  of  Onondaga  and  the  waters  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna— aye,  Oswego  and  New  York— the  Ontario  and  the 
Atlantic — were  in  eighteen  months  made  near  neighbors  ;  and 
that,  too,  by  a  work  which  opened  one  of  the  loveliest  though 
most  secluded  portions  of  the  State.  Amidst  physical  obstruc 
tions  the  most  serious,  and  financial  embarrassment  so  alarm 
ing  that  all  kindred  undertakings  were  either  abandoned  or 
suspended,  this  work  progressed  steadily  onward  to  its  com 
pletion  and  physical  triumph,  and  if  its  financial  success  was 
postponed  to  a  later  period,  those  who  projected  and  those  who 
executed  may  indulge  the  gratifying  reflection  that  it  was  in 
duced  by  causes  beyond  their  control.  And  there  is  the  struc 
ture  open  for  trade  and  travel,  ministering  to  the  social  advan 
tages  and  business  interests  of  society,  and  there  it  will  remain 
when  the  head  which  designed,  the  hands  which  guided,  and 
the  muscles  which  wrought  in  its  construction  shall  all  lie  down 
in  a  dreamless  sleep  together. 

Nor  have  your  efforts  in  its  superintendence  since  its  com 
pletion  been  less  successful.  While  on  either  hand  hecatombs 
of  victims  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  raging  spirit  of  the  times, 
by  negligence  or  want  of  skill,  of  the  great  number  who  have 
passed  over  this  road  not  a  limb  has  been  lost,  nor  a  single 
human  life  imperilled. 

But  it  is  not  the  success  with  which  you  have  surmounted 
physical  obstacles,  nor  the  science  by  which  you  have  guided 
the  fiery  locomotive ;  it  is  not  the  mighty  embankments  which 
you  erected,  the  deep  gorges  you  have  filled,  the  hills  you  have 
levelled,  the  morasses  you  have  drained,  nor  the  viaducts  you 
have  constructed,  which  have  endeared  you  to  your  associates  : 
it  is  because  in  all  your  actions,  while  you  have  sought  to  con 
quer  the  physical  elements  by  force,  you  have  wielded  moral 
energies  by  induction ;  because  in  your  intercourse  with  them, 
though  their  official  superior,  you  have  never  forgotten,  either 
in  theory  or  in  practice,  that  memorable  and  primary  truth 
that  a  superintendent  was  no  more,  and  a  subordinate  no  less 
a  man.  This  has  bound  their  hearts  to  you  as  one  in  the  truest 
bonds  of  friendship,  and  secured  for  you  forever  their  highest 
respect  and  esteem. 

So  mysteriously  has  a  beneficent  Providence  interwoven  the 
domestic  relations,  that  had  your  efforts  in  this  undertaking 


1857.]  PRESENTATION   OF  A  TESTIMONIAL.  569 

been  characterized  by  the  absence  of  integrity  or  skill,  your 
family  must  have  shared  with  you  the  opprobrium.  In  this  mo 
ment  of  a  husband's  and  a  fathers  pride,  shall  not  a  confiding 
wife  and  affectionate  daughter  participate  in  his  triumphs  ? 
Be  pleased,  then,  to  accept  from  those  who  thus  esteem  you 
the  watches  presented  for  yourself  and  Mrs.  Gilbert,  and  the 
ornaments  for  your  daughter,  as  material  evidences  of  the  sin 
cere  regard  for  yourself  and  family. 

The  watches  will  enable  you  to  contemplate  the  value  of 
time,  and  to  admonish  you  that  both  artificial  aiid  moral  ma 
chinery  should  be  well  regulated;  that,  if  not  kept  in  proper 
beat  and  permitted  to  run  either  too  fast  or  too  slow,  it  is  en 
tirely  useless,  and  none  will  suffer  detriment  if  it  is  permitted 
to  run  down  altogether.  They  will  serve  to  admonish,  toa, 
that  time  is  fleeting ;  and  that  the  finely  polished  balances  will 
continue  to  vibrate  when  the  hearts  of  those  who  receive  and 
those  who  present  shall  have  ceased  to  pulsate  forever.  The 
ornaments  bestowed  upon  your  daughter  are  but  emblems  of 
purity  and  loveliness — those  priceless  jewels  which  adorn  the 
female  character,  and  which  your  associates  are  assured  have 
been  your  solace  amid  the  long  and  laborious  period  of  service. 

You  are  about  to  visit  a  distant  region,  and  it  is  in  vain  to  be 
lieve  that  we  shall  ever  be  re-united  by  the  uncertain  current 
of  existence.  Were  we  gifted  with  a  patriarch's  inspiration, 
we  would  impart  to  you  and  yours  our  blessing.  Wherever 
it  may  please  a  beneficent  Providence  to  cast  your  lot,  you  will 
remain,  to  us  and  each  of  us,  an  object  of  anxious  solicitude  and 
cherished  friendship.  May  the  ties  which  have  united  us  in 
sympathy  and  feeling  never  be  broken.  In  running  your 
course  according  to  life's  allotted  time-table,  may  you  avoid  all 
collisions  which  derange  and  destroy  man's  moral  machinery, 
and  arrive  seasonably  at  the  stations,  and  may  you  overcome  all 
elevations  until  you  reach  the  summit  of  earthly  existence,  and 
your  descent  adown  its  incline  plane  be  safe  and  gentle ;  and 
when  the  fires  of  life's  locomotive  shall  be  quenched,  its  power 
exhausted,  and  its  wheels  revolve  no  longer,  may  you  be  wel 
comed  at  that  universal  depot,  prepared  for  all  travellers  who 
have  returned  home  from  life's  toilsome  and  perilous  journey. 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED   IN  RESPONSE  TO  A    PUBLIC  SERENADE,  AT  WILLAKD's 
HOTEL,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  THE  EVENING  OF  May  — ,  1857. 

[The  Washington  State  noticed  the  occasion  as  follows  : 
"The  eminent  leader  of  the  New  York  Democracy  is  at  present  in 
this  city.  He  has  been  absent  six  years  from  the  scene,  in  the  fore 
ground  of  which  his  manly  virtues  and  Democratic  integrity  stand 
prominent  in  connection  with  some  of  the  most  important  political 
and  national  questions  and  movements  of  our  time.  Coming  here  in  a 
private  capacity,  his  hotel  has  been  visited  by  numerous  public  gentle 
men,  anxious  to  pay  the  unbending  Democratic  citizen  the  debt  of  in 
tellectual  gratitude  which  must  remain  due  for  all  time  to  the  stability 
and  eloquence  of  the  Senator. 

"  The  following  is  the  report  of  the  ex-Senator's  remarks  on  his 
introduction  to  the  public  by  Dr.  Everett,  on  the  occasion  of  his  being 
serenaded  at  Willard's  Hotel,  where  an  immense  throng  had  assembled 
to  look  upon  and  pay  their  respects  to  the  '  old  man  eloquent.'  "J 

MY  FEIENDS  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS — I  can  make  no  return 
for  this  testimonial  of  regard  for  a  private  citizen,  but  the 
sincere  tribute  of  a  grateful  heart. 

Upon  the  expiration  of  my  term  as  a  Senator  in  Congress, 
more  than  six  years  since,  I  returned  to  my  home  with  more 
pleasing  anticipations  than  I  had  left  it,  and  I  have  since  been 
devoted  to  professional  and  rural  pursuits,  with  no  interval 
of  relaxation.  Finding  that  a  few  days  could  be  borrowed 
from  accustomed  avocations,  I  came  with  that  portion  of  my 
household  which  a  Providence  that  "  doeth  all  things  well " 
has  spared  to  me,  and  a  party  of  family  friends,  to  revisit  the 
political  metropolis,  and  indulge  the  train  of  sad  and  pleasing 
memories  which  the  changeful  currents  of  life  have  presented 
for  our  contemplation.  We  came  to  see  again  the  place  where 
we  had  reared  our  children,  where  we  had  formed  life-long 


1857.]  RESPONSE    TO   A   PUBLIC   SERENADE.  571 

friendships,  where  we  had  enjoyed  a  generous  hospitality  and 
a  sweet  social  communion,  where  we  had  been  associated 
witli  those  who  have  gone  to  their  rewards  and  repose — the 
illustrious  dead;  where  we  have  so  long  and  so  faithfully  been 
sustained  and  cheered  by  the  valued  and  confiding  friends  who 
have  remembered  us  in  our  seclusion  and  come  hither  to  cheer 
and  honor  us  again  with  their  kindly  greetings. 

We  have  seen  again  that  venerated  Senate  Chamber,  so 
filled  with  stirring  recollections,  and  bethought  us  of  the 
once  familiar  voices  which  are  now  hushed  forever.  We  have 
seen  again  the  ancient  Capitol,  extending  in  its  mighty  mag 
nificence  and  architectural  grandeur  to  meet  the  increasing 
demands  of  a  great  and  growing  people ;  the  early  golden 
sunshine  which  we  loved  in  other  days  beams  again  ;  the  same 
spacious  parks,  the  familiar  walks,  the  babbling  fountains,  the 
spreading  trees,  the  shaded  lawns,  the  green  sunny  slopes,  the 
bright  blooming  flowers,  and  the  glorious  Potomac,  are  all 
here,  and  lift  up  their  voices  with  numerous  smiling  friends  to 
bid  us  welcome. 

On  every  hand  evidences  are  rising  up,  as  if  by  magic,  of 
increased  wealth,  enterprise,  refinement  and  taste,  rendering 
Washington  worthy  of  the  consecrated  name  it  bears — worthy 
to  be  the  federal  capital  of  a  great  family  of  free  and  inde 
pendent  States.  That  it  may  remain  such  forever  is  my 
ardent  prayer ;  that  every  State  may  come  here  to  mingle  in 
the  family  communion,  with  her  sovereign,  independent 
equality  of  right ;  that  all  may  meet  together,  like  children  of 
a  common  father,  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and 
prosecute  together  their  benign  mission  of  liberty  on  earth — 
the  freedom,  equality,  and  self-government  of  man. 

In  the  humble  public  career  to  which  allusion  has  been  so 
kindly  made,  it  was  my  highest  ambition  to  sacrifice  upon  the 
altar  of  my  country  my  choicest  offerings.  O,  would  that,  in 
a  cause  so  sacred,  I  had  other  and  worthier  gifts  to  bestow. 
What  that  public  course  was,  let  history  tell.  I  will  only 
add,  that  were  my  course  upon  the  absorbing  questions  of  that 
day  to  be  repeated,  it  would  only  be  changed  by  pursuing  the 
same  subjects,  in  the  same  direction  and  in  the  same  manner, 
with  such  increased  force  as  a  more  abundant  reflection  and 
enlarged  experience  would  enable  me  to  command. 


572  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Our  country  is  enjoying  unexampled  prosperity,  and  our 
people  command  repose  from  causeless  agitation,  either  do 
mestic  or  foreign.  The  fires  of  fanaticism  at  home  are  burning 
themselves  out  for  lack  of  fuel,  and  a  great,  brave,  and  intrepid 
people  are  satisfied  that  they  can  better  advance  the  blessings 
of  civilization  and  Christianity  by  cultivating  the  arts  of 
peace  than  by  resort  to  the  sword. 

An  executive  chief  has  recently  been  inaugurated  to  dis 
charge  the  most  honorable  relations  on  earth,  in  whose  wisdom, 
and  in  that  of  those  he  has  chosen  as  his  constitutional  advisers, 
the  great  mass  of  the  American  people,  in  every  section  of  the 
Union,  have  entire  confidence — confidence  that  justice,  firm 
ness,  and  moderation  will  characterize  our  intercourse  with 
other  nations — that  the  integrity  of  the  Union  will  be  pre 
served  in  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  the  rights  of  sovereign 
States  maintained  inviolate,  and  the  people  in  the  Territories 
secured  in  the  dearest  privileges  of  the  American  citizen, 
good  order  and  the  constitutional  guaranty  of  true  self-gov 
ernment. 

IsTo  one  has  ever  fully  estimated  the  moral  influences  of 
the  people  of  Washington  upon  the  destinies  of  this  country 
through  the  social  relations  of  life  ;  nor  told  how  many  sec 
tional  prejudices  have  been  thus  mitigated,  how  many  errors 
corrected,  how  many  lasting,  valued  friendships  have  been 
formed.  And  may  this  gentle,  genial  influence  continue  to 
diffuse  its  blessings  throughout  the  entire  Confederacy,  and 
continue  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  fraternal  feeling  which 
make  a  multitude  one.  May  every  star  in  the  constellation 
shed  its  radiance  upon  every  other ;  and  may  they  vie  with, 
one  another  hereafter  only  in  brightness  and  glory. 

For  myself  and  family  and  friends,  I  thank  you  cordially 
for  the  honor  extended  us,  and  shall  look  back  upon  it  here 
after  as  one  of  the  bright  passages  upon  the  page  of  life's  his 
tory.  We  shall  return  to  our  homes  pleased  and  gratified 
with  our  brief  visit,  remembering  that  our  lives  have  fallen 
here  in  pleasant  places,  and  among  such  friends  as  few  have 
ever  had. 


ADDRESS 

TO   THE   JURY   IN   BEHALF    OF   THE   PRISONER,  ON   THE   TRIAL  OF 
JOHN    M.    THURSTON,    AT    THE    TIOGA   OYER   AND   TERMINER, 

OWEGO,  N.  T.,  October  18,  1857.     DEFENCE,  INSANITY. 

[The  jury  rendered  a  verdict  of  guilty  of  murder,  which  was  re 
versed  on  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  a  new -trial  ordered,  upon 
which,  at  Ithaca,  Tompkins  County,  the  prisoner  was  acquitted  by  rea 
son  of  insanity,  and  sent  to  the  Asylum  for  the  Insane  at  Utica.] 

MAY  IT  PLEASE  THE  COURT,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  JURY — 
When  a  worthy  and  esteemed  citizen  is  cut  off  in  the  prime  of 
his  usefulness,  by  an  act  of  violence  and  blood,  and  with 
startling  suddenness,  the  mind  is  ordinarily  disqualified  from 
judging  dispassionately  of  the  causes  which  incited  to  and 
produced  it.  Deeply  impressed  with  this  obvious  truth,  the 
counsel  and  friends  of  this  unfortunate  prisoner  saw  you  take 
your  seats  in  the  jury-box,  many  of  you  declaring  that 
you  had  formed  opinions  against  him.  You  were  admit 
ted,  nevertheless,  to  sit  in  the  case,  because  we  had  confi 
dence  in  the  truth  and  justice  of  our  defence,  and  in  your 
purity  and  integrity.  You  were  selected  from  the  great  body 
of  your  fellows,  because  we  believed  you  could  rise  above 
prejudice  and  rumor,  and,  laying  aside  preconceived  opinions 
and  unfavorable  impressions,  hear  the  cause  patiently  and  ren 
der  a  verdict  therein,  in  pursuance  of  the  oaths  you  have  taken, 
according  to  evidence.  Your  position  is  most  fearfully  respon 
sible.  You  hold  in  your  hands  the  mighty  issues  of  life  and 
death,  and  must  answer  to  mankind,  to  your  own  consciences, 
and  to  a  just  God  above  us,  of  the  deliverance  you  here  make. 

Upon  the  happening  of  this  unfortunate  occurrence  the 
people  of  this  community  manifested  a  feeling  worthy  of  them 
selves  and  of  their  law-abiding  character;  worthy  of  their  par- 


DICKINSONS  SPEECHES. 

entage,  their  "New  England  origin.  They  saw  that  human  life 
had  been  taken  by  an  act  of  violence,  and  they  moved  with 
becoming  alacrity  to  secure  investigation  according  to  law. 
The  numerous  and  highly  respectable  friends  of  this  stricken 
man  find  their  slender  means  arrayed  against  the  strength  of 
the  most  powerful  State  in  the  confederacy ;  yet  they  fear 
not,  for  they  have  heard  you  pledge  your  oaths  before  God 
and  man  to  give  a  verdict  according  to  evidence,  uninfluenced 
by  other  considerations. 

The  prosecution  against  an  individual  charged  with  crime 
is  conducted  at  the  public  expense.  A  public  prosecutor  is 
provided  in  every  county,  who  is  paid  from  the  local  treasury, 
and  in  cases  when  the  Governor  shall  believe  the  cause  of  pub 
lic  justice  requires  it,  he  may  send  the  Attorney-General  of 
the  State  to  conduct  the  trial  in  person.  In  this  case,  although 
the  District  Attorney  is  himself  a  lawyer  of  ripe  years  and  ex 
tensive  knowledge,  and  has  presided  over  courts  where  he 
now  stands  at  the  bar ;  although  two  distinguished  local  coun 
sellors  are  found  associated  with  him  to  quicken  his  vigilance 
and  supply  contingencies,  yet  all  this  is  not  deemed  sufficient 
for  the  pursuit  of  this  man,  and  those  having  it  in  charge  have 
passed  by  the  first  law  officer  of  the  State,  and  invoked  and 
procured  one  of  a  more  enlarged  experience  to  aid  in  attempt 
ing  to  procure  a  conviction.  Of  all  this  we  do  not  complain, 
unusual  as  it  would  seem  to  be,  but  assert  again  our  entire 
ability,  against  all  this  preparation,  to  show  from  the  evidence 
that  this  prisoner  is  not  guilty.  Here,  in  this  community,  was 
this  sanguinary  deed  committed ;  here  was  its  perpetrator  ar 
rested  and  presented  for  trial ;  here  arose  that  feeling  which 
has  caused  this  effort  to  bring  to  condign  punishment,  and 
here  will  a  verdict  of  acquittal  be  hailed  with  gratification  and 
'eclat  by  every  one  who  respects  the  administration  of  justice, 
when  they  see  that  such  result  is  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
the  law. 

But  a  few  years  since  a  man  named  Lawrence  attempted 
to  take  the  life  of  General  Jackson,  then  President  of  the 
United  States,  v/hile  attending  the  funeral  of  a  member  of 
Congress  at  the  Capitol.  This  illustrious  man,  at  that  time, 
it  will  be  well  recollected,  was  sustained  by  warmer  friends 
and  assailed  by  more  vindictive  enemies  than  any  other  indi- 


1857.]  TEIAL   OF  JOHN   M.    THTJESTON.  575 

vidual  of  the  age.  The  public  questions  under  discussion,  too, 
lent  a  virus  to  partisan  fury ;  and  the  agitations  of  the  politi 
cal  ocean  literally  cast  up  their  niire  and  dirt.  The  attempt 
of  Lawrence  evinced  all  the  characteristics  of  deliberate  prep 
aration.  The  pistols,  balls,  powder,  and  caps,  had  been  pur 
chased  with  murderous  precaution;  the  weapons  had  been 
carefully  loaded,  and  each  was  snapped  at  the  heart  of  the 
venerable  man.  It  was  an  act  well  calculated  to  arouse  his 
friends,  and  they  more  than  insinuated  that  their  opponents 
had  stimulated  Lawrence  to  murder,  and  scouted  the  idea  of 
insanity  which  was  claimed  for  his  apology.  Lawrence  was 
arrested  and  thrown  into  prison ;  but,  in  process  of  time,  he 
stood  at  the  bar  before  a  jury  for  trial.  Learned  and  experi 
enced  men  pronounced  him  to  have  been  insane,  and  he  was 
acquitted  by  reason  of  his  insanity.  The  same  multitude  who 
had  believed  him  guilty,  and  had  tossed  and  raved  against 
him  at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  were  hushed  into  respectful  si 
lence  when  the  majesty  of  the  law,  in  the  language  of  the 
Saviour  of  men,  said,  Peace,  be  still.  So  it  will  be  here ;  and 
those  who  most  loudly  demanded  trial  and  investigation,  de 
mand  that  the  guilty  alone  shall  be  convicted. 

Those  who  would  pervert  the  tribunals  of  justice  to  the 
purposes  of  judicial  murder,  by  procuring  a  conviction  with 
out  evidence,  are,  for  the  honor  of  human  nature,  very  few. 
There  are  few  ravens,  indeed,  who  croak  for  human  blood ; 
few  vultures  who  whet  their  bloody  beaks  and  dirty  talons 
that  they  may  tear  the  quivering  vitals  of  a  neighbor  and  a 
brother ;  few  hungry  hounds  who  howl  impatiently  to  dispute 
over  the  mangled  remains  of  the  murdered.  The  great  masses 
know  and  feel  that  the  same  law  which  condemns  the  guilty 
vindicates  the  innocent ;  it  plucks  down  the  high  and  raises 
up  the  lowly,  and  when  our  boasted  system  shall,  with  all  its 
theories  of  equality  and  justice  in  practice,  condemn  without 
a  hearing  and  convict  without  or  against  evidence,  let  us  con 
sign  our  constitution  and  laws  to  the  dungeon  where  we  con 
fine  and  chain  the  criminal,  drape  them  up  with  mourning,  and 
cover  them  with  dust  and  sackcloth.  Like  the  early  despots  of 
the  East,  let  us  dip  our  hands  in  gore  and  stamp  them  upon  the 
parchment  which  proclaims  the  abominable  edict ;  like  the  san 
guinary  code  of  Draco,  let  our  laws  be  written  in  human  blood. 


576 

You  have  learned  as  well  from  the  opening  of  the  counsel 
for  the  prosecution  as  from  that  of  my  learned  and  eloquent 
associate  for  the  prisoner,*  that  the  defence  is  insanity,  and 
you  have  heard  the  peculiar  symptoms  of  the  insane  described 
by  the  latter,  and  enforced  and  illustrated  by  many  authors  of 
celebrity.  You  have,  too,  learned  that  an  acquittal,  by  reason 
of  insanity,  does  not  restore  the  prisoner  to  liberty,  but  com 
mits  him  to  the  walls  of  a  lunatic  asylum  for  confinement  and 
humane  treatment.  And  is  it  not  enough  that  this  young 
man,  stricken  of  heaven  by  this  afflictive  malady,  should  be 
torn  from  a  beloved  and  once  happy  home  and  all  he  held 
most  dear;  his  domestic  hearth  be  left  cold  and  desolate, 
while  his  prospects,  just  budding  into  life,  gave  promise  of  hap 
py  fruition — be  torn  from  a  beloved  and  affectionate  wife  be 
fore  her  young  affections  had  learned  to  nestle  to  his  heart  ? 
In  proving  hereditary  insanity  to  have  existed  in  this  family, 
we  called  an  aged  man,  who,  with  the  eloquence  of  grief,  de 
clared  that  they  were  an  afflicted  family ;  and  when  he  spoke 
of  the  infirmity  which  rested  upon  the  mother,  who,  in  his  in 
fancy,  taught  him  holy  words  in  prayer,  and  wept  over  the 
recollection  of  her  goodness,  it  seemed  to  me  a  bright  and 
beautiful  oasis  in  the  great  desert  of  human  existence. 

Insanity  may  well  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  calamity 
which  afflicts  our  nature;  and  if  there  is  one  cup  more  deeply 
drugged  than  another  with  bitterness,  and  which  of  all  others 
we  should  prostrate  ourselves  before  our  Maker  and  pray  to 
have  pass  from  us,  it  is  a  deprivation  of  our  reason.  This  was 
most  feelingly  portrayed  by  that  bright  and  beautiful  child  of 
purity  and  song,  who  came  among  us  to  warble  a  few  sweet 
notes,  and  then  to  disappear  like  a  star  that  twinkles  for  a  mo 
ment  upon  the  horizon's  verge,  and  goes  out  forever — Lucretia 
Maria  Davison.  In  some  lines,  touchingly  beautiful  with  the 
simplicity  of  truth,  she  attempted  to  describe  the  fear  she  en 
tertained  of  this  fell  enemy  of  man ;  but  the  delirium  seized 
upon  her  brain  before  they  were  completed,  in  the  middle  of  a 
sentence,  and  they  wrere  thus  published  in  her  brief  memoirs 
She  says : 


*  MB.  CAMP. 


1857.]  TRIAL    OF   JOHN    M.    THURSTON.  577 

•'There  is  a  something  which  I  dread, 

It  is  a  dark  and  fearful  thing, 
It  steals  along  with  withering  tread, 

Or  flits  on  wild  destruction's  wing. 
The  thought  comes  o'er  me  oft  in  hours 

Of  grief,  of  sickness,  or  of  sadness. 
^Tis  not  the  dread  of  death,  "'tis  more — 

It  is  tJie  dread  of  madness" 

It  was  at  an  early  day  the  humane  practice  to  smother  those 
afflicted  with  hydrophobia  between  feather  beds,  and  that  was 
mercy  too,  compared  with  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  They 
were  cruelly  beaten  and  chastised  for  a  supposed  perversity  of 
temper,  confined  in  loathsome  and  gloomy  dungeons  and  "  shut 
from  the  common  air  and  common  use  of  their  own  limbs  ;  " 
fed  on  refuse  food,  laden  with  chains,  and  treated  like  fero 
cious  and  venomous  beasts.  The  annals  of  criminal  justice  can 
present  no  instances  of  cruelty  such  as  were  extended  to  those 
being  bereft  of  reason,  nor  the  prison  walls  of  Galtz  nor  Magde- 
burgh  or  Chillon  tell  of  deeper  physical  suffering  than  the  in 
sane  experienced ;  and  we  have  but  to  refer  to  the  commissions 
which  have  been  read  upon  this  very  trial  to  show,  that  a  few 
years  since,  in  one  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  distinguished  for 
the  refinement  and  intelligence  of  its  people,  a  delicate,  unmar 
ried  female,  who  was  insane,  had  a  cage  prepared  for  her  as  for 
a  wild  animal  at  a  show  !  But,  thanks  to  the  cause  of  philan 
thropy  and  science,  in  1792,  Pinel,  that  benefactor  and  philoso 
pher,  in  charge  of  an  insane  Asylum  in  Paris,  triumphed  over 
ignorance  and  bigotry  and  brutal  violence,  and  struck  oft'  the 
manacles  from  the  swollen  limbs  of  its  inmates,  and  restored 
them  to  light  and  life,  and  treated  them  like  human  beings. 
From  that  moment  science  and  humanity  have  contributed  to 
meliorate  their  condition ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
there  are  great  and  interesting  truths  yet  unadmitted  and  unas 
certained  in  the  mysterious  operations  of  the  mind. 

It  has  been  often  asserted,  and  oftener  repeated,  that  the 
plea  of  insanity  is  used  as  a  shield  for  crime,  and  is  interposed 
as  a  matter  of  course,  when  there  is  no  other  defence.  This  has 
become  a  common  saying  and  a  common  jest  with  prejudice  and 
ignorance,  and  those  wrho  have  no  better  answer  to  a  serious 
fact.  It  will  do  well  for  an  argument  at  the  corner  of  the 
37 


578 

streets,  or  to  season  a  newspaper  paragraph  as  a  substitute  for 
truth ;  but  so  far  as  this  region  of  country  is  concerned,  I  brand 
upon  the  assertion  the  stamp  of  falsehood,  and  challenge  the 
proof.  It  may  have  been  abused  in  Europe  and  in  our  populous 
cities,  where  the  felons  of  both  the  Old  World  and  the  New  con 
centre  :  but  I  defy  the  counsel  opposed  to  show  that  it  has 
ever  fallen  under  suspicion,  even,  in  the  great  agricultural  ter 
ritory  of  southwestern  New  York.  Where  has  the  plea  been 
improperly  interposed,  and  by  whom  and  upon  what  occasion  ? 
Has  it  ever  fallen  under  your  observation  ?  I  aver  that  after 
many  years  at  the  bar  and  a  somewhat  extensive  circuit  prac 
tice,  I  have  never  seen  a  trial  where  insanity  was  the  defence 
except  in  a  single  instance,  and  in  that  the  result  showed  that  it 
was  well  interposed.  Upon  this  subject,  Chief  Justice  Parker, 
of  New  Hampshire,  in  a  charge  to  the  Grand  Jury  said,  a  few 
years  since :  "  The  public  presses,  in  giving  reports  of  trials, 
often  say,  4  the  defence  was,  as  usual,  insanity,'  or  make  use  of 
some  other  expression,  indicating  that  this  species  of  defence  is 
resorted  to  in  desperate  cases,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the 
escape  of  criminals  from  justice.  Such  opinions  are  propagated 
in  many  instances  by  those  whose  feelings  are  too  much  enlisted, 
or  whose  ignorance  respecting  the  subject  is  too  great  to  permit 
them  to  form,  a  dispassionate  and  intelligent  judgment ;  and 
they  have  a  very  pernicious  tendency,  inasmuch  as  they  excite 
prejudices  in  the  public  mind,  and  the  unfortunate  individual, 
who  is  really  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  such  a  defence,  is  thereby 
sometimes  deprived  of  a  fair  and  impartial  trial.  Again,  how 
irreverent  and  almost  impious  the  taking  of  life  under  such  cir 
cumstances  !  Whom  God  hath  visited,  him  man  undertakes  to 
judge  and  afflict  wTith  punishment !  As  if  human  reason  were 
deputed  to  revise  the  course  of  Divine  Providence !  " 

Justice  Edmonds,  in  the  case  of  Kleim,  tried  for  murder  in 
1846,  in  his  charge  to  the  Jury  said,  that  although  the  plea  of 
insanity  was  sometimes  assumed  as  a  cloak  for  crime,  yet  "  it 
was  unfortunately  equally  true  that  many  more  persons  were 
unjustly  convicted  and  condemned  to  suffer  the  punishment  for 
crime,  to  whom  their  unquestioned  insanity  ought  to  have  been 
an  unfailing  protection" 

The  lamented  Dr.  Brigham,  in  the  18th  Annual  Report  of 
the  Hartford  Retreat,  says :  *  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  in- 


1857.]  TRIAL    OF    JOHN    M.    THURSTON.  579 

stance,  where  the  insanity  of  an  individual  has  been  certified  by 
those  well  informed  and  well  qualified  by  experience  with  the 
insane  to  judge  on  such  a  subject,  that  time  and  public  opinion 
has  decided  to  be  incorrect.  While  I  know  many  instances 
icliere  the  plea  has  been  disregarded,  which  time  has  shown 
ought  not  to  have  been" 

Dr.  Bell,  Superintendent  of  the  McLean  Asylum,  near  Bos 
ton,  says,  "  that  for  one  real  criminal  acquitted  on  the  score  of 
insanity,  there  have  been  a  dozen  maniacs  executed" 

Dr.  Woodward,  Superintendent  of  the  Insane  Hospital  at 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  says,  in  his  annual  Report  for  1843  : 
"It  may  be  a  consolation  and  an  encouragement  to  jurors,  in 
faithfully  following  out  their  own  sincere  convictions  of  the  law 
and  evidence  in  such  cases,  to  know,  that  in  a  pretty  diligent 
inquiry  as  to  the  event  in  every  case  of  homicide  in  New  Eng 
land,  where  the  accused  has  had  the  defence  of  insanity  set  up 
for  him,  and  been  acquitted  on  that  ground,  it  has  been  found 
that  not  an  instance  has  occurred  where  the  progress  of  time  has 
not  abundantly  verified  the  soundness  of  the  defence — a  fact 
which  ought  forever  to  silence  the  thoughtless,  but  perhaps  not 
inconsequential  intimations  always  presented  in  such  cases,  that 
insanity  is  set  up,  as  the  last  resort  of  a  desperate  defence." 

My  worthy  associate,*  formerly  the  District  Attorney  of  this 
county,  gives  me  a  case,  which  came  under  his  official  observa 
tion,  with  which  some  of  you  may  be  familiar.  Andrew  Roman, 
of  Richford,  in  this  county,  was  charged  with  an  offence,  was 
defended  unsuccessfully  on  the  ground  of  insanity,  and  was  con 
victed  and  sent  to  the  State  prison.  He  was  pardoned  by  the 
Governor,  and,  proving  to  be  insane,  as  he  doubtless  was  when 
convicted,  was  sent  to  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  by  the  order 
of  Judge  Avery,  now  upon  the  bench.  These  accumulated  evi 
dences  must  satisfy  all  reasoning  minds  that  such  a  defence 
should  be  listened  to  with  respect,  and  investigated  with  cau 
tion,  and  the  evidence  heard  and  weighed  like  other  evidence, 
which  is  all  we  desire  or  claim.  As  for  that  brutal  and  fiendish 
spirit  which  we  have  heard  at  the  street-crossings,  belching 
forth  its  profane  gasconades,  that  no  one  should  believe  the 
prisoner  insane  if  proved  so,  we  have  merely  to  say,  "  Go  vent 

*  MB.  TAYLOR. 


580  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

your  railings  to  the  savage  beasts  that  prey  on  one  another.  If 
you  love  the  laws  that  sanction  this,  they  are  your  fit  associates." 
The  dividing  line  between  sanity  and  insanity  is  frequently 
obscure  and  difficult,  nor  can  it  be  determined  by  a  casual  ob 
server  where  sanity  leaves  off  and  insanity  commences. 

"  Great  wits  to  madness  nearly  are  allied, 
And  thin  partitions  do  their  realms  divide." 

The  eminent  medical  witnesses  have  told  us  that  this  case 
does  not,  in  many  of  its  features,  resemble  any  other  one  within 
the  range  of  their  experience ;  that  the  characteristics  of  the 
insane  are  as  diversified  as  those  of  the  sane,  and  that  no  two 
cases  are  alike.  This  is  proved  by  the  infinite  variety  which 
human  character  presents,  as  well  as  its  physical  development. 
Pass  the  whole  family  of  man  before  you  in  one  grand  review, 
and  learn  their  respective  traits  of  character,  and  you  will  find 
no  two  exactly  similar ;  look  upon  their  countenances,  and  each 
one  is  unlike  every  other  Let  them  all  register  their  names, 
and  the  same  peculiar  shade  of  difference  is  perceivable  in  their 
mode  of  writing. 

The  statute  of  our  State  has  humanely  provided  that  "  ISTo 
act  done  by  a  person  in  a  state  of  insanity  can  be  punished  as 
an  offence."  It  has  not  said  that  the  mental  disease  shall  be 
mania,  monomania,  dementia,  or  any  other  particular  form  or 
classification  of  the  disease,  nor  that  it  shall  be  with  or  without 
delusion  or  hallucination  ;  but,  in  broad,  significant  and  common 
sense  terms,  that  if  the  act  be  done  in  a  state  of  insanity,  it  shall 
not  be  punished  as  a  crime. 

"We  do  not  contend  that  this  man  was  at  the  time  he  com 
mitted  the  act  or  is  now  a  raving  maniac,  or  that  his  mental 
manifestations  were  such  as  necessarily  to  attract  the  notice  of 
the  casual  observer,  but  that  he  has  long  exhibited  all  or  many 
of  the  premonitions  of  that  insane  impulse,  which  terminated  in 
this  awful  catastrophe,  and  that  he  is  now  rapidly  sinking  into 
a  state  of  dementia.  All  concede  that  insanity  is  not  produced 
by  any  single  cause,  nor  is  its  inception  betokened  by  any  single 
symptom.  The  plant  which  shoots  up  from  the  earth  is  not 
produced  by  the  seed  alone  from  which  it  germinates,  nor  yet 
by  the  soil  from  which  it  springs  ;  but  the  rains  which  refresh, 


185T.]  TKIAL    OF   JOHN   M.   THUKSTON.  581 

the  sun  which  vivifies,  and  the  dews  which  fertilize,  are  all  es 
sential  elements  in  its  composition.  So  with  this  noxious  plant, 
insanity,  which,  like  a  deadly  upas,  is  permitted  to  degrade  and 
afflict  the  children  of  men ;  it  springs  up  from  the  blood  which 
has  descended  from  the  ancestor,  numerous  evidences  betoken 
its  approach,  and  numerous  causes  contribute  to  its  growth,  un 
til  it  overshadows  and  darkens  the  intellect,  and  prostrates  the 
rational  man  ;  and  yet  no  one  cause  alone  has  produced  it,  nor 
one  symptom  alone  given  evidence  of  its  presence.  But  the 
whole  taken  together  furnish  fearful  evidence  that  the  termina 
tion  will  be  insanity,  and  when  that  supervenes,  the  symptoms 
and  the  termination,  each  as  evidence,  give  force  to  the  other. 

In  physical  disease  the  physician  does  not  pause  after  having 
ascertained  a  single  symptom,  but  learns  the  habits  of  a  whole 
life,  descending  to  the  most  minute  particulars  in  the  economy 
of  the  patient,  before  he  pronounces  upon  the  character  of  the 
disease  or  attempts  to  prescribe  a  remedy.  No  casual  observer 
can  safely  speak  of  mental  or  physical  health  merely  because  he 
has  noticed  no  derangement  in  any  matter,  much  less  in  a  case 
of  life  and  death. 

Says  Dr.  Ray : 

"  It  would  be  no  greater  error  to  deny  the  existence  of  consumption 
because  its  approaches  have  not  been  noticed,  than  to  deny  insanity 
because  its  symptoms  have  not  been  observed." 

As  well  might  it  be  insisted  that  the  tree  which  is  prostrated 
because  the  worm  has  been  gnawing  at  its  heart,  was  in  perfect 
health  and  vigor  until  it  lay  in  ruin,  because  the  passer-by  had 
failed  to  discover  the  cause  of  its  decay. 

We  have  already  seen  that  an  act  done  by  an  insane  per 
son  cannot  be  punished  criminally.  This  principle  is  illustrated 
by  Blackstone  as  follows,  4  Bl.  Com.  21  :  "An  involuntary  act, 
as  it  has  no  claim  to  merit,  so  neither  can  it  induce  any  guilt : 
the  concurrence  of  the  will,  when  it  has  its  choice  either  to  do 
or  to  avoid  the  act  in  question,  being  the  only  thing  that  renders 
human  actions  either  praiseworthy  or  culpable.  Indeed,  to 
make  a  complete  crime  cognizable  by  human  laws,  there  must 
be  both  a  will  and  an  act." 

The  celebrated  Lord  Erskine,  on  the  trial  of  Hadfield  for 
shooting  at  the  king,  laid  down  the  following  rules  : 


582  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

1.  "  That  it  is  the  reason  of  man  which  makes  him  accountable  for 
his  actions,  and  that  the  deprivation  of  reason  acquits  him  of  crime. 

2.  "  That  it  is  unnecessary  that  reason  should  be  entirely  subvert 
ed,  or  driven  from  her  seat,  but  that  it  is  sufficient  if  distraction  sits 
down  upon  it  along  with  her,  holds  her  trembling  hand  upon  her,  and 
frightens  her  from  her  propriety.'1'1 


And  this  was  doubtless  the  case  with  the  prisoner. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  proceed  to  inquire  what  is  insanity ; 
and  here,  too,  I  assure  you  I  shall  spend  no  time  in  confusing 
this  question  by  placing  this  case  under  any  particular  head,  or 
in  likening  it  to  any  class,  except  that  of  insanity.  All  else  is 
immaterial  except  so  far  as  it  goes  to  prove  that  he  was  insane. 
Spurzheim,  a'celebrated  writer  upon  the  subject,  defines  insanity 
to  be  "  cither  a  morbid  condition  of  any  intellectual  faculty, 
without  the  person's  being  aware  of  this,  or  the  existence  of 
some  of  the  natural  propensities  in  such  violence  that  it  is  im 
possible  not  to  yield  to  them" 

Says  Dr.  Ray,  page  129  : 

"  Insanity  observes  the  same  pathological  laws  as  other  diseases. 
Notwithstanding  the  air  of  mystery  which  ignorance  and  superstition 
have  thrown  around  this  disease,  it  cannot  be  said  to  present  anything 
very  strange  or  peculiar ;  nor  are  the  discussions  concerning  it  involved 
in  the  obscurity  which  is  generally  imagined.  It  arises  from  a  morbid 
affection  of  organic  matter,  and  is  just  as  much,  and  no  more,  an  event 
of  special  providence,  as  other  diseases :  and  to  attribute  it  to  the  visi 
tation  of  God  in  a  peculiar  sense,  is  a  questionable  proof  of  true  piety 
as  well  as  sound  philosophy.  It  follows  the  same  course  of  incubation, 
development,  and  termination  in  cure  or  death,  as  other  diseases : 
sometimes  lying  dormant  for  months  or  even  years,  obscure  to  others, 
and  perhaps  unsuspected  by  the  patient  himself;  at  others,  suddenly 
breaking  out  with  little  premonition  of  its  approach  ;  and  again,  after 
being  repeatedly  warded  off  by  precaution  and  remedies,  finally  estab 
lishing  itself  in  its  clearest  forms;  just  as  consumption,  for  instance, 
sometimes  begins  its  ravages  so  slowly  and  insidiously  as  to  be  per 
ceptible  only  to  the  most  practised  observer,  for  years  together,  while 
in  another  class  of  patients,  it  proceeds  from  the  beginning  with  a  prog 
ress  as  rapid  as  it  is  painfully  manifest.  But  its  presence  no  one 
thinks  of  denying  in  the  former  case,  merely  because  its  victim  enjoys 
a  certain  degree  of  health  and  activity,  though  it  would  be  no  greater 
error  than  to  deny  the  existence  of  insanity  while  the  operations  of  the 


1857.]  TRIAL    OF   JOHN   M.    THURSTOX.  583 

mind  are  not  so  deeply  disturbed  as  to  be  perceptible  to  tlic  casual 
observer. 

Dr.  Guy,  in  his  valuable  treatise  on  the  principles  of  "Fo 
rensic  Medicine,"  page  318,  gives  this  vivid  and  startling  de 
scription  : 

"  It  is  probably  beyond  the  power  of  the  sane  mind  to  conceive  the 
confusion  which  reigns  in  the  mind  of  the  madman.  A  series  of  delu 
sions,  the  offspring  of  some  excited  passion  or  emotion,  or  some  single 
delusion,  the  work  of  fancy,  the  interpreter  of  every  sensation,  the 
source  of  every  thought,  the  mainspring  of  every  action ;  holding 
every  faculty  in  stern  subjection,  making  the  senses  its  dupes,  the 
reason  its  advocate,  the  fancy  its  sport,  and  the  mind  its  slave ;  now 
whispering  in  the  ear  things  unspoken,  now  painting  on  the  eye  things 
unseen  ;  changing  human  beings  at  will  into  fiends  or  angels  ;  converting 
every  sensation  into  a  vision,  every  sound  into  articulate  speech ;  the 
unreal  world  within  in  constant  conflict  with  the  real  world  without  ; 
understood  of  no  one,  yet  believing  himself  comprehended  by  all,  pun 
ished  for  the  very  actions  which  he  supposes  his  tyrants  to  have  com 
manded  ;  controlled  in  everything  which  he  thinks  it  his  duty  to  per 
form.  There  is  no  wish  however  presumptuous,  no  fancy  however 
monstrous,  no  action  however  absurd,  no  crime  however  heinous,  that 
his  delusion  cannot  create,  prompt,  and  justify.  That  a  sane  man 
might  form  a  conception,  however  faint,  of  the  distraction  of  such  a 
state  as  this,  it  would  be  necessary  to  combine  into  one  whole  the 
strange  confusion  of  a  dream,  and  the  sleeper's  entire  belief  in  its  re 
ality,  the  various  impressions  and  changing  scenes  of  his  waking  hours, 
and  the  conduct,  to  him  wholly  unintelligible,  of  those  about  him. 

Doctor  Ray,  the  celebrated  author  before  cited,  in  his  an 
nual  Report  to  the  Legislature  of  Maine,  in  which  State  he  then 
had  charge  of  an  Insane  Asylum,  gives  the  following  brief  and 
sensible  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  the  state  of  a  patient's 
mind  ; — whether  there  can  be  noticed  in  the  party  supposed  to 
be  insane  "  a  departure  from  his  ordinary  character  and  habits, 
without  any  adequate  motives."  Fourth  Ann.  Report,  page  33. 

I  have  already  stated  that  we  should  not  attempt  to  place 
this  case  of  insanity  under  any  particular  subdivision  of  the  dis 
ease,  but  rest  the  defence  upon  the  clear  and  uncontradicted 
evidence  that  he  was  insane.  The  following,  from  Prichard,  an 
English  author  of  celebrity  and  a  physician  of  great  learning  and 
experience,  however,  describes  this  very  case  with  painful  accu- 


584:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

racy.     See  Pri chard  on  Insanity,  page  87.     Under  the  head  of 
Instinctive  Madness,  the  author  says  : 

u  In  this  disorder,  the  will  is  occasionally  under  the  influence  of  an 
impulse,  which  suddenly  drives  the  person  affected  to  the  perpetration 
of  acts  of  the  most  revolting  kind,  to  the  commission  of  which  he  has 
no  motive.  The  impulse  is  accompanied  by  consciousness  ;  but  it  is 
in  some  instances  irresistible  ;  some  individuals  who  have  felt  the  ap 
proach  of  this  disorder  have  been  known  to  take  precautions  against 
themselves  ;  they  have  warned,  for  example,  their  neighbors  and  rela 
tives  to  escape  from  within  their  reach  till  the  paroxysm  should  have 
subsided." 

"  There  is  scarcely  an  act  in  the  catalogue  of  human  crimes  which 
has  not  been  imitated,  if  we  may  so  speak,  by  this  disease.  Homi 
cides,  infanticides,  suicides  of  the  most  fearful  description,  have  been 
committed  under  its  influence  ;  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  more  of 
those  appalling  instances  in  which  men  are  reported  to  have  murdered 
their  wives  and  children,  and  sometimes  to  have  destroyed  themselves 
at  the  same  time,  are  of  this  kind." 

Dr.  Taylor,  also  a  distinguished  English  writer,  says  of  that 
form  of  the  disease  known  as  homicidal  monomania,  that  "  it  is 
commonly  defined  to  be  a  state  of  partial  insanity,  accompa 
nied  by  an  impulse  to  the  commission  of  murder ;  but  most 
suicidal  jurists  admit  that  individuals,  who  may  not  appear  to 
labor  under  any  intellectual  aberration,  are  liable  to  be  seized 
with  a  sudden  destructive  impulse,  under  which  they  will  de 
stroy  those  to  whom  they  are  most  fondly  attached,  or  any 
person  who  may  at  the  time  happen  to  be  involved  in  the  sub 
ject  of  their  delusion.  Sometimes  the  impulse  is  long  felt,  but 
concealed  and  restrained.  There  may  be  merely  signs  of  mel 
ancholy  and  depression  about  the  individual ;  nothing,  how 
ever,  to  lead  to  a  suspicion  of  the  fearful  contention  which  may 
be  going  on  within  his  mind.  Occasionally  the  murder  may 
be  perpetrated  with  great  deliberation,  and  under  all  the  marks 
of  sanity.  These  cases  are  rendered  difficult  by  the  fact  that 
there  may  be  no  clear  proof  of  the  existence,  past  or  present, 
of  any  disorder  of  the  mind ;  so  that  it  would  appear  the 
chief  evidence  of  the  existence  of  insanity  is  the  act  itself.  Of 
the  existence  of  the  malady  before  and  after  the  perpetration 
of  the  crime  there  may  be  either  no  evidence  whatever,  or  it 
may  be  so  slight  as  scarcely  to  amount  to  proof." 


1857.]  TRIAL   OF   JOHK   M.    THUKSTON.  585 

Dr.  Guy,  in  describing  homicidal  impulse,  page  315,  says : 

"  The  most  distinguished  authors,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  have 
recognized  this  form  of  mental  unsoundness  as  having  an  existence  in 
dependent  of  delusion.  The  cases  on  record  are  so  numerous  that  the 
only  difficulty  is  that  of  selection.  The  following  is  a  remarkable  one. 
William  Brown  was  executed  at  Manchester,  in  1812,  for  strangling  a 
child  whom  he  accidentally  rnet  one  morning  while  walking  in  the 
country.  On  the  trial  he  said  he  had  never  seen  the  child,  had  no  mal 
ice  against  it,  and  could  assign  no  motive  for  the  dreadful  act.  He  took 
up  the  body  and  laid  it  on  some  steps,  and  went  and  told  what  he  had 
done,  requesting  to  be  taken  into  custody.  He  bore  an  exemplary  char 
acter,  and  had  never  been  suspected  of  being  insane.  Of  his  execution, 
I  add,  in  the  language  of  Lord  Brougham  upon  another  occasion,  that 
it  was  to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  the  court  who  tried  him." 

The  Annual  Report  of  the  Hartford  Retreat  for  the  Insane 
for  1842  gives  the  following  case,  to  which  I  beg  leave  to  call 
especial  attention : 

"  A  lady,  the  mother  of  three  children,  suddenly  killed  one  of  them 
by  repeated  wounds  with  a  hatchet.  She  had  not  been  considered  in 
sane  previously,  though  she  had  for  some  time  been  somewhat  unwell 
and  low-spirited.  Soon  after  the  act  she  endeavored  to  kill  herself, 
and  was  brought  to  the  Ketreat  a  decided  and  wretched  maniac.  For 
several  weeks  she  remained  without  much  change,  rather  stupid,  as  if 
having  no  recollection  of  the  past.  After  this  her  bodily  health  began  to 
improve,  when  suddenly  her  memory  of  what  she  had  done  seemed  to 
return,  and  the  agony  she  was  then  in  for  a  few  hours,  until  her  feelings 
were  overcome  by  opium,  was  indescribable  and  most  painful  to  wit 
ness.  She,  however,  recovered,  and  has  now  been  well  for  nearly  a 
year.  She  has  often  assured  me  since,  that  she  could  recollect  no  motive 
whatever  that  induced  her  to  commit  the  act,  and  does  not  Relieve  that 
she  thought  of  it  until  she  saw  the  hatchet.  Had  this  amiable  lady  and 
affectionate  mother  killed  a  neighbor  or  domestic,  I  fear  there  would 
have  been  difficulty  in  convincing  a  jury  that  the  act  was  the  conse 
quence  of  insanity." 

"  Dr.  Bell,  the  accomplished  physician  of  the  McLean  Asylum,  Mas 
sachusetts,  observes  (  see  Ray,  page  170),  that  he  knew  a  pious,  intelli 
gent  student,  pursuing  his  daily  avocations  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
friends  and  instructors,  who  nightly  slept  with  a  weapon  under  his  pil 
low  to  protect  himself  from  an  attack  from  one  whom  he  had  scarcely 
seen,  and  to  whom  he  had  never  spoken ;  and  when  convinced  of  his 
delusion  by  proofs  so  overpowering  that  his  mind  was  obliged  to  ac- 


586  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

knowledge  its  assent,  lie  merely  transferred  his  suspicions  to  another 
equally  innocent  individual."  Had  this  young  man  met  the  object  of 
his  suspicions  and  shot  him  dead,  how  few  could  have  heen  brought  to 
believe  that  he  acted  under  the  influence  'of  insanity,  and  was  conse 
quently  irresponsible!  How  feeble  would  have  been  any  evidence  of 
his  insanity  but  such  as  had  reference  expressly  to  the  particular  form 
under  which  he  was  laboring!  Such  a  case  as  this  should  make  a 
strong  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  medical  jurist.  When  an  act  of 
violence  is  committed  by  a  young  subject,  without  any  apparent  motive, 
and  without  any  obvious  signs  of  insanity,  it  should  always  be  ascer 
tained,  if  possible,  whether  he  has  been  addicted  to  masturbation,  and 
whether  he  has  shown  any  of  the  changes  of  temper  and  habit  which 
generally  accompany  the  incipient  stage  of  this  form  of  mental  derange 
ment.  If  it  appear  that  he  has  practised  this  vice,  and  especially  if  he 
have  also  manifested  its  usual  moral  effects,  then  is  there  strong  ground 
for  believing  that  his  mind  was  possessed  by  a  delusion  which  further 
inquiry  may  bring  to  light.  This  form  of  disease  is  not  perhaps  suffi 
ciently  understood  to  warrant  us  in  furnishing  an  exact  detail  of  its 
phenomena.  Reference  must  be  had  to  the  opinions  of  those  who  have 
had  opportunities  of  observing  it,  and  to  the  valuable  contributions 
that  have  been  made  to  the  subject." 


Dr.  Beck,  of  this  State,  the  celebrated  author  of  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  authentic  works  upon  Medical  Jurispru 
dence,  in  speaking  of  that  form  of  the  disease  called  Mono 
mania  (see  vol.  1,  new  edition,  page  713),  says : 

"  Some  patients,  when  suffering  under  this  form,  are  excessively  iras 
cible,  and  even  without  any  apparent  cause  are  suddenly  hurried  into  a 
violent  passion  or  fury.  It  is  while  laboring  under  this  that  they  be 
come  dangerous  to  themselves  or  those  around  them.  They  will  seize 
any  weapon  and  strike  and  injure  others  or  themselves.  Sometimes 
consciousness  of  their  situation  is  so  far  present  as  to  allow  them  to 
warn  individuals  of  their  danger,  or  to  entreat  them  to  prevent  their 
doing  injury.  An  internal  sensation  is  perceived — as  a  burning  heat 
with  pulsation  within  the  skull — previous  to  this  excitement.  This  de 
scription  of  lunatics  eat  much,  but  sometimes  they  endure  hunger  with 
great  obstinacy;  they  have  frequent  pain  in  the  bowels,  and  costiveness 
is  common." 


The  following  marked  cases,  which  have  been  the  subject 
of  judicial  investigation,  in  their  leading  features  exhibit  many 
of  the  same  traits  as  this,  and  prove  that  impulsive  or  parox- 


1857.]  TEfAL   OF   JOHN   M.   THUESTON.  587 

ysmal  insanity  may  and  does  exist,  though  unperceived  and 
unsuspected,  even  by  those  most  intimately  associated  with 
them. 

Agustino  Rabello  (see  Jour.  Ins.,  vol.  3,  No.  1,  page  41)  was 
tried  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  in  1835,  for  the  murder  of 
Ferris  Beardslee,  Rabello  was  a  foreigner  and  a  journeyman 
shoemaker,  in  the  employment  of  the  father  of  the  deceased, 
who  was  a  young  boy.  This  boy,  in  passing  by  Rabcllo  one 
evening,  accidentally  trod  upon  his  toes.  The  next  day  the 
boy  was  passing  from  the  house  to  the  barn  with  an  axe,  when 
Rabello  met  him,  and,  taking  the  axe  from  him,  without  saying 
a  word,  split  open  his  head,  killing  him  on  the  spot.  When 
questioned  concerning  the  act  he  said  the  boy  trod  on  his  toes, 
and  God  would  forgive  him.  He  was  proved  to  have  been 
insane  by  competent  medical  men,  Dr.  Fuller,  of  Hartford  Re. 
treat,  among  others,  testifying  that  "  It  is  well  settled  that  one 
faculty  of  the  mind  may  be  deranged  while  the  rest  are  sound," 
and  Dr.  Brigham  testifying  that  "  such  insane  people  are  often 
dejected  and  melancholy,  and  carry  in  their  countenances  an 
appearance  of  sadness  and  gloom,  take  but  little  interest  in 
things  that  interest  others,  and  yet  will  exhibit  no  derange 
ment  of  the  intellect ;  but  on  some  slight  provocation  or  an 
imagined  one,  will  become  violently  passionate  and  resort  to 
the  most  cruel  and  awful  method  of  revenge,  and  show  a  total 
want  of  self-control ;  "  and  although  many  were  found  to  tes 
tify  in  that  case  as  in  this,  including  some  respectable  physi 
cians,  that  they  had  never  discovered  any  aberration  of  mind, 
he  was  acquitted  by  an  intelligent  jury  on  the  ground  of  his 
insanity.  He  was  kept  in  confinement,  and  became  a  raving 
maniac. 

Abner  Rogers,  Jr.,  a  convict  in  the  State  Prison  of  Massa 
chusetts,  was  tried  in  1843  for  killing  Mr.  Lincoln,  a  warden 
of  the  prison,  Chief- Justice  Shaw  presiding.  He  was  a  poor 
degraded  convict  without  friends;  but  a  pious  and  humane 
clergyman  of  the  neighborhood  seeing  him,  and  believing  him 
insane,  induced  Dr.  Bell  to  visit  him  for  the  purpose  of  deter 
mining  his  state  of  mind.  He  was  by  those  learned  men  pro 
nounced  to  be  insane,  for  which  opinion  they  were  visited 
with  a  torrent  of  obloquy  and  ridicule.  And  here  again  were 
the  requisite  number  of  witnesses  who  "  had  not  noticed  any 


588  DICKINSON  S    SPEECHES. 

aberration  of  mind,"  and  even  the  physician  of  the  prison,  Dr. 
Walker,  a  gentleman  of  learning  and  experience,  testified  that 
the  prisoner  was  of  perfectly  sound  mind,  and  that  his  insan 
ity  was  all  a  pretence,  for  which  he  had  subjected  him  to  pun 
ishment.  The  poor  wretch  was,  however,  after  two  trials,  the 
jury  disagreeing  on  the  first,  acquitted  by  reason  of  insanity. 
He  also  became  a  raving  maniac,  and  died  by  his  own  hand  in 
the  asylum.  (See  his  trial  published  at  Boston  in  1844.) 

John  C.  Griffin  was  tried  at  Norwich,  Chenango  county,  in 
1845,  before  Mr.  Justice  Edmonds,  for  the  murder  of  Eras- 
tus  Coit.  (See  Jour,  of  Ins.,  vol.  3,  No.  3,  page  227.)  In  this 
case  I  had  the  honor  of  being  associated  with  the  District  At 
torney  for  the  prosecution.  Coit  had  seduced  Griffin's  wife 
from  her  home,  and  was  living  with  her.  The  friends  of  the 
wife,  including  her  husband,  Griffin,  met  at  Coit's,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  inducing  her  to  leave  Coit  and  go  to  her  friends.  Grif 
fin  upon  that  occasion  had  a  pistol  in  the  pocket  of  his  linen 
pantaloons,  and  while  watching  alone  out  of  doors  it  was  dis 
charged  by  accident,  and  slightly  wounded  Griffin's  leg  and 
set  his  pantaloons  on  fire.  Coit  and  others  in  the  house,  hear 
ing  the  report,  came  out,  and  Griffin  caught  up  a  whiffletree 
and  killed  Coit  at  a  single  blow.  The  defence  was  insanity, 
and  slight  it  was  too ;  scarcely  beyond  showing  an  absent- 
mindedness  and  depression  of  spirits  which  a  man  would  be 
likely  to  exhibit  under  such  a  domestic  reverse ;  and  others 
testified  that  they  had  never  noticed  anything  of  the  kind. 
Dr.  Brigham,  however,  testified  on  the  trial  that  he  believed 
him  insane,  and  said  amongst  other  things : 

"  Another  circumstance,  which  in  my  view  is  some  evidence  of  in 
sanity,  is  the  rapidity  with  which  the  deed  was  done.  I  have  often 
observed  that  an  insane  person,  in  a  paroxysm  of  excitement,  is  quicker 
in  his  motions  than  a  sane  one — it  being  almost  impossible  to  avoid  the 
stroke  of  an  insane  man.  His  appearance  after  the  deed  was  such  as  I 
should  expect  from  an  insane  person.  After  an  outbreak  or  paroxysm 
they  usually  become  calm.  The  appearance  of  the  prisoner  as  it  has 
been  described,  and  at  present  is,  is  in  my  judgment  evidence  of  in 
sanity." 

This  cause  was  submitted  to  the  jury  without  argument, 
who,  under  the  direction  of  the  court,  without  leaving  their 


1857.]  TEIAL   OF  JOHN  M.    THURSTON.  589 

seats,  returned  a  verdict  of  not  guilty  by  reason  of  insanity. 
Griffin  was  sent  to  the  asylum  at  Utica,  where,  as  I  was  after 
wards  informed,  he  was  madly  insane,  though  he  finally  recov 
ered  either  wholly  or  partially.  Those  who  will  remember 
that  the  blow  given  by  Thurston  was  so  sudden  that  no  one 
saw  or  could  see  it,  will  find  in  the  evidence  of  Dr.  Brigham  in 
this  case  most  marked  proof  of  insanity. 

Henrietta  Cornier  (see  Ray,  page  214),  a  French  servant- 
girl  in  Paris,  was  tried  for  the  murder  of  a  child  in  about  1825. 
She  was  sent  to  a  shop  by  her  mistress  for  some  cheese,  where 
she  had  been  often,  and  had  become  much  attached  to  the  child 
of  the  woman  who  kept  the  shop,  nineteen  months  old.  On 
this  occasion  she  begged  permission  to  take  this  child  home 
with  her,  which  being  granted,  she  took  the  child  to  her  room, 
and,  laying  it  upon  her  bed,  severed  its  head  from  its  body  with 
a  large  knife.  When  the  mother  called  for  the  child,  she  coolly 
informed  her  that  it  was  dead,  and  that  she  intended  to  kill  it, 
though  she  could  give  no  reason  for  it.  She  made  no  attempt 
to  escape,  but  confessed  all  the  circumstances,  even  her  design 
to  kill  it.  She  was,  after  repeated  trials  before  their  board  for 
the  determination  of  the  state  of  the  prisoner's  mind  in  such 
cases,  pronounced  insane,  and  disposed  of  accordingly. 

Andrew  Kliem  was  tried  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1845, 
for  the  murder  of  Catharine  Hamlin,  before  Mr.  Justice  Ed 
monds.  (Jour,  of  Ins.,  vol.  2,  No.  3,  page  245.)  The  defence 
was  insanity,  and  the  evidence  much  slighter  than  in  the  case 
now  upon  trial.  Dr.  Earle  (then  resident  physician  of  the  Bloom- 
ingdale  Asylum,  now  in  charge  of  Dr.  Nichols,  who  has  just 
testified  before  you),  however,  proved  him  insane,  though  there 
were  many  who  had  not  noticed  anything  of  the  kind,  and  re 
garded  him  as  a  man  of  evil  and  ungovernable  passions.  He 
was  acquitted  by  reason  of  insanity,  and  sent  to  the  asylum, 
where  he  sunk  into  dementia.  The  reason  he  gave  for  the  kill 
ing,  when  questioned  concerning  it,  is  worthy  of  particular 
recollection.  The  witness  says,  "I  said  he  had  done  very 
wrong.  I  think  he  said,  *  I  couldn't  help  it.'  r  This,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  the  expression  of  Thurston,  when  asked 
why  he  had  killed  Garrison. 

William  Freeman,  a  poor  friendless  negro,  was  tried  at  Au 
burn,  in  1846  (see  volume  containing  trial),  for  the  murder  of 


590 

the  Van  Est  family.  This  negro  had  been  confined  in  the  State 
prison  at  Auburn  for  horse-stealing,  and  some  of  this  family  had 
been  witnesses  against  him,  and,  as  he  alleged,  had  pursued  him 
unjustly.  On  being  discharged  from  prison  he  prepared  suit 
able  weapons,  and,  while  they  were  sleeping,  put  the  whole  fam 
ily  to  death,  stole  a  horse  and  fled  with  great  precipitation. 
He  was  arrested  and  tried  for  this  most  awful  murder,  and  de 
fended  by  Governor  Seward  on  the  ground  of  insanity.  The 
defence  was  received  with  incredulity  and  ridicule,  and  though 
pretty  clearly  proved,  was  overturned  by  many  who  had  no 
ticed  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  by  learned  medical  professors 
who  had  travelled  in  Europe,  and  had  pronounced  him.perfectly 
sane.  He  was  convicted,  but  a  new  trial  was  granted  him  by 
the  Supreme  Court.  Before  that  took  place,  however,  he  had 
been  summoned  to  a  tribunal  where  there  are  no  errors  to  be 
corrected,  and  from  whose  judgment  there  is  no  appeal.  A  post 
mortem  examination  showed  the  brain  of  the  poor  wretch — 
the  organ  of  mind,  the  seat  of  intellect — to  be  a  lifeless 
sponge. 

(Mr.  Dickinson  read  and  commented  upon  numerous  other 
cases  illustrative  of  the  principles  for  which  he  contended,  and 
proceeded.) 

The  great  question  in  this  case  is,  not  whether  Garrison  fell 
by  the  hand  of  Thurston,  for  that  is  conceded,  but  it  is  whether 
Thurston  is  guilty  of  crime,  or  in  other  words,  whether  he  is 
criminally  responsible.  Death  is  the  common  lot  of  man. 
Garrison  has  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  human  action.  We 
cannot  restore  him  to  society,  nor  will  a  verdict  of  guilty 
"  back  to  its  mansion  call  the  fleeting  breath."  In  the  language 
of  Justice  Edmonds,  "you  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  object 
of  punishment  is  not  vengeance,  but  reformation,  and  nothing 
is  so  likely  to  destroy  the  public  confidence  in  the  administra 
tion  of  criminal  justice,  as  the  infliction  of  its  pains  upon  one 
whom  Heaven  has  already  inflicted  with  the  awful  malady  of 
insanity."  Because  there  has  been  an  act  of  violence,  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  there  has  been  a  crime.  The  former  defi 
nition  of  murder  was  the  killing  with  malice  aforethought. 
The  modern  one  is  killing  with. premeditation, 

The  crimes  of  murder  and  manslaughter  are  thus  defined 
by  Sir  Ed  ward  Coke: 


1857.]  TRIAL   OF   JOHN  M.    THUKSTON.  591 

"  When  a  person  of  sound  memory  and  discretion  unlawfully  killetli 
any  reasonable  creature  in  being,  and  under  the  king's  peace,  with  mal 
ice  aforethought,  either  express  or  implied."  (4  Bl.  Com.,  196). 

"  Manslaughter  is  the  unlawful  killing  of  another  without  malice 
either  express  or  implied,  which  may  be  voluntarily  upon  a  sudden 
heat ;  or  involuntarily,  but  in  the  commission  of  some  unlawful  act." 
(-4  Bl.  Com.,  191.) 

The  prosecution  in  their  opening  have  more  than  hinted  that 
the  defence  might  show  this  killing  to  have  been  manslaughter. 
We  submit  that  it  was  clearly  shown  by  the  evidence  for  the 
people  that  the  act  was  without  motive  or  provocation — with 
out  premeditation.  It  therefore  requires  no  defence  to  prove 
it  manslaughter  only,  and  that  this  is  all  the  prosecution  can 
claim  for  it.  To  prove  premeditation  they  must  make  him 
blacker  than  any  demon  who  ever  ranged  the  infernal  regions, 
or  more  of  a  madman  than  ever  was  heard  or  read  of,  from 
the  raving  maniac  to  the  demented  and  slavering  cretin ;  and 
the  most  arrant  and  stupid  fool  that  ever  was  clothed  with  hu 
manity.  But  we  by  no  means  rest  our  defence  upon  this.  Our 
defence  strikes  at  the  whole,  and  we  contend  that  no  crime 
whatever  has  been  committed,  because  of  the  prisoner's  insan 
ity.  Let  no  one  imagine  that  we  are  to  place  our  defence  upon 
the  ground  that  the  act  was  manslaughter ;  our  defence  is,  I  re 
peat  it,  that  he  is  guilty  of  nothing  except  that  his  mind  is 
clouded  over  with  night  and  darkness,  and  unillumined  with 
the  guiding  star  of  reason. 

We  have  already  seen  that,  upon  both  principle  and  author 
ity,  there  can  be  no  crime  without  a  free  and  hearty  exercise 
of  the  will.  Says  Dr.  Ray,  page  253  : 

"  Liberty  of  will  and  of  action  is  absolutely  essential  to  criminal  re 
sponsibility.  Culpability  supposes  not  only  a  clear  perception  of  the 
consequences  of  criminal  acts,  but  the  liberty,  unembarrassed  by  disease 
of  the  active  powers  which  nature  has  given  us,  of  pursuing  that  course 
which  is  the  result  of  the  free  choice  of  the  intellectual  faculties.  It  is 
one  of  those  wise  provisions  in  the  arrangement  of  things,  that  the  power 
of  perceiving  the  good  and  the  evil,  is  never  unassociated  with  that  of 
obtaining  the  one  and  avoiding  the  other.  When,  therefore,  disease  has 
brought  upon  an  individual  the  very  opposite  condition,  enlightened  ju 
risprudence  will  hold  out  to  him  its  protection,  instead  of  crushing  him  as 
a  sacrifice  to  violated  justice.  That  the  subject  of  homicidal  insanity  is 


592  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

not  a  free  agent,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  is  a  truth  that  must 
not  be  obscured  by  theoretical  notions  of  the  nature  of  insanity,  nor  by 
apprehensions  of  injurious  consequences  from  its  admission." 

Dr.  Taylor  gives  the  following  brief  and  practical  test  for 
a  jury  to  apply  in  cases  of  this  kind,  namely,  "  whether  the  in 
dividual,  at  the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  act,  had  or  had  not 
a  sufficient  power  of  control  to  govern  his  actions"  (Taylor, 
650.) 

In  the  days  of  Lord  Hale,  that  distinguished  jurist  held  that 
to  excuse  an  act  by  reason  of  insanity,  there  must  be  no  reason 
left,  and  the  best  commentary  to  be  furnished  upon  this  absurd 
opinion,  and  the  age  which  produced  it,  is,  that  the  same  learned 
judge  gravely  presided  at  the  trial  of  a  person  for  witchcraft, 
and  proceeded  to  conviction  and  sentence.  The  law  of  Great 
Britain,  though  still  behind  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  theory,  in 
practice  comes  up  to  it,  as  the  following  cases  show : 

In  the  case  of  McNaughton,  who  killed  the  Private  Secre 
tary  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  believing  him  to  be  the  Premier,  Chief- 
Justice  Tindal  virtually  stopped  the  prosecution  because  he  was 
proved  to  have  been  insane.  In  the  case  of  Oxford,  who  was 
tried  for  shooting  at  Queen  Victoria,  Lord  Denman,  who  pre 
sided,  instructed  the  jury  to  acquit  the  prisoner,  "  if  at  the  time 
some  controlling  disease  was  in  truth  the  acting  power  within 
him"  and  he  was  acquitted.  Lord  Kenyon,  in  Hadfield's  case, 
held  the  following  language  in  his  charge  to  the  jury :  "  In 
sanity  must  be  made  out  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  moral  man, 
meeting  the  case  with  a  fortitude  of  mind,  and  knowing  the 
anxious  duty  he  has  to  discharge" ;  yet,  if  the  scales  hang  trem 
ulously,  throw  in  a  certain  proportion  of  mercy  in  favor  of  the 
prisoner"  This  was  the  language  of  an  English  judge  in  be 
half  of  one  who  was  upon  trial  for  attempting  the  life  of  his 
sovereign,  and  I  would  recommend  its  benign  spirit  to  American 
courts  and  juries.  In  our  own  country  the  rule  is  thus  laid  down. 

Justice  Edmonds,  in  Kliem's  case,  instructed  the  jury  that 
"  if  some  controlling  disease  was  in  truth  the  acting  power 
within  him,  which  he  could  riot  resist,  or  if  he  had  not  sufficient 
use  of  his  reason  to  control  the  passions  which  prompted  the 
act  complained  of,  he  is  not  responsible." 

Chief- Justice  Shaw  charged  the  jury  in  the  case  of  Rogers, 


1857.]  TKIAL    OF   JOIIX   M.    THUESTOIT.  593 

that  "  in  order  to  constitute  a  crime,  a  man  must  have  intelli 
gence  and  capacity  enough  to  have  a  criminal  intent  and  pur 
pose,  and  if  his  reason  and  mental  powers  are  either  so  deficient 
that  he  has  no  will,  no  conscience  or  controlling  mental  power, 
or  if  through  the  overwhelming  power  of  mental  disease ',  his  in 
tellectual  power  is  for  the  time  obliterated,  he  is  not  aresponsible 
moral  agent,  and  is  not  punishable  for  the  criminal  act." 

The  person  who  commits  an  act,  however  bloody  or  abhor- 
ent,  is  no  more  punishable  criminally,  unless  his  will  is  under 
his  control,  than  is  the  insensible  steam-engine  which  passes 
over  the  sleeping  or  incautious  traveller. 

But  the  learned  counsel  for  the  prosecution  have  already 
inquired  with  great  significance,  if  such  defences  are  to  suc 
ceed,  how  public  justice  is  to  be  administered,  and  how  we  are 
to  discriminate  between  the  acts  of  the  deliberate  murderer,  and 
the  paroxysms  of  the  insane.  I  answer  that  the  problem  is  to 
be  solved  in  this  as  in  every  other  matter  which  comes  before 
courts  for  adjudication,  from  the  responsible  questions  involv 
ing  life  and  death,  to  the  most  trivial  and  petty  affairs  of  neigh 
borhood  litigation — UPON  EVIDENCE.  There  is  no  more  embar 
rassment  in  this  case  than  in  every  other,  where  motives  are  to 
be  spelled  out  and  ascertained  from  actions,  and  where  great 
results  depend  upon  obscure  and  minute  causes.  If,  however, 
the  learned  counsel  shall,  in  defiance  of  the  very  genius  of  our 
law,  still  believe  that  all  who  kill  should  be  executed,  because 
courts  and  juries  perchance  may  be  unable  to  discriminate  be 
tween  criminal  motives  and  insane  impulses,  I  will  call  their 
attention  for  a  moment  to  a  very  plain  rule  by  which  these  acts 
may  be  readily  distinguished,  the  one  from  the  other.  I  read 
from  Ray,  page  225  : 

"la  homicidal  insanity,  the  act  is  committed  without  any  motive 
whatever  strictly  deserving  the  name;  or,  at  most,  with  one  totally 
inadequate  to  produce  the  act  in  a  sane  mind.  On  the  contrary,  mur 
der  is  never  criminally  committed  without  some  motive  adequate  to  the 
purpose  in  the  mind  that  is  actuated  hy  it,  and  with  an  obvious  refer 
ence  to  the  ill-fated  victim.  Thus,  the  motive  may  be  theft,  or  the 
advancement  of  any  personal  interest,  in  which  case  it  will  be  found 
that  the  victim  had  or  was  supposed  to  have  property,  or  was  an 
obstacle  to  the  designs  or  expectations  of  another.  Or  it  may  be 
revenge,  and  then  the  injury,  real  or  imaginary,  will  be  found  to  have 
38 


594: 

been  received  by  the  murderer  from  the  object  of  his  wrath.  In 
short,  with  the  criminal,  murder  is  always  a  means  for  accomplishing 
some  selfish  object,  and  is  frequently  accompanied  by  some  other  crime; 
whereas,  with  the  homicidal  monomaniac,  murder  is  the  only  object  in 
view,  and  is  never  accompanied  by  any  other  improper  act.  The  hom 
icidal  monomaniac,  after  gratifying  his  bloody  desires,  testifies  neither 
remorse  nor  repentance,  nor  satisfaction,  and,  if  judicially  condemned, 
perhaps  acknowledges  the  justice  of  the  sentence.  The  criminal  either 
denies  or  confesses  his  guilt;  if  the  latter,  he  either  humbly  sues  for 
mercy,  or  glories  in  his  crime,  and  leaves  the  world  cursing  his  judges, 
and  with  his  last  breath  exclaiming  against  the  injustice  of  his  fate. 
The  criminal  never  sheds  more  blood  than  is  necessary  for  the  attain 
ment  of  his  object;  the  homicidal  monomaniac  often  sacrifices  all 
within  his  reach  to  the  cravings  of  his  murderous  propensity.  The 
criminal  lays  plans  for  the  execution  of  his  designs ;  time,  place,  and 
weapons  are  all  suited  to  his  purpose,  and,  when  successful,  he  either 
flies  from  the  scene  of  his  enormities,  or  makes  every  effort  to  avoid 
discovery.  The  homicidal  monomaniac,  on  the  contrary,  for  the  most 
part,  consults  none  of  the  usual  conveniences  of  crime ;  he  falls  upon 
the  object  of  his  fury,  oftentimes  without  the  most  proper  means  for 
accomplishing  his  purpose,  and  perhaps  in  the  presence  of  a  multitude, 
as  if  expressly  to  court  observation,  and  then  voluntarily  surrenders 
himself  to  the  constituted  authorities.  When,  as  is  sometimes  the 
case,  he  does  prepare  the  means,  and  calmly  and  deliberately  executes 
his  project,  his  subsequent  conduct  is  still  the  same  as  in  the  former 
instance.  The  criminal  often  has  accomplices,  and  generally  vicious 
associates;  the  homicidal  monomaniac  has  neither.  The  acts  of  hom 
icidal  insanity  are  generally,  perhaps  always,  preceded  by  some  striking 
peculiarities  in  the  conduct  or  character  of  the  individual,  strongly 
contrasting  with  his  natural  manifestations,  while  those  of  the  criminal 
are  in  correspondence  with  the  tenor  of  his  past  history  or  character. 
In  homicidal  insanity,  a  man  murders  his  wife,  children,  or  others,  to 
whom  he  is  tenderly  attached ;  this  the  criminal  never  does,  unless  to 
gratify  some  evil  passion,  or  gain  some  other  selfish  end,  too  obvious  to 
be  overlooked  on  the  slightest  investigation." 


Was,  then,  this  killing  the  act  of  a  sane  mind?  There  was 
an  utter  absence  of  all  motive  or  suspicion  of  motive,  and  the 
counsel  who  opened  the  cause  for  the  prosecution,  after  being 
conversant  with  all  the  facts  which  had  been  proved  before  the 
Coroner,  and  were  to  be  shown  here,  except  the  details  of  the 
evidence  proving  him  insane,  declared  that  the  prosecution 
after  careful  examination  had  been  unable  to  find  any  motive 


1857.]  TRIAL    OF   JOHN   M.    THUESTON.  595 

for  the  conduct  of  the  prisoner.  In  this  we  fully  concur  ;  and 
here,  you  will  perceive,  is  established,  upon  the  deliberate 
admission  of  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  one  great  fact  in 
the  elements  of  the  defence  ;  that  is,  that  the  act  was  commit 
ted  without  motive, !  These  parties  were  friends  near  and  dear, 
and  their  chain  of  friendship  had  long  been  bright  and  spotless. 
Their  fidelity  to  each  other  was  as  pure  and  sincere  as  that  of 
David  and  Jonathan.  They  were  the  Damon  and  Pythias  of 
modern  times,  for  each  would  gladly  have  died  for  his  friend, 
If  it  is  said  there  was  a  difficulty  between  Garrison  and  wife 
which  was  a  cause  for  hostility,  let  it  be  remembered  that  this 
had  been  of  long  existence,  and  that  it  is  proved  by  Prentice 
Ransom  that  Thurston  knew  and  spoke  of  this  unhappiness 
between  them  five  years  since,  and  yet  no  witness  has  been 
found  that  can  prove  that  Thurston  ever  spoke  of  Garrison  in 
any  other  terms  than  those  of  unusual  kindness  and  the  warm 
est  friendship. 

In  an  elaborate  and  careful  review  of  the  evidence,  I  am 
justified  in  declaring  that  nothing  can  be  found  which  would 
incite  passion  or  feeling,  much  less  induce  the  commission  of 
murder.  The  crying  of  the  child  was  the  only  moving  cause 
established,  and  I  challenge  the  annals  of  criminal  jurisprudence 
to  show  that  so  serious  an  act  has  ever  been  committed  upon  so 
slight  a  provocation  by  a  sane  mind.  Idle  rumors  and  gratu 
itous  published  statements  have  been  thrown  broad-cast  upon 
the  public  mind  to  the  effect  that  Thurston  had  decoyed 
Garrison  to  his  house  or  arranged  with  him  to  come  in  the 
evening,  and  that,  Garrison  not  coming,  Thurston  became  rest 
less  and  uneasy  and  went  after  him ;  that  when  they  returned, 
he  seated  Garrison  near  the  outer  door  with  his  back  to  it,  in 
an  unguarded  situation,  more  than  insinuating  that  he  thus 
seated  him  the  more  surely  to  secure  his  victim ;  whereas  the 
evidence  showed  that  when  Garrison  did  not  come,  as  was 
expected,  Thurston  advised  his  sister  to  retire  for  the  night  and 
dismiss  the  subject  until  morning ;  that  when  Garrison  came  he 
took  a  chair  himself,  moved  it  a  considerable  distance,  and 
placed  it  where  he  sat  when  he  received  the  fatal  blow.  Be 
sides,  the  whole  conduct  and  temper  of  Thurston  that  day  and 
afternoon  and  evening  were  inconsistent  with  any  intention  to 
do  injury  to  Garrison.  From  the  far-fetched  evidence  and 


596 

ominous  givings-out  of  counsel,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  it 
should  be  insisted  that  Thurston  had  placed  the  axe  of  the 
neighbor  near  the  back  door  on  purpose  to  kill  his  friend  with, 
and  if  so,  under  the  circumstances,  it  will  furnish  a  memorable 
instance  of  the  absurd  lengths  to  which  respectable  counsel  can 
be  driven,  when  urged  on  to  make  out  the  feature  of  a  case 
which  has  no  existence,  except  in  the  distempered  imagination 
of  individuals.  If  Thurston  really  meditated  the  commission  of 
murder,  that  he  should  have  decoyed  Garrison  from  the  furnace 
and  machine-shop,  where  they  had  spent  the  afternoon  alone, 
among  tools  and  implements  of  iron,  well  fitted  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  human  life — that  he  should  have  decoyed  him  from  his 
house,  where  he  was  alone  that  evening,  into  the  most  public 
part  of  the  village  instead  of  some  unfrequented  yard  or  dark 
alley,  or  secluded  river  bank — that  he  should  have  decoyed  him 
into  his  own  house,  instead  of  his  shop  at  the  next  door,  where 
there  were  implements  in  abundance,  that  he  might  slay  him 
with  that  particular  axe  belonging  to  his  neighbor,  sacrificing 
him  upon  his  own  family  altar,  in  the  presence  of  numerous 
witnesses,  some  of  whom  were  there  by  invitation,  polluting  his 
hearth-stone  with  human  gore  and  bespattering  his  wife,  his 
mother  and  his  sister  with  the  blood  of  his  friend,  seems  pre 
posterous.  Any  rational  mind,  in  considering  this  case,  must 
pronounce  the  conduct  of  the  accused  strong  evidence  of  insan 
ity  ; — no  one  can  for  a  moment  believe  so  monstrous  a  proposi 
tion  as  that  this  was  a  deliberately  planned  and  executed  mur 
der.  But  if  there  be  such  an  one,  he  should  at  an  early  moment 
be  permitted  to  exchange  situations  with  some  tenant  of  the 
madhouse.  There  was  no  intent,  no  revenge,  no  passion,  nor 
anything  to  provoke  passion ;  nothing  to  move  the  sane  mind, 
but  enough  in  the  crying  of  a  child  to  ignite  the  smouldering 
materials  in  the  brain  of  a  man  on  the  verge  of  insane  impulse. 
An  act  more  motiveless  could  not  be  found,  even  when  per 
formed  by  an  inanimate  machine,  propelled  by  a  power  of 
which  it  is  unconscious. 

Allow  me,  before  I  close,  to  call  your  especial  attention  to 
the  evidence  upon  the  subject  of  the  prisoner's  insanity,  com 
mencing  with  the  proof  of  hereditary  insanity  in  the  families 
of  both  his  parents ;  his  peculiarly  nervous  temperament ; 
the  vicious  and  solitary  practice  which  he  had  pursued  for 


1857.]  TRIAL    OF   JOUN   M.    THUESTON.  597 

years ;  the  authors  from  which  I  have  read ;  the  testimony  of 
the  medical  witnesses,  in  support  of  the  positions  I  have 
taken ;  the  state  of  his  health ;  his  irregular  habits  of  sleep, 
food  and  inattention  to  dress  and  business,  as  detailed  by  the 
witnesses;  his  strange  manner  of  walking  alone,  standing- 
motionless  with  a  vacant  gaze  for  hours ;  the  wild  glare  of  his 
eye,  the  deep  agony  in  his  head,  the  regularity  of  these  fits  of 
depression,  increasing  in  intensity  and  severity  for  years,  and 
one  being  upon  him  a  day  or  two  previous  to  the  act,  all  of 
which  go  to  establish  the  incubation  of  insanity.  I  also  point 
you  to  the  calm  and  quiet  frame  of  mind  and  statue-like  posture 
after  the  dreadful  deed — glaring  on  vacancy  as  though  looking 
off  a  precipice :  all  this  forms  a  mass  of  evidence  as  impreg 
nable  as  Gibraltar. 

The  testimony  given  by  the  mother  and  sisters  of  Thurston, 
for  candor,  intelligence,  and  propriety  under  such  trying  circum 
stances,  is  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  courts  of  justice. 
The  purity  and  affection  which  has  characterized  the  domestic 
history  of  this  family,  as  developed  on  the  trial,  presents  a 
bright  and  beautiful  oasis  in  the  desert  journey  of  life.  So  far 
from  having  been  contradicted  in  a  single  fact  or  particular, 
their  testimony  is  sustained  and  fortified  by  every  circumstance 
which  has  been  brought  to  light,  and  corroborated  by  every 
other  witness  called,  who  knows  anything  upon  the  subject, 
from  the  cultivated  and  experienced  superintendent  of  the 
Insane  Asylum,  to  the  simple-minded  but  honest  and  truthful 
colored  washwoman. 

In  considering  and  giving  force  to  the  medical  testimony,  it 
will  be  well  to  remember  that  while  no  one  symptom  proves 
insanity  or  the  certain  termination  in  insane  paroxysm,  yet  all 
taken  together  indicate  too  clearly  to  be  mistaken  the  fatal 
result  which  has  been  produced,  and  show  that  the  present 
condition  of  the  prisoner  is  perfectly  consistent  with  his  pre 
vious  habits  of  life.  The  witnesses  called  by  the  prosecution  to 
prove  that  he  has  had  no  peculiarity  of  habit,  noticed  with 
alarm  his  strange  conduct ;  his  wild,  vacant  glare  and  incoherent 
conversation,  and  some  of  them  said  to  their  friends  at  the 
time  that  they  thought  him  crazy.  In  the  family  this  has  long 
been  known,  and  formed  a  subject  of  deep  concern  in  their 
domestic  circle.  But  he  was  a  young  man  in  whom  they  had 


598  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

much  hope,  and  like  other  families  they  did  not  publish  his 
weaknesses  to  the  world,  nor  that  hereditary  insanity  was  in 
their  blood,  for  it  is  at  all  times  painful  for  a  family  to 

"  Draw  their  frailties  from  their  drear  abode." 

When  we  go  among  strangers  we  find  only  here  and  there  one 
who  knew  the  diseases  with  which  he  was  afflicted,  and  those 
from  casual  observation  only,  .when  happening  to  meet  him 
during  one  of  his  fits  of  depression  ;  but  then,  as  witnesses  ap 
proached  him  more  nearly,  and  were  associated  with  him  more 
intimately,  as  boarder,  lodger  in  the  shop,  or  otherwise,  so  as 
to  learn  his  priA'ate  habits,  they  know  more  of  the  same  pecu 
liarities  of  history  and  conduct,  as  proved  by  the  family. 
Doctors  Benedict,  Butler,  and  Nichols  need  no  eulogy.  Their 
large  experience,  learning,  and  intelligence  give  them  supe 
rior  qualifications  in  such  an  inquiry,  and  their  philanthropic 
pursuit  places  them  among  the  benefactors  of  mankind.  All 
learning,  history,  and  experience  teach  us  that  their  evidence 
is  entitled  to  the  fullest  confidence.  Let  us,  as  an  illustration, 
suppose  an  inquiry  whether  a  watch  is  in  good  condition  for  a 
time-keeper.  If  four  or  five  witnesses,  whose  lives  have  been 
devoted  to  the  study  of  its  delicate  and  intricate  machinery, 
prove  that  it  is  out  of  repair,  and  unfit  for  a  time-keeper,  no 
rational  man  would  think  of  contradicting  them  by  calling 
twenty  who  could  testify  that  they  had  casually  seen  it,  and 
saw  nothing  but  that  it  was  as  good  as  other  watches  in  gen 
eral.  While  all  would  acknowledge  the  absurdity  of  this 
course,  in  a  matter  of  machinery  made  by  human  hands,  the 
prosecution  have  gravely  called  some  twenty  casual  observers 
to  contradict  the  best  science  and  experience  in  the  land  touch 
ing  the  condition  of  the  noble  yet  delicate  and  mysterious 
framework  of  a  being  that  is  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made. 

We  should  not  forget  that,  whatever  the  verdict  may  be, 
the  prisoner  must,  for  the  present,  return  to  his  solitary  cell. 
He  has  been  the  most  indifferent  man  in  court  during  his  tria!5 
and  with  like  indifference  would  the  verdict  fall  upon  his  leaden 
ear.  He  is  already  lost  to  his  friends,  unless  it  should  please 
Heaven  to  restore  his  health  and  reason.  But,  though  he 
would  be  sent  to  an  insane  asylum  if  acquitted,  he  would  not 


1857.]  TRIAL    OF    JOHN   M.    THURSTON.  599 

go  down  to  his  grave  with  a  dishonored  name,  nor  leave 
nought  but  a  felon's  inheritance  to  console  his  mourning 
friends.  He  is  but  a  remnant  of  what  was  once  John  Metcalf 
Thurston,  and  could  only  be  looked  upon  by  those  who  hold 
him  near  and  dear  as  survivors  are  wont  to  gaze  upon  some 
cherished  memorial  of  the  loved  and  lost. 

Nothing  is  more  atrocious  than  a  capital  conviction,  in  a 
moment  of  prejudice  or  passion,  upon  in  sufficient  proof.  It 
is  judicial  murder,  and  more  wicked  than  any  act  perpetrated 
during  or  since  the  sanguinary  reign  of  bloody  Mary.  We 
stand  here  no  mendicants  for  mercy,  but  to  urge  and  demand, 
in  the  name  of  law  and  justice,  the  acquittal  of  the  prisoner, 
according  to  evidence.  We  concede  that,  if  the  evidence  con 
victs  him,  he  must  stand  convicted  ;  but  all  the  proof  of  his  in 
sanity,  by  every  author  which  has  been  cited,  by  all  the  medi 
cal  witnesses  who  profess  to  know  anything  upon  the  subject, 
is  clear  and  conclusive ;  and  such  testimony  stands  out  uncon- 
tradicted,  except  by  an  apology  for  proof,  far-fetched  and  triv 
ial,  and  entirely  negative  in  its  character.  Before  the  pris 
oner  can  be  convicted,  all  this  evidence  must  be  disregarded, 
and  the  jury  act  upon  their  own  preconceived  prejudices,  or 
the  assumptions  of  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution. 

In  conclusion  I  make  a  final  appeal  to  you  to  consider  the 
responsibilities  which  rest  upon  you;  to  remember  you  are 
sworn  to  decide  according  to  evidence ;  to  shut  out  from  your 
deliberations  the  prejudice  and  passion  which  notoriously  sur 
round  you  ;  to  bear  in  mind  the  spirit  of  the  law,  which  gives 
the  benefits  of  all  doubts  to  the  accused,  and  to  render  such  a 
verdict  as  you  can  justify  before  that  tribunal  to  which  we  are 
all  hastening. 


ADDEESS 

DELIVEEED   BEFOKE   THE    GRADUATING   CLASS    OF   THE    LAW   DE 
PARTMENT     OF     HAMILTON     COLLEGE,    AT     CLLNTONj    N.    Y., 

July  21,  1858. 

[CORRESPONDENCE. 

CLINTON,  K  Y.,  July  22, 1858. 
HON.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON  : 

DEAR  SIR — The  undersigned,  Committee,  in  obedience  to  the  ear 
nest  wishes  of  the  Graduating  Law  Class  of  Hamilton  College,  request 
of  you  a  copy  of  your  eloquent  and  instructive  Address  before  our 
body,  for  publication. 

Very  respectfully, 

W.  B.  RUGGLES, 
A.  S.  SEYMOUR,  Committee. 

„  WM.  G.  ROBINSON, 


TREASURER'S  OFFICE,  HAMILTON  COLLEGE, 

CLINTON,  N.  Y.,  August  3,  1858. 
HON.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON  : 

DEAR  SIR — I  herewith  transmit  to  you  an  extract  from  the  Minutes 
of  our  Board  of  Trustees ;  and  with  the  hope  you  will  comply  with  the 
request  therein  contained,  I  remain, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

O.  S.  WILLIAMS,  Secretary,  &c. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Hamilton  College,  held  at 
Clinton,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  July,  1858,  the  following  resolu 
tion  was  unanimously  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Board  be  tendered  to  Hon.  DANIEL 
S.  DICKINSON,  for  his  able  and  interesting  Address,  and  that  he  be  re 
quested  to  furnish  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication. 

(A  copy.)  O.  S.  WILLIAMS,  Secretary,  &c. 


1858.]  ADDRESS  TO   THE   GRADUATING-   CLASS.  601 

BlNGHAMTON,  July  31,  1858. 

GENTLEMEN — Previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  22d,  de 
siring  a  copy  of  my  Address,  delivered  before  the  Graduating  Class  of 
Hamilton  College,  for  publication,  I  had  received  a  like  informal  re 
quest  from  Professor  Dwight  in  behalf  of  the  Trustees,  and  have  con 
sented  to  comply  with  it.  It  will  therefore  be  published  accordingly. 
Be  pleased  to  accept  my  acknowledgments  for  the  generous  terms 
in  which  you  are  pleased  to  speak  of  my  effort,  and  believe  me  to  be 

Sincerely  yours, 

D.  S.  DICKINSON. 

Messrs.  W.  B.  RUGGLES,  A.  S.  SEYMOUR,  WM.  G.  ROBINSON,  Commit 
tee,  &c. 


BlNGHAMTON,  Aug.  6,  1858. 

DEAR  SIR — I  am  honored  with  yours  of  the  3d  instant,  conveying 
a  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Hamilton  College,  requesting 
a  copy  of  my  Address  recently  delivered  before  the  Graduating  Law 
Class  of  that  institution,  for  publication.  The  Address  was  prepared 
amidst  the  press  of  professional  engagements,  and  in  complying  with  a 
request  so  flattering  I  have  only  to  desire  that  the  reader  will  indulge 
accordingly. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

D.  S.  DICKINSON. 
O.  S.  WILLIAMS,  Secretary,  &c.] 

MAN  is  an  involuntary  traveller  along  the  pathway  of  exist 
ence  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  led  by  an  unseen  hand,  and 
striving  with  the  best  forces  of  frail  humanity  to  keep  pace 
with  the  mighty  mass  of  being,  bound  upon  the  same  earnest 
and  engrossing  pilgrimage.  All  alike  stretch  forth  their  hands 
for  protection  and  sustenance ;  all  are  cheered  and  encouraged 
by  the  same  voiceless  words,  animated  by  the  same  hope, 
quickened  by  the  same  expectation,  and  allured  by  the  same 
promise  of  present  enjoyment  and  future  success ;  and  yet,  to 
the  imperfect  vision  of  mortals,  "  their  aims  are  various  as  the 
roads  they  take,  in  journeying  through  life." 

It  is  no  less  interesting  than  instructive  to  contemplate  the 
course  of  the  countless  beings  who  struggle  for  the  mastery  in 
time's  great  steeple-chase,  not  to  determine  who  shall  first  reach 
the  appointed  goal,  but  who  shall  secure  the  greatest  aggregate 
of  happiness  in  the  transit ;  each  expecting  "  that  age  will 


602 

perform  the  promises  of  youth,  and  that  the  deficiencies  of  the 
present  day  will  be  supplied  by  the  morrow." 

One  chains  himself  to  the  car  of  Avarice,  and  toils  with 
skinny  hand  beneath  its  crushing  wheels,  an  abject  drudge, 
the  slave  for  life  to  a  mean,  base,  and  absorbing  passion  : — half 
fed,  half  clothed,  like  Tantalus  consuming  with  thirst,  while 
waters  are  flowing  to  his  lips,  crawling  rather  than  walking  upon 
his  servile  mission,  until  all  traces  of  integrity  and  manliness 
are  lost  forever,  that  he  may  degrade  those  of  one  generation 
within  the  circle  of  his  brazen  influence  in  accumulating,  and 
those  of  another  be  destroyed  in  distributing  his  extortionate 
and  ill-gotten  gains. 

"  O  cursed  lust  of  gold  ! 
When,  for  thy  sake,  the  fool 
Throws  up  his  interest  in  hoth  -worlds — 
First  starved  in  this,  then  damned  in  that  to  corne." 

Another,  possessing  a  genial  and  generous  spirit,  but  scarce 
ly  less  mistaken  in  the  true  philosophy  of  his  being,  elects  to 
accumulate  first  and  enjoy  afterwards : — to  write  untimely 
wrinkles  on  his  care-blanched  brow,  and  bow  his  attenuated 
form  in  a  slavish  devotion  to  business,  regardless  of  social 
duties  or  domestic  affections,  for  one-half  the  period  allotted  to 
mortal  existence,  that  he  may  revel  in  abundance  for  the  resi 
due,  and  groan  under  the  tyrannous  exactions  of  indolence  and 
its  corroding  concomitants.  One  conceives  artificial  wants,  and 
renders  life  a  burden  in  efforts  to  supply  them,  unmindful  that 
he  will  be  more  miserable  still  when  hope  gives  place  to  frui 
tion.  One  seeks  enjoyment  and  consequence  in  the  straggling 
notes  sounded  from  the  cracked  and  squeaking  trumpet  of 
spurious  fame,  and  if  perchance  no  other  trumpeter  is  found, 
will  kindly  condescend  himself  to  play  the  substitute.  One 
loiters  by  the  wayside,  gazing  upon  the  gaudy  winged  insects 
of  the  morning,  beguiled  from  the  path  of  duty  by  the  fruits 
and  flowers  which  tempt  the  senses,  and,  ere  evening  closes 
down,  is  overtaken  by  the  dark  and  fearful  storm,  which 
gathers  in  the  distance  with  awful  density.  One  launches  his 
frail  bark  upon  that  devious  and  capricious  stream,  which  the 
world  in  a  moment  of  invidious  sarcasm  christened  pleasure, 
and  floats  adown  its  maddening  and  treacherous  current,  tossed 


1858.]      ADDEESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS.         603 

upon  the  waves  of  fashionable  folly,  and  stimulating  flagging 
volition, 

"  Where  mincing  dancers  sport  tight  pantalettes, 
And  turn  fools'  heads  in  turning  pirouettes," 

until  he  is  totally  wrecked  upon  the  shoals  of  dissipation,  and 
lost  forever.  One,  in  obedience  to  the  behests  of  the  beneficent 
Being  who  gave  him  existence,  looks  "  through  nature  up  to 
nature's  God,"  and  essays  to  discharge  the  relations  of  bis 
transitory  mission  with  virtuous  moderation,  in  the  direction 
indicated  by  revelation  and  reason,  for  the  happiness  of  the 
human  family.  He  regards  the  Divine  declaration  that  man 
should  eat  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,  as  a  blessing,  and 
believes  employment  necessary  to  the  enjoyment  of  life.  One 
explores  the  arcana  of  science,  scattering  the  terrified  gnomes 
from  their  cavernous  habitations  below,  and  stretching  aloft  to 
read  the  time-tables  of  the  celestial  world.  A  Howard,  a  Fry, 
a  Nightingale,  a  Dix,  in  imitation  of  Him  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake,  and  who  went  about  doing  good,  have  carried  light 
and  hope  to  the  cell  of  the  lonely  captive,  and,  in  the  angelic 
spirit  of  a  mother's  love,  been  all  the  world  to  those  whom  all 
the  world  had  forsaken.  One  frail  son  of  humanity — a  man 
and  a  brother,  and  bound  with  us  to  a  common  tribunal — sinks 
deep  in  crime,  and  his  soul  is  blackened  with  the  curse  of  sin 
and  shame ;  but  there  are  still  transient  gleams  of  Heaven's 
sunshine  playing  around  his  seared  and  callous  heart.  The 
hoary  criminal,  laden  with  guilty  chains,  slumbers  heavily  in  his 
cold  and  loathsome  cell.  But  the  muscles  of  his  hardened  face 
relax,  and  a  smile  rests  upon  his  lips.  Hist !  the  straw  in  his 
rude  couch  rustles  :  he  dreams.  He  sports  again  by  the  banks 
of  the  stream  of  his  childhood 

"As  only  boyhood  can." 

Birds  warble  their  notes  of  melody  from  the  old  familiar  shade- 
trees  ;  bees  hum  amidst  the  clumps  of  bright  and  fragrant 
flowers  ;  the  soft,  soothing  wind  whispers  in  lulling  cadences  ; 
— the  cool  spring  guslies  from  the  hillock,  and  its  pebbled 
stream  dances  along  to  the  music  of  its  own  rippling;  the 
warm  life-blood  circles  round  the  heart  in  glad  and  gentle  ed- 


604: 

dyings.  There  is  the  sainted  mother,  smiling  with  a  mother's 
hope  upon  her  stainless  son ;  there  those 

"  Who  grew  in.  beauty,  side  by  side, 
Who  filled  one  house  with  glee." 

The  bleak  and  desolate  waste  of  a  misspent  life  is  in  mercy  for 
a  moment  shielded  from  his  vision ;  the  pallid  form  of  decayed 
manhood,  bowed  with  age  and  disfigured  with  vicious  indul 
gence,  is  cast  off  for  the  "  plumage  of  sinless  years,"  and  he  who 
had  found  no  repose  in  his  dreary  wanderings  is  permitted,  for 
one  blissful  moment,  to  bathe  the  shattered  remnant  of  humanity 
in  the  pure  fountain  of  domestic  love.  But 

"  A  change  conies  o'er  the  spirit  of  his  dream." 

The  pitying  angel  is  withdrawn ;  the  cruel  tide  of  memory 
rolls  back  upon  him,  and  the  manacled  wretch,  weeping  with 
emotion,  awakes  to  the  fearful  reality  that  it  is  but  a  dream. 

"  How  poor,  how  rich,  how  abject,  how  august, 
How  complicate,  how  wonderful  is  man." 

These  and  many  other  strange  and  incongruous  moral  ele 
ments,  chequered  and  diversified  by  every  form  of  vicissitude, 
trial,  and  conflict,  demand  of  fellow-travellers  upon  the  journey 
of  life,  and  especially  from  those  qualified  to  give  counsel  and 
instruction,  the  ready  interchange  of  sympathy  and  communion. 

Among  all  the  occupations  of  life,  that  of  the  lawyer  is  the 
most  laborious  and  responsible.  It  has  been  justly  termed  the 
noblest  of  professions ;  but  let  no  one  enter  upon  it  reposing 
on  the  slovenly  idea  of  "masterly  inactivity,"  or  for  the  purpose 
of  appearing  upon  its  parade  days,  or  holiday  occasions.  He 
must,  if  he  would  attain  respectable  eminence,  pass  through  an 
ordeal  as  severe  as  a  furnace  seven  times  heated.  He  must  be 
prepared  to  hold  intercourse  with  every  variety  of  human  char 
acter,  in  its  best  as  well  as  its  most  abandoned  forms,  and  will 
need,  to  sustain  him  in  his  extremity,  the  wisdom,  meekness 
and  patience  of  the  patriarchs,  and  the  learning  of  an  Aristotle 
and  a  Paul. 

In  the  countless  conflicts  which  arise  from    the  business 


1858.]  ADDRESS   TO   THE   GRADUATING   CLASS.  605 

transactions  of  everyday  life ;  in  all  that  disturbs  the  social  or 
domestic  relations  ;  in  matters  relating  to  the  rights  of  property 
by  devise  or  inheritance ;  in  every  wrong,  direct  or  consequen- 
trial,  real  or  imaginary,  serious  or  trivial,  the  parties  fly  to  him 
for  advice,  friendly  as  well  as  professional,  and  invoke  his  as 
sistance  and  consolation.  He  must,  at  times,  witness  the  ex 
hibition  of  man's  worst  passions — listening  with  becoming  pa 
tience  to  the  most  tedious  and  frivolous  relations,  indulge  the 
most  unreasonable  caprices,  and  realize  how  fervent  should  be 
the  petition  to  be  delivered  "  from  envy,  hatred,  and  malice,  and 
all  un charitableness  ;  "  and  one  of  nis  first  and  last,  his  earliest 
and  latest  duties,  too,  requiring  the  exercise  of  all  his  wisdom 
and  firmness,  will  be  to  refuse,  with  stern  and  unyielding  reso 
lution,  to  commence  prosecutions  upon  the  importunity  of  heated 
and  exasperated  clients,  where  they  have  no  just  or  substantial 
cause. 

In  his  practice  at  the  bar,  he  should  remember  that  there  is 
no  place  where  good  manners  and  courteous  demeanor  appear 
to  better  advantage,  or  command  higher  estimation.  If  his 
temper  is  occasionally  tested,  as  it  will  be,  by  an  imperious  and 
tyrannical  judge,  a  vulgar  opponent,  or  a  false  and  obstinate 
witness,  perfect  self-possession  and  command  will  give  him  an 
incalculable  advantage  for  the  occasion,  and  illustrate  then,  as 
throughout  his  life,  the  inspired  sentiment,  that  he  that  is  slow 
to  anger  is  better  than  the  mighty,  and  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit, 
than  he  that  taketh  a  city.  His  integrity  should  be  uncom 
promising,  his  morals  pure,  his  tastes  refined,  and  his  associa 
tions  elevated.  The  influence  of  his  example  must  be  potent 
for  good  or  for  evil,  and  no  social  vice  should  stain  his  record, 
—no  debasing  practices  abridge  his  usefulness.  He  should  stu 
diously  observe  the  conventional  proprieties  of  society,  and  lead 
the  way  for  those  whose  relations  are  less  commanding,  and 
whose  opportunities  are  more  limited. 

Within  his  professional  sphere,  he  must  strangle  corruption, 
the  first  whisper  it  murmurs,  before  its  pestilent  taint  is  diffused 
throughout  the  atmosphere.  He  must  trample  upon  fraud,  ex 
tortion,  and  oppression,  wherever  found,  before  they  swell  into 
rankness,  and  generate  their  Pandora  brood  of  vassal  vices. 
He  must  take  by  the  hand  shrinking,  trembling  innocence,  and 
lead  her  forth  vindicated  by  the  instinctive  sympathies  of  law. 


606  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Where  error  flaunts  her  banner,  and  her  Cassandras  croak  of 
evil,  he  must  defy  all  augury,  and  wage  a  war  of  extermination 
with  weapons  drawn  from  the  exhaustless  armory  of  truth.  He 
must  learn  to  wield  alternately  the  club  of  Hercules,  the  battle- 
axe  of  Richard,  and  the  scimetar  of  Salad  in,  and  bear  in  mind 
that  the  wild  rage  of  a  strong  Roderick  may  be  foiled  by  the 
steady  skill  of  a  cool,  self-reliant  Fitz-James.  But  in  the  battle 
of  life  the  conflict  with  himself  should  be  the  greatest ;  and 
when  that  is  nobly  achieved,  the  victory  is  won. 

There  is  no  royal  road  to  position  at  the  bar ;  no  stealthy 
byway  through  which  it  can  be  reached  ;  no  slippery  and  filthy 
step-stone  by  which  bribery  can  ascend  to  purchase  it ;  no  hot 
bed  growth  which  will  produce  it ;  no  forcing  process  which 
will  prove  successful.  No  superficial  gilding  will  conceal  shame 
ful  ignorance ;  no  spread-eagle  declamation  pass  current  as  a 
substitute  for  knowledge  ;  no  spouting  and  floundering  on  the 
surface  deceive  a  discerning  public.  But  drafts  at  sight  upon 
the  golden  granary  of  learning  will  always  command  a  pre 
mium,  and  be  duly  honored. 

The  lawyer  should  never  bring  a  case  into  court  without 
thorough  and  elaborate  preparation.  He  must  labor  when 
courts  indulge  in  relaxation,  and  study  when  his  clients  slum 
ber.  If  he  is  deficient  in  elementary  knowledge,  or  ignorant  of 
the  principles  which  govern  his  case,  he  is  detected,  the  first 
sentence  he  utters,  by  the  mature  experience  of  the  bench,  the 
learning  of  the  bar,  the  keen  discernment  of  the  jury,  and  the 
sympathetic  common-sense  of  the  tittering  spectators ;  and  he 
is  thereafter  consigned,  by  universal  consent,  to  that  somewhat 
numerous  class  in  the  profession,  who  are  more  expensive  to 
society  in  proportion  to  their  numbers  than  any  other,  without 
being  more  ornamental,  and  stand  or  sit  about  the  courts,  as 
statues  at  large. 

A  few  years  since,  in  that  spirit  of  restlessness  which  is  one 
of  the  incidents  of  a  free  system,  a  new  judicial  department  was 
organized  in  this  State,  and  a  code  of  practice  established  by 
legislation.  This  code,  as  a  whole,  contained,  in  homely  par 
lance,  much  that  was  literally  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  but  did 
not  contain,  nor  profess  to  contain,  in  its  whole  scope  a  single 
line  of  legal  learning.  It  was  a  mere  book  of  practice,  classify 
ing  legal  remedies,  and  prescribing  the  mode  in  which  they 


1858.]  ADDRESS   TO   THE   GRADUATING   CLASS.  607 

should  be  prosecuted,  and  was  well  enough  as  such.  But  its 
advent  was  hailed  by  gaping  credulity  and  shallow  pretension 
as  a  manifestation  of  legal  inspiration — a  sovereign  panacea  for 
all  human  disputations,  acute  or  chronic.  It  was  proclaimed  as 
a  vade  mecum,  which  would  render  plain  that  which  was  intri 
cate,  certain  that  which  was  doubtful,  clear  that  which  was  ob 
scure,  simple  that  which  was  complex,  and  finally  place  igno 
rance  upon  a  par  with  science.  It  was  to  give  to  the  law,  by 
enactment,  what  nature,  in  the  exuberance  of  her  generosity, 
gave  to  surgery — natural  bone-setters : — seventh  sons  by  legis 
lation  as  well  as  by  birth,  in  law  as  well  as  in  physic. 

Sir  William  Jones  prescribed  for  the  student  as  follows  : 

"  Seven  hours  to  law, — to  soothing  slumber  seven, 
Ten  to  the  world  allot,  and  all  to  Heaven." 

But  if  he  had  lived  to  sing  the  triumphs  of  modern  inven 
tion,  he  might  have  suggested  to  the  candidate  for  legal  honors  : 

"  Sleep  when  you  will — shun  learning's  tiresome  road, 
Lay  other  books  aside,  bat  read  the  Code." 

Those  who  were  good  lawyers  before  the  introduction  of 
the  Code  conformed  to  its  provisions  with  but  little  inconven 
ience,  and  were  good  lawyers  still.  Those  who  were  admitted 
afterwards,  but  understood  its  objects  and  uses,  and  read  thor 
oughly  the  elementary  principles  of  their  profession,  in  due 
time  took  respectable  position  at  the  bar.  But  scores,  unfitted 
by  natural  capacity,  tact,  and  taste,  deficient  in  the  plainest 
rudiments  of  learning,  destitute  of  general  knowledge  or  edu 
cation,  forgetting  that 

u  Honor  and  shame  from  no  conditions  rise," 

and  captivated  by  the  idea  that  the  lawyer  held  an  elevated 
and  honorable  rank  in  society,  especially  if  he  deserved  it, 
learned  like  magpies  to  repeat  the  Code,  and,  under  the  un 
healthy  stimulus  which  it  generated,  shot  up  like  a  crop  of 
mushrooms,  in  a  single  night  as  it  were,  and  became  full-fledg 
ed  Code  lawyers ;  leaving  fertile  acres  untilled  and  the  arti 
san's  hammer  reposing  in  the  workshop,  that  the  best  might 


608 

shortly  wither  by  the  wayside  and  betake  themselves  to  other 
callings,  and  the  worst  strut  as  the  rear  guard  of  the  profes 
sion  and  foster  petty  and  demoralizing  litigation. 

To  understand  the  present  system  of  practice,  the  lawyer 
must  be  incidentally  familiar  with  the  Code.  But  he  may  com 
mit  it  entirely  to  memory,  including  its  latest,  not  to  say  its 
greenest,  crop  of  amendments,  and  be  no  lawyer,  without  the 
learning  which  a  long  course  of  general  elementary  reading  and 
severe  mental  discipline  alone  can  give  him.  If  early  advan 
tages  have  been  denied  him,  it  is  no  apology  for  ignorance  ;  but 
he  must  improve  with  increased  diligence  those  within  his  reach 
at  a  later  period.  So  far  as  true  legal  learning  is  concerned,  the 
student  might  as  well  read  the  by-laws  of  a  bank,  the  ordinan 
ces  of  a  village,  the  regulations  of  a  gas  company,  or  the  consti 
tution  of  a  sewing  society,  as  the  Code ;  for  neither  will  give 
him  any  idea  whatever  of  legal  science. 

The  proper  course  of  elementary  reading  has  been  so  often 
and  accurately  indicated  in  the  course  of  your  instruction  in 
this  excellent  institution,  that  you  need  not  to  be  reminded  of 
Bracton  and  Fleta — of  Ulpain,  Coke,  and  Biackstone — or 
of  Kent  and  Cruise  and  Story — but  you  may  be  profitably 
reminded  that  mere  reading,  unaccompanied  with  a  clear  and 
comprehensive  understanding,  will  be  of  little  service,  and  that 
it  is  better  to  read  little  which  is  thoroughly  understood  than 
much  which  is  left  undigested. 

No  diligent  student,  of  good  natural  capacity,  ever  failed  of 
success — no  indolent  genius,  however  gifted  and  brilliant,  ever 
gained  eminence  at  the  bar.  By  reading,  you  gather  the  best 
thoughts  of  the  noblest  minds  for  generations  : — you  bask  in  the 
light  of  all  the  learning  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  civilization  : 
— you  select  your  weapons  of  moral  warfare  from  the  world's 
mighty  armory,  and,  if  they  are  well  chosen,  woe  be  to  him  who 
encounters  you  unprepared. 

But  mere  legal  reading  will  not  suffice.  The  lawyer  should 
be  well  versed  in  history,  ancient  and  modern,  and  know  where 
Sappho  sung,  where  Solon  legislated,  and  Homer  chanted  his 
triumphs  ;  in  philosophy,  natural,  mental,  and  moral ;  in  medi 
cal  jurisprudence ;  in  a  general  knowledge  of  the  mechanic 
arts  ;  in  the  regulations  and  usages  of  trade,  commerce,  bank 
ing,  and  finance,  and  in  other  pursuits,  callings,  and  professions. 


1858.]  ADDRESS    TO   THE    GRADUATING    CLASS.  609 

In  short,  he  must  so  accustom  his  mind  to  investigation  that 
he  can,  as  if  by  intuition,  grasp  any  subject  presented  for  his 
consideration,  and  master  its  details  and  explain  its  intric 
acies. 

The  lawyer  is  accustomed  to  lead  in  legislative  and  other 
public  assemblies,  and  should  be  versed  in  the  recondite  science 
of  solving  social  problems,  termed  political  economy ;  and  es 
pecially  in  these  days  of  constitution  making,  mending,  and 
breaking,  he  should  be  familiar  with  the  true  theories  of  free 
government,  and  contribute  the  influence  of  his  precept  and 
example  to  inculcate  principles  which  will  diffuse  prosperity, 
contentment,  and  happiness,  and  discourage  restlessness,  ignoble 
office-seeking  ambition,  and  indolence  among  the  masses. 

One  of  the  prevailing  errors,  not  to  say  curses,  of  the  times 
is  the  belief  that  "the  post  of  honor  is  a  private  station"  no 
longer — that  the  ordinary  industrial  pursuits'  of  life  are  too 
tame  and  spiritless  for  the  times,  if  not  actually  discreditable  ; 
and  hence  office-seeking  comes  up,  like  the  plagues  of  Egypt, 
into  the  very  beds  and  boards  and  kneading-troughs,  and  all 
classes,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  are  afflicted  by  the  contagion. 
So  desirable  has  office  become,  that  those  who  fail  to  obtain  one 
incorporeal  in  character  content  themselves  with  a  material  sub 
stitute.  The  merchant  no  longer  seeks  his  counting-room  to 
strike  his  balances,  but  makes  his  computations  in  his  office  ; 
the  clergyman  has  forsaken  his  study  as  too  old-fashioned  for  the 
age,  and  muses  upon  the  beauties  of  redeeming  grace  and  dying 
love  in  his  office;  the  physician  administers  his  scruples  and 
the  hotel-keeper  his  drams  from  their  respective  offices,  and  the 
proprietor  of  the  livery  stable  sits  complacently  and  securely  in 
an  office  of  greater  stability  than  all  the  others. 

The  Constitution  of  1846,  soon  to  command  our  considera 
tion  as  electors,  which  may  be  incidentally  noticed  with  propri 
ety,  was  the  legitimate  offspring  of  a  restless  desire  for  change, 
whether  it  should  produce  improvement  or  not,  with  which  the 
eager  few  sometimes  enlist  the  unsuspecting  many.  The  former 
constitution  was  not  in  all  respects  equal  to  the  demands  of  a 
State  which  had  advanced  with  almost  fabulous  celerity  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  from  the  time  of  its  adoption,  and  requir 
ed  conforming  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times.  No  good  reason 
demanded  its  destruction.  The  judiciary  had  proved  inade- 
39 


610 

quate  to  the  demands  a  tenfold  increasing  litigation  had  cast 
upon  it,  and  the  system  required  simplifying  and  improving  by 
lopping  off  cumbrous  forms  and  giving  to  the  courts  increased 
motive  power.  But  the  whole  was  swept  away  together  to 
make  place  for  another  which  has  been  already  condemned,  and 
fortunately  in  its  turn  is  to  pass  in  popular  review  at  the  next 
general  election. 

While  all  classes  and  interests  suffer  alike  from  a  pernicious 
fundamental  law,  none  experience  its  defects  so  sensibly  or 
deplore  them  more  deeply  than  the  legal  profession  ;  none  will 
sympathize  more  fully  in  a  change  which  promises  improvement, 
nor  lend  more  active  energies  to  aid  in  reformation  ;  for  if  the 
gordian  knot  cannot  be  untied,  it  must  be  severed. 

In  treating  of  the  Constitution  of  my  State  I  would  that  I 
could  conscientiously  and  charitably  conceal  its  destitution ; 
but  since  the  period  has  arrived  when  its  merits  and  demerits 
must  be  discussed,  duty  no  less  than  inclination  prompts  that  it 
be  done  with  a  freedom  becoming  the  occasion. 

This  Constitution,  like  the  hands  of  the  demented  Lear, 
"  smells  of  mortality "  most  lamentably.  Those  who  make 
shrines  for  Diana  will  cry  out  loudly  of  her  greatness  and  ex 
cellence,  but  it  is  believed  that  in  searching  the  Constitution 
of  every  State  in  the  Union,  not  one  will  be  found  so  deficient 
in  statesmanship,  so  abounding  in  monstrosities,  so  replete 
with  delusion,  so  bloated  with  conceit,  or  so  nondescript  in 
character,  as  this.  In  ten  years  it  has  transformed  the  great 
est  State  in  the  Union  to  the  least — the  first  to  the  last.  It 
has  dwarfed  legislation,  destroyed  all  sympathy  between  the 
constituent  body  and  the  representative,  opened  the  flood 
gates  of  expensive  and  protracted  litigation,  to  be  disposed  of 
by  a  judiciary  system,  which  was  ushered  into  existence  in  a 
state  of  paralysis ;  and  last,  though  not  the  least,  has  so  ob 
scured  the  executive  chief  of  the  Empire  State,  that  the  best 
informed  can  hardly  say  who  is  Governor,  even  after  the  elec 
tion.  Lest  wisdom  should  not  survive  the  age  that  gave  it 
birth,  it  gravely  provided  for  the  taking  of  testimony  in  equity 
cases  ;  for  the  publication  of  law  reports — but,  evidently  antici 
pating  the  character  of  some  wrhich  were  to  be  issued  from  its 
courts,  it  ventured  to  leave  to  legislative  discretion  whether 

7  O 

they  should  be  in  sheep,  calf,  or  boards ;  and  ordained  that  in 


185 8.]  ADDRESS   TO   THE   GRADUATING   CLASS.  611 

1866,  and  in  every  twenty  years  thereafter,  the  question  of  a 
convention  should  be  submitted  to  the  people  ! 

Its  financial  policy  was  founded  in  a  sense  of  popular  dis 
trust,  which  would  have  been  refreshing  in  the  days  of  the  elder 
Adams,  and  practically  concedes  that  popular  representative 
government  has  proved  a  failure  ;  that  persons  cannot  be  found 
possessing  sufficient  wisdom  and  integrity  to  discharge  faith 
fully  the  representative  office,  or  that,  if  such  exist,  the  electors 
have  not  the  honesty  or  discernment  to  select  them.  Its  crude 
hobby-riding  and  absurd  dogmas  in  this  respect  alone  have  al 
ready  done  more  evil  in  degrading  popular  government  than 
its  mole-eyed  theories  could  repay  in  a  dozen  centuries,  if  re 
duced  to  practice.  So  long  as  a  representative  government  is 
upheld,  legislation  should  be  permitted  freely  to  exercise  its 
functions  upon  all  legitimate  subjects,  leaving  its  errors  to  be 
corrected,  its  abuses  redressed,  and  its  excesses  restrained,  not 
by  constitutional  prohibition,  but  by  elevating  the  representa 
tive  standard,  and  holding  the  servant  to  a  strict  and  unsparing 
accountability ;  and  so  long  as  States  authorize,  construct,  su 
perintend,  and  improve  public  works,  they  must  make  them 
matters  of  legislative  cognizance.  Debt  is  a  withering  curse 
upon  individuals  or  States,  consuming  their  substance  and 
blighting  the  fairest  prospects ;  but  neither  men  nor  States 
can  be  elevated  by  chaining  down  the  manhood  of  the  one,  nor 
the  supremacy  of  the  other,  to  guard  them  from  excesses.  If 
legislation  imposes  onerous  debt,  either  with  or  without  the 
sanction  of  the  people,  the  error  will  prove  its  own  corrective  ; 
the  current  which  has  overflowed  its  boundaries  will  subside 
again  into  its  natural  and  healthful  channel,  and  the  substantial 
recollections  it  begets  will  prove  a  stronger  barrier  against  ex 
cessive  and  improvident  legislation  than  all  the  constitutional 
provisions  which  can  be  framed  in  the  English  language. 
Things  educate  more  thoroughly  than  theories,  and  one  start 
ling  tax  teaches  more  political  economy  than  all  the  writings  of 
Smith  and  Say  and  Bentham  and  Abbe  Raynal  and  Maccul- 
loch  together.  The  system  of  obstructions  in  affairs  of  legisla 
tion  is  a  false  one.  It  degrades  the  representative  relation,  by 
teaching  the  masses  that  the  Constitution  has  wisely  placed  the 
public  weal  beyond  the  reach  of  legislative  mischief,  and  it  is 
of  little  moment  who  or  what  is  the  recipient  of  representative 


612 

honors ;  and  it  sends  forth  the  representative  to  swear  to  the 
support  of  a  Constitution  which  pronounces  him  unworthy  to 
be  trusted,  and  leaves  him  alike  shorn  of  the  confidence  of  his 
constituents  and  of  his  self-respect. 

All  experience  has  proved  that,  whenever  constitutional  pro 
visions  obstruct  the  popular  will  on  its  way  to  the  attainment 
of  a  desired  object,  the  demoralizing  process  of  evasion  is  tho 
ever  ready  and  successful  resort.  A  fundamental  law  should 
organize  the  several  departments  of  the  government ;  guard  it 
against  the  mere  ebullitions  of  partisan  spleen  and  rancor,  and 
commit  it  fully  and  freely  to  the  popular  representative  will. 
Its  framers  should  remember  that  a  State  which  produces  wise 
men  for  conventions  can  produce  them  for  legislatures,  and  that 
a  people  who  can  select  with  just  discrimination  representa 
tives  for  one  will,  when  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion  demand, 
prove  equal  to  the  emergency  of  selecting  them  for  the  other; 
and  that  although  in  the  church  "  a  saint  in  crape  is  twice  a 
saint  in  lawn,"  the  analogy  scarcely  extends  to  the  affairs  of 
State. 

The  Constitution  of  1821  practically  presented  a  memorable 
illustration  of  the  absurdity  of  placing  the  business  affairs  of  a 
State  under  the  ban  of  constitutional  provisions.  It  authorized 
the  Erie  and  Champlain  Canal  debt,  and,  in  providing  for  its  ex 
tinguishment,  declared  that  the  tolls  upon  certain  enumerated 
articles  should  not  be  reduced  below  a  specified  minimum  un 
til  the  debt  should  be  fully  paid.  This  class  of  articles  pressed 
upon  the  canals  for  transit,  and  promised  large  additions  to  the 
revenue ;  but  the  rate  of  tolls  established  by  the  Mede  and  Per 
sian  edict  in  the  Constitution  operated  as  a  complete  prohibi 
tion  ;  and  that  same  legislation,  which  the  wisdom  of  the  con 
stitution-makers  had  distrusted  and  prohibited  from  acting,  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  and  preserving  the  revenues  of  the 
State  and  opening  the  great  channels  of  trade  to  the  enterprise 
of  the  people,  was  impelled  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  upon 
the  recommendation  of  an  upright  and  honored  Chief  Magis 
trate,  seconded  and  sanstioned  by  executive  officers  of  the  high 
est  integrity,  in  the  various  Departments,  and  in  sympathy 
with  the  popular  demand,  to  provide,  that,  although  the  pre 
scribed  tariff  of  tolls  should  be  paid  upon  the  clearing  of  a  boat, 
a  portion  should  be  returned  on  the  discharge  of  its  cargo,  un- 


1858.]  ADDKESS   TO   THE   GRADUATING   CLASS.  613 

der  the  name  of  draw  backs  !  and  thus  evade  a  provision,  the 
subject  of  which  should  at  all  times  have  been  left  under  the 
free  and  unrestricted  control  of  legislation.  Thus  it  has  ever 
been,  and  thus  it  ever  will  be,  where  constitutions  in  a  free 
State  claim  a  monopoly  of  wisdom  and  integrity,  and  essay  to 
place  affairs  which  concern  the  best  interests  of  the  people  in 
common  and  belong  to  legislation,  beyond  the  reach  of  repre 
sentative  power. 

By  the  system  of  single  districts  in  the  election  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  the  Assembly,  prescribed  by  the  present  Con 
stitution,  cross-road  politics  have  become  the  standard,  instead 
of  statesmanship  or  approved  public  character ;  candidates  are 
placed  in  nomination  to  represent  their  square  upon  the  State 
chequer-board,  not  by  the  voice  of  popular  conventions  fairly 
expressed,  but  by  themselves  and  sympathizing  friends  and 
neighbors,  and  the  imposture  is  appropriately  completed  in  the 
discharge  of  representative  duties.  The  member  does  not  rep 
resent  a  county,  where  there  are  more  districts  than  one,  but  a 
neighborhood ;  and  when  he  has  secured  an  enactment  to  pro 
hibit  the  catching  of  suckers  and  bull-pout  in  the  village  mill- 
pond,  at  improper  seasons  of  the  year,  he  has  answered  the 
expectation  of  his  constituents  and  satisfied  the  yearnings  of  a 
meagre  ambition. 

The  Senate  of  this  State,  under  the  former  Constitution, 
was  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  dignified  legislative  bodies 
in  existence.  Many  of  its  members  at  all  times  were  the  peers 
of  an  equal  number  in  the  highest  legislative  body  of  the  Union. 
It  commanded,  at  home  and  abroad,  universal  respect.  A  seat 
in  it  was  an  object  wrorthy  of  the  noblest  ambition.  Its  thirty- 
two  members  were  distributed  equally  through  eight  districts; 
the  full  term  of  service  being  four  years,  and  one  term  for  each 
district  expiring  annually,  secured  to  the  body  at  all  times  a 
large  experience,  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  affairs  and 
details  of  legislation,  and  made  its  harmonious  and  symmetrical 
framework  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  our  pride  for  its  wisdom, 
strength,  and  beauty.  But  the  craving  spirit  of  spurious  reform 
raised  its  huge  pickaxe  against  the  structure,  and  upon  its 
ruins  reared  a  shapeless,  incongruous  pile,  neither  Senate  nor 
Assembly,  neither  permanent  nor  popular  —  biennial  in  its 
entrance,  existence,  and  exit ;  in  the  fashion  of  legislative  bod- 


614 

ies,  unlike  anything  which  was  before,  or  will  be  likely  to  come 
after  it ;  and  reposing  in  the  archives  of  the  world's  ample 
patent  office  as  a  new,  if  not  a  useful  invention,  of  the  Consti- 
tion  of  1846. 

The  present  banking  system  of  the  State  did  not  originate 
with  the  Constitution,  but  was  approved,  sanctioned,  strength 
ened,  and  fostered  by  it,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the 
same  pernicious  polity.  It  has  been  somewhat  universally 
lauded  as  one  of  the  wisest  systems  ever  devised,  and  volumes 
of  popular  incense  have  been  made  to  wreathe  beneath  its 
nostrils.  But  it  is  believed  that,  upon  just  examination,  it  will 
be  found  in  principle  a  most  unsound  and  vicious  organization. 
In  the  commercial  cities  or  moneyed  centres,  any  system  which 
permits  the  banker  to  receive  and  discount  upon  deposits,  and 
secures  strict  accountability,  is  a  good  one.  But  through  the 
agricultural  regions  of  an  extended  State,  if  a  paper  system  of 
issue  and  circulation  must  be  sanctioned  or  established,  it 
should  be,  as  far  as  practicable,  a  wise  one. 

The  system  rests  for  its  foundation  upon  that  most  insecure 
of  all  reliances — State  and  individual  indebtedness,  without 
which  it  could  have  no  existence.  It  neither  affords  a  fair  profit 
to  the  banker  in  return  for  the  employment  of  his  capital,  in 
its  legitimate  workings,  nor  sufficiently  accommodates  the 
business  enterprise  of  the  country  in  its  diversified  transactions. 
It  centralizes  where  it  should  diffuse  ;  it  forces  actual  capital 
from  the  country,  where  it  is  required  by  the  calls  of  business, 
to  the  city,  which  is  amply  supplied  by  the  laws  of  trade  ;  it 
robs  the  banker  of  his  specie  capital,  and  substitutes  empty 
indebtedness  ;  it  makes,  by  artificial  law,  the  country  tributary 
to  the  city ;  it  compels  the  banker,  like  the  slothful  servant,  to 
bury  his  money  in  a  napkin,  and  conduct  his  banking  business 
like  a  modern  Congressional  duel — entirely  on  paper.  If  it  is 
said  that  the  system  is  a  safe  one,  it  is  replied  that  no  financial 
scheme  is  either  safe  in  theory  or  secure  in  practice,  which  de 
prives  the  banker  of  the  use  of  his  capital  in  his  legitimate 
business,  and  drives  him  to  exchanges  for  redemption,  and  the 
side-door  for  profits ;  which  forces  his  notes  to  the  moneyed 
centres  with  the  rapidity  of  a  carrier  pigeon,  to  be  redeemed 
by  the  notes  of  a  neighboring  bank,  and  both  to  be  returned 
with  the  same  rapidity  they  were  forwarded ;  which  buries  the 


1858.]  ADDEESS   TO   THE    GRADUATING   CLASS.  615 

moneyed  capital  abroad,  and  draws  its  sustaining  life-blood  from 
debt.  It  is  not  denied  that,  when  judiciously  managed,  it  is 
for  all  present  purposes  entirely  safe  for  the  bill-holder,  and 
generally  the  depositor.  But  as  a  system  of  State  policy  it  is 
essentially  erroneous.  It  would  be  far  safer  to  inculcate  by 
legislation  the  payment  of  debts,  State  and  individual,  rather 
than  stimulate  the  creation  of  either  or  both  by  the  plea  that 
the  securities  are  necessary  as  a  basis  for  banking  ; — better  to 
leave  to  the  banker  his  moneyed  capital  for  the  transaction  of 
his  business,  securing  the  public  against  inflations,  frauds,  and 
failures,  by  wholesome  guards  of  limited  circulation,  specie 
averages,  and  vigilant  supervisions.  The  business  of  the  coun 
try  would  then  rest  upon  a  moneyed  basis,  and  not  upon  a 
vacuum  to  be  filled  by  the  payment  of  a  debt,  and,  while  enter 
prise  would  be  more  generously  rewarded,  revulsions  in  sweep 
ing  over  would  scarce  create  a  ripple  on  the  surface  of  financial 
affairs. 

But  the  premium  absurdity  of  the  Constitution  of  1846 
was  reserved  for  the  judicial  department,  and  here  the  genius 
of  confusion  seems  to  have  invested  her  whole  funded  and 
floating  accumulations.  Verily : 

"  Nature  ne'er  meant  her  secrets  to  be  found, 
And  man's  a  riddle  which  man  can't  expound." 

If  the  tempter  of  our  race  had  sought  to  originate  a  system 
calculated  to  degrade  the  bench,  bring  courts  and  judges  into 
popular  contempt,  unlearn  the  bar,  give  ignorance  a  roving 
commission,  and  set  legal  results  afloat  upon  a  shoreless  ocean 
of  uncertainty,  he  would  have  discharged  his  errand  faithfully 
and  successfully  by  inspiring  this. 

It  is  not  intended  to  discuss  elaborately  the  elective  feature, 
for  that  is  one  of  its  most  tolerable  provisions,  although  it  has 
clearly  failed  to  answer  fully  the  public  expectation.  It  would 
doubtless  have  been  more  successful,  if  it  had  been  separated, 
as  it  should  have  been,  from  the  general  elections,  and  the 
selection  of  candidates  had  been  made  outside  of  the  atmos 
phere  of  political  conventions.  No  one  distrusts  the  ability  of 
the  people  to  select  with  wise  and  just  discrimination,  when 
opportunity  is  given  for  deliberate  reflection.  But  so  long  as 


616 

the  great  body  of  electors  have  little  sympathy  or  connection 
with  the  management  of  a  nominating  caucus,  and  must  choose 
between  the  candidates  presented  or  remain  passive,  the  popu 
lar  intelligence  will  be  imperfectly  represented.  Still,  with  all 
the  embarrassments  that  have  hindered  its  success,  it  cannot  be 
pronounced  a  failure,  and  while  its  defects  are  manifest,  it  has 
corrected  others  in  the  former  system  of  executive  appoint 
ments  that  were  no  less  objectionable. 

The  Court  of  Appeals  is  erroneously  constituted,  and  has 
proved  utterly  inadequate  to  the  duties  set  before  it.  The 
number  of  judges  sitting  is  too  small  for  a  strictly  popular 
court,  and  too  large  for  the  careful  and  rapid  dispatch  of  busi 
ness.  The  feature  which  annually  gives  four  of  the  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court  a  term  of  schooling  in  this  court,  either  as 
a  reward  for  services,  or  a  punishment  for  delinquencies  in  their 
official  duties,  was  one  of  the  wildest  vagaries  of  this  comedy 
of  errors  —  embarrassing  to  the  permanent  members  of  the 
court,  humiliating  to  the  judicial  sojourners,  and  detrimental  to 
the  cause  of  justice. 

We  must,  however,  make  way  for  the  Supreme  Court,  if  the 
seven-headed  and  ten-horned  creation  now  serving  as  our  highest 
court  of  original  jurisdiction,  may  be  thus  dignified.  There  is 
a  grandeur  and  mock  magnificence  in  its  failure,  which  leaves 
the  contemplative  mind  in  doubt,  whether  to  stand  rigid  in 
melancholy,  or  relax  into  mirth.  Its  failure  cannot  be  attribut 
ed  to  the  character  of  the  incumbents,  for  among  them  are 
many  eminent  for  their  solid  learning,  and  distinguished  for 
their  experience,  good  sense,  and  integrity.  It  has  not  been  in 
the  circuits  or  special  terms,  for  business  there,  so  far  as  the 
country  is  concerned,  has  been  despatched  with  reasonable 
speed,  and  causes  have  generally  been  fairly  heard  and  satisfac 
torily  disposed  of.  But  it  inheres  in  the  very  essence  of  the 
organization  as  a  Supreme  Court  in  banco,  with  as  many  eyes 
as  Argus,  looking  different  ways,  and  as  many  limbs  as 
Briareus,  struggling  in  opposite  directions  —  trunkless  and 
headless,  and  no  one  member  in  sympathy  with  any  other. 

The  law  of  the  Supreme  Court  finally  determining  the  right 
between  Smith  and  Jones  to  a  farm  situate  one  half  in  Cort- 
land  in  the  sixth,  and  the  residue  in  Onondaga,  in  the  fifth  dis 
trict,  all  depending  upon  the  same  title  and  the  same  question, 


1858.]  ADDRESS   TO   THE   GRADUATING   CLASS.  617 

by  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  sixth  district, 
gives  the  Cortland  half  to  Smith,  and  by  the  judgment  of  the 
same  court  in  the  fifth  district,  gives  the  Onondnga  half  to 
Jones.  Neither  of  these  courts  is  merely  a  Supreme  Court,  but 
both  and  each  are  the  Supreme  Court,  and  both  judgments  are, 
so  far  as  this  Court  is  concerned,  final  and  conclusive.  What 
is  justifiable  in  law  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  Erie,  is  by  the 
same  court  pronounced  illegal  and  criminal  in  Kings,  and  that 
which  may  be  practised  with  impunity,  and  under  the  shield 
of  the  law's  protection  in  St.  Lawrence,  will,  by  the  judgment 
of  the  same  court,  commit  the  perpetrator  to  prison  for  the 
commission  of  a  wrong  in  Tioga. 

A  judicial  system  so  swollen  with  error  and  perverted  by 
stupidity  could  never  deserve  and  should  not  receive  the  pub 
lic  respect,  sanction,  or  approbation.  Its  ministering  justices 
will  prove  unable  to  raise  it  up  to  a  respectable  level ;  but  it 
will  hang  upon  their  necks  like  the  festering  bodies  placed  by 
order  of  the  worst  of  Cassars  upon  the  shoulders  of  those 
condemned  to  punishment.  It  would  have  sunk  a  Mansfield 
or  a  Marshall  below  mediocrity,  and  have  shorn  a  Spencer 
and  a  Kent  of  their  attributes  of  learning  and  wisdom  ;  and 
yet  the  Sangrados  of  the  day  will  cry  out  with  interrogating 
consternation,  whether  we  propose  to  give  up  the  system ! 

Under  the  early  rigor  of  the  Roman  law,  a  jury  not  read 
ily  agreeing  were  transported  from  place  to  place  in  a  small 
cart  until  they  should  deliver  their  verdict ;  but  with  us  the 
jury  have  been  released,  and  transportation  from  one  point  to 
another  reserved  for  the  court  alone  until  judgment  shall  be 
rendered.  Look  for  a  moment  in  sober  earnest  at  what  is  call 
ed,  by  way  of  eminence,  a  General  Term  of  the  Supreme 
Court ;  of  which  eight  are  sitting,  perchance,  at  the  same  time, 
in  the  several  districts,  manufacturing  octagonal  law.  But  one 
will  serve  as  a  description  of  others,  if  not  of  the  whole.  At 
a  previous  term  the  court  have  heard  some  fifty  arguments  in 
causes  of  greater  or  less  importance,  which  remain  to  be  decid 
ed.  During  the  ordinary  hours  of  business  in  the  daytime  the 
court  is  engaged  in  hearing  arguments  in  causes  upon  the  cal 
endar  ;  in  the  evening  its  members  meet  to  consult  upon  and 
decide  those  argued  at  a  previous  term.  They  not  unfrequent- 
ly  are  gathered  in  a  room  of  a  village  tavern,  not  less  in  dimen- 


618 

sions  than  nine  by  eleven — furnished  with  a  cot-bed  which 
gives  audible  complaint  when  approached  too  nearly,  two  or 
three  crippled  chairs,  and  a  table  that  tips  without  the  inter 
vention  of  a  medium ;  and  here,  in  a  few  hours  snatched  from 
rest  and  relaxation,  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this 
great  State  sit  down  to  review,  by  the  lights  and  shadows  of 
a  tallow  candle,  the  decisions  of  subordinate  tribunals — of  the 
circuits  and  special  terms — and  to  pass  upon  the  gravest  rights 
of  life,  liberty,  and  property  of  the  citizen. 

Such  a  system  has  destroyed  the  character  of  our  Judiciary 
at  home,  "  and  made  us  the  reproach  of  neighboring  States." 
To  restore  it,  amongst  other  reforms,  we  must  have  a  Supreme 
Court  in  banco,  which  can  act  as  a  unit,  so  organized  in  num 
bers,  ability,  compensation,  and  duration  of  official  term,  that 
it  can  hear,  examine,  and  decide  causes  in  a  manner  becoming 
the  Supreme  Court  of  a  State,  whose  judges,  in  other  times, 
were  great  lights  along  the  judicial  pathway  of  the  civilized 
world. 

Tremble  not,  my  friends,  at  the  wide  field  of  effort  which 
has  been  opened  before  you.  Domains  of  more  ample  range 
and  extended  boundaries  have  been  successfully  cultivated  and 
fertilized  by  those  who  have  preceded.  The  work  cannot  be 
accomplished  in  a  few  months,  nor  in  a  few  years,  but  must 
be  a  labor  of  life.  Your  legal  education  has  not  been  complet 
ed — it  is  about  to  commence.  You  have  reached  the  first  great 
point  in  legal  science,  and  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  per 
plexing,  but  not  the  last.  You  have  learned  how  to  learn,  and 
your  desire  for  knowledge  will  increase  with  its  accumulation. 
At  fifty  you  will  read  more  than  at  twenty-five,  for  the  in 
struction  it  conveys  as  well  as  the  pleasure  it  confers,  and  will 
learn  that  the  desire  for  knowledge,  in  the  inquiring  mind,  is 
as  deathless  as  the  spirit  of  man. 

In  choosing  the  profession  of  the  law,  you  go  out  into  the 
world  like  the  knights  of  chivalry,  to  espouse  the  cause  of  jus 
tice  and  innocence,  and  to  stand  between  oppression  and  its 
victims.  Armed  with  the  panoply  of  learning  and  protected 
by  the  social  virtues,  though  unknown  in  the  lists,  you  may 
fearlessly  enter  and  strike  with  the  pointed  end  of  your  spear 
the  shields  of  the  Brian  Du  Bois  Gilberts. 

The  march  of  time  is  onward,  like  the  flow  of  an  unremit- 


1858.]  ADDRESS   TO  THE   GRADUATING   CLASS.  619 

ting  stream.  One  generation  succeeds  another,  like  waves 
which  roll  over  the  surface  of  the  deep.  Those  who  now  fill 
the  responsible  trusts  in  the  various  departments  of  life  will 
soon  all  be  laid  in  the  dust.  Soon  you  must  be  called  to  plead 
at  the  bar,  to  declare  decisions  from  the  bench,  and  to  stand  as 
representatives  in  the  legislative  forum.  Fear  not,  falter  not ; 
let  your  course  be  upward  and  onward,  and  length  of  days 
shall  be  in  your  right  hand,  and  in  your  left  riches  and  honor. 

Expect  not  to  commence  in  your  professional  career  where 
eminent  experience  leaves  off,  but  strive  to  emulate  the  noble 
example  of  him  whose  munificence  endowed  this  fountain  of 
legal  light  and  learning,  for  the  diffusion  of  a  science  at  whose 
shrine  he  had  worshipped  with  an  Eastern  devotion,  and  the 
elevation  and  refinement  of  a  profession  that  he  loved — the 
lamented  Maynard.  Contemplate  his  progress,  from  humble 
beginnings,  through  a  course  of  toil,  of  severe  application,  of 
self-denial  as  a  student,  to  the  ripe  and  accomplished  scholar, 
the  respected  and  virtuous  citizen,  the  profound  lawyer,  and 
the  wise  judge  and  statesman ;  when  in  the  maturity  of  his 
strength  and  the  zenith  of  his  fame,  too  strong  for  earthly 
courts,  he  passed  away  to  a  tribunal, 

"  Whore  every  right  decree  is  ratified, 

And  every  wrong  reversed  and  set  aside." 

"Tread  lightly  upon  his  ashes,  ye  men  of  genius,  for  he  was 
your  kinsman."  Cherish  his  memory  with  veneration,  and 
cast  chaplets  upon  his  tomb. 

The  history  of  the  bar  is  a  history  of  illustrious  examples, 
patriotic  impulses,  and  noble  deeds.  Its  members  have  been 
conspicuous  among  those  who  have  at  all  times  shed  lustre 
upon  our  country's  fame ;  they  led  our  armies  in  the  fearful 
days  of  revolutionary  peril,  and  gave  to  the  cause  of  liberty  a 
declaration  of  the  rights  of  man  which  will  throw  light  along 
the  shadowy  path  of  tradition  when  records  shall  exist  no 
longer,  and  every  page  of  history  shall  have  faded  away. 

The  noble  intellects  of  a  country  are  the  sheet-anchor  of 
its  hope ;  they  protect  its  moral  as  the  citizen  soldiery  do  its 
material  outposts.  In  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  life's  mighty 
ocean  ;  in  the  chafing  of  its  tides  ;  in  the  rushing  of  its  gulf- 
stream  ;  amidst  the  storms  which  agitate  its  bosom  and  heave 
it  in  maddening,  whirling  currents  now  riding  mountain  high, 


620  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

now  yawning  in  fearful  chasms,  now  placid  and  serene — no 
impotent  Xerxes  with  his  paper  constitutions  can  bind  it  in 
fetters,  nor  Canute  with  his  penal  statutes  limit  the  swelling 
of  its  waves.  The  stream  cannot  be  raised  higher  nor  made 
more  pure  than  the  fountain,  nor  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
a  State  excel  in  strength  or  wisdom  the  great  body  of  its  peo 
ple.  Laws  may  punish  vice,  but  it  is  not  their  office  to  force 
the  growth  of  virtue.  The  security  of  a  State  rests  in  the 
sound  morality  and  intelligence  of  those  who  compose  it ;  and 
when  these  safeguards  fail,  the  problem  of  self-government 
will  be  finally  solved,  for  paper  laws  will  prove  a  delusive 
mockery.  !N"o  standing  armies,  no  bristling  bayonets,  no 
naval  armaments  can  quicken  the  pulsations  of  liberty  or 
measure  the  heart-throbs  of  emancipated  man.  Religion,  vir 
tue,  intelligence,  point  the  pathway  of  duty  and  assure  us  of 
the  rewards  which  await  their  votaries.  During  the  last  cen 
tury,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  the  Old  World,  by  the  feeble  and 
flickering  light  of  liberty  which  forced  its  way  through  the 
cracks  and  crannies  of  a  stultified  system  of  monarchy,  caught 
up  the  true  inspiration,  and  by  pregnant  interrogatory  and 
answer  (which,  though  worn  with  time  and  service,  are  always 
new),  well  declared  the  true  principles  of  a  government  of  laws  : 

"  What  constitutes  a  State  ? 
Not  high-raised  battlement  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate  ; 
Not  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned ; 

Not  huge  and  broad-armed  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride  ; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
"Where  low-browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No  !  Men — high-minded  Men, 
With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued, 

In  forest,  brake,  or  den, 
As  beasts  excel  cold  brakes  or  brambles  rude : 

Men,  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights,  and  knowing  dare  maintain ; 

Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain, 

These  constitute  a  State : 
And  sovereign  law,  that  State's  collected  will, 

O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate, 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill." 


EEMAEKS 

AT  THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CORNER -STONE  OF  THE  N.    T.  STATE   INE 
BRIATE  ASYLUM,  AT BINGHAHTON,  N.  Y.,  September  24, 1858, 

INTRODUCING  TO  THE  AUDIENCE  HON.  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

[After  the  Masonic  Ceremonies  and  Opening  Remarks  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Association,  and  Addresses  by  Dr.  John  W.  Francis  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Henry  W.  Bellows  of  Few  York,  the  President,  Hon.  Benjamin  F. 
Butler,  in  continuance  of  the  proceedings,  said:  "There  is  a  resident  of 
this  village  who  has  taken  a  great  interest  in  this  enterprise  ;  who  has 
held  a  high  place  in  the  government  of  this  State,  and  a  still  higher  place 
in  the  government  of  this  Union,  who,  I  am  sure,  will  be  listened  to  with 
great  pleasure,  not  only  by  his  own  fellow-citizens  of  the  town  of  Bing- 
hamton,  but  also  by  the  men  who  have  come  from  distant  places — some 
from  the  very  end  of  the  State.  I  introduce  to  you  my  friend,  the  Hon. 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson."] 

Mr.  Dickinson  said; 

ME.  PRESIDENT,  FELLOW-CITIZENS — Upon  an  introduction 
so  kind  and  generous,  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  speak,  that 
I  may  welcome  with  my  whole  heart  this  vast  audience,  and 
the  numerous  distinguished  gentlemen  who,  having  contributed 
of  their  influence  and  substance  for  the  inauguration  of  this  in 
stitution,  sacred  to  the  cause  of  philanthropy,  have  come  hither 
to  participate  in  laying,  with  becoming  ceremonies,  its  moral 
and  material  foundation.  Time  will  not  permit  me  to  speak  of 
the  benefits  and  blessings  which  are  destined  to  flow  from  the 
Inebriate  Asylum  for  the  frail,  erring  children  of  humanity — 
nor  to  tell  of  the  pure,  gushing  life-streams  this  great  fountain 
of  good  is  to  send  forth,  to  refresh  and  fertilize  the  bleak  and 
barren  waste  of  intemperance — nor  to  point  to  the  inebriated 
maniac,  who  shall,  by  its  Heaven-born  influences,  be  clothed 
again  in  his  right  mind — nor  of  the  prodigal  son,  who,  covered 


622  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

with  vice  and  rags,  shall,  through  its  ministrations,  arise  and 
go  to  his  father. 

If  the  great  army  of  intemperance — those  who  are  dying 
under  the  influence  of  this  remorseless  destroyer — those  who 
are  becoming  lawless  outcasts — those  who  commit,  or  associate 
with  crime,  by  reason  of  intoxicating  draughts — should  march 
together  in  solid  column,  the  earth  itself  would  heave,  and 
throb,  and  tremble  under  their  tread,  as  though  moved  by  the 
convulsions  of  a  volcano  !  To  arrest  the  progress  of  this  terri 
ble  element,  Philanthropy,  in  her  ceaseless  effort  for  fallen  man, 
erects  this  institution.  How  many  fathers  are  looking  on  with 
a  parent's  painfully  anxious  solicitude  !  How  many  wives  and 
mothers  will  reverently  kneel  and  pray  to  the  Father  in  Heaven 
that  this  effort  may  be  blest !  Oh  !  how  many  children  will 
raise  their  little  hands  in  prayer  for  its  success,  that  the  mon 
ster,  intemperance,  may  never  come  to  torment  them  before 
their  time,  and  curse  with  blood  and  tears  the  lustre  of  their 
birth-star ! 

But  I  must  pause,  for  I  am  forgetting  that,  among  all  the 
distinguished  here,  there  is  one  pre-eminent  upon  this  platform 
— one  who  came  upon  another  errand,  but  has  kindly  consented 
to  honor  us  by  his  presence — one  who  is  known  wherever  the 
philanthropic  heart  has  throbbed,  wherever  learning,  eloquence, 
or  statesmanship  are  known,  or  civilization  has  travelled ;  and 
I  shall  best  serve  you  by  closing  my  remarks,  and  introducing 
to  you  EDWARD  EVERETT. 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED   AT    THE    DEMOCRATIC    STATE    CONVENTION,    HELD   AT 

WETTING  HALL,  SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  September  14,  1859. 

[The  New  York  Democratic  State  Convention  of  Sept.,  1859,  was 
called  by  the  State  Committee  to  nominate  a  State  ticket  and  appoint 
delegates  to  the  National  Convention,  to  be  held  at  Charleston,  in  April, 
1860.  There  was  then  but  a  single  organization  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  the  State,  and  a  majority  of  the  State  Central  Committee 
represented  what  had  been,  in  the  days  of  the  party  divisions,  the 
"  Barnburner,"  or  "  Free-soil "  and  "  Soft "  interest.  Pending  the  call, 
two  questions  were  raised  in  opposition  to  what  seemed  to  be  the  pur 
pose  of  the  Committee — one  that  the  time  selected  was  too  early  for 
the  appointment  of  the  delegates  to  the  National  Convention,  the  other 
that,  except  those  to  represent  the  State  at  large,  the  delegates  ought 
to  be  appointed  by  the  Democrats  of  the  several  Congressional  Districts, 
and  not  by  a  State  Convention ;  and  a  somewhat  spirited  canvass  for 
delegates  to  the  State  Convention  was  conducted,  and  contesting 
delegations  from  some  counties,  and  particularly  from  the  city  of  New 
York,  were  elected.  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  a  portion  of  the  party  of 
those  known  as  his  friends,  did  not  participate  in  this  contest  on  either 
side;  another  portion  of  his  friends,  with  others,  took  part  against  the 
policy  of  the  State  Committee.  The  view  taken  by  him  of  the  subject 
was,  that  as  the  party,  since  1856  at  least,  had  ostensibly  been  united 
upon  a  common  platform,  there  ought  not  to  be  a  division  and  a  double 
delegation  to  Charleston,  nullifying  the  influence  of  the  State ;  as  had 
been  the  case  in  former  National  Conventions,  when  the  party  was 
divided  at  home,  especially  upon  personal  considerations,  or  mere 
questions  of  policy.  Besides,  he  believed  that  the  vote  of  New  York 
would  be  necessary  for  the  election  of  any  Democratic  candidate  to  the 
Presidency,  and  he  knew  that  no  such  candidate  could  hope  to  receive 
the  vote  of  the  State  who  should  be  nominated  in  opposition  to,  or 
without  the  concurrence  of,  the  party  interest  which  was  in  harmony 
with  the  majority  of  the  State  Committee.  From  the  political  signs 
of  the  times,  and  aside  from  any  personal  feeling  he  might  have  had, 
from  being  prominently  and  widely  named  as  a  candidate,  he  saw  the 


624 

necessity  and  felt  the  greatest  anxiety  that  a  National  Democrat  should 
be  elected  to  the  next  Presidential  term.  He  therefore  firmly  deter 
mined  that,  as  the  State  Committee  interest  would  have  and  doubtless 
exercise  the  power  to  control  the  action  of  the  State  at  the  election — 
that  is,  to  make  it  adverse  when  otherwise  it  might  be  favorable — 
they  should  have,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  the  undoubted  responsi 
bility  of  all  the  preliminaries  as  well  as  of  the  result.  He  was  resolved, 
too,  not  to  be  thrown  into  a  false  or  questionable  position,  and  as 
there  were  indications  of  a  contest  at  the  State  Convention,  he  attended 
personally,  though  not  a  delegate,  to  use  his  influence  in  favor  of  con 
ciliation  and  a  united  delegation.  A  collision  occurred,  however,  upon 
the  question  of  organization,  which  shaped  the  whole  character  of  the 
Convention.  A  double  organization  was  partially  effected,  two  chair 
men  being  in  position  and  attempting  to  act  at  the  same  time,  when 
the  Chairman  nominated  on  behalf  of  the  State  Committee  was  forcibly 
thrown  from  the  platform  by  a  person  not  a  delegate,  but  alleged  to  be 
a  bully  acting  under  the  procurement  of  some  one  on  the  other  side. 
The  assaulted  chairman,  with  a  portion  of  the  delegates,  thereupon  left 
the  hall.  The  adherents  of  the  other  organization  continued  their  pro 
ceedings  a  short  time  and  adjourned,  when  the  ejected  chairman 
returned  and  called  to  order.  So  gross  had  been  the  outrage  upon  him 
and  upon  the  Convention,  so  revolting  to  the  sense  of  every  friend  of 
decency  and  order,  and  so  marked  was  the  feeling  of  condemnation, 
that  a  large  majority  of  the  delegates, — almost  all,  except  some  who 
were  elected  as  contestants— answered  to  their  name?,  and  took  part  in 
the  Convention  as  thus  organized.  (Delegates  to  Charleston  were  ap 
pointed  by  this  Convention.  Contesting  delegates  were  subsequently 
elected  under  the  other  organization,  but  they  were  not  admitted  to 
the  National  Convention,  and  the  State  Committee  delegation  was  in 
no  way  embarrassed  in  its  action  by  their  claim  to  seats.)  Soon  after 
the  interruption  and  reassembling  above  described,  the  Convention,  on 
motion  of  a  member,  passed  a  resolution  inviting  Mr.  Dickinson  to  a 
seat,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  communicate  the  invitation  and 
conduct  him  to  the  hall.  His  reception  is  thus  noticed  in  the  published 
proceedings :  "  At  this  moment  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  appeared,  and 
the  Convention  sprang  to  its  feet,  both  in  the  gallery  and  hall,  and  the 
cheering  for  several  minutes,  as  he  advanced  to  and  took  his  seat  on 
the  platform,  was  deafening.  Loud  calls  of  'Dickinson,'  'Dickinson,' 
rang  from  every  part  of  the  hall,  when  Mr.  Dickinson  arose  and  spoke 
as  follows:  "— ] 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS — I  am  exceedingly 
gratified  to  see,  at  a  time  of  such  an  interesting  crisis  in  the 
Democratic  party,  so  many  good  and  true  men  who  are  en- 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC    STATE   CONVENTION.  625 

rolled  under  the  Democratic  banner.  By  the  hearing  of  the 
ear  I  have  understood  that  there  have  been  some  unfor 
tunate  differences  and  dissensions  in  your  ranks  to-day,  grow 
ing  out  of  the  organization  of  this  Convention  ;  but  not  know 
ing  the  facts  in  detail,  I  pass  them  all  by,  saying,  in  the  ab 
stract,  that  I  am  here  for  union,  peace,  and  harmony,  and  for 
these  only.  I  came  to  this  city  for  the  purpose  of  taking  my 
fellow-Democrats  by  the  hand.  The  opportunity  to  meet  so 
many  has  not  often  been  afforded  me.  I  hoped  my  experience 
in -and  devotion  to  the  Democratic  party  might  conduce  to  a 
thorough  union — a  union  which  would  combine  all  interests, 
which  would  know  no  section,  and  admit  of  no  divisions. 
My  voice,  I  hoped,  might  contribute  to  effect  such  a  union. 
Whoever  departs  or  has  departed  from  this  specific  council  has 
my  condemnation.  Whoever  makes  an  effort  to  control  the 
party,  inconsistent  with  fairness,  with  honor,  with  its  usages 
and  the  dignity  becoming  a  deliberative  body,  acts  not  only 
without  my  advice,  but  against  my  judgment  and  my  wishes. 
My  feelings  towards  the  Democratic  party  are  known  to 
all.  The  record  of  my  life  speaks  for  itself.  So  long  as  the 
differences  which  formerly  distracted  its  counsels  originated 
in  a  difference  of  principle,  I  believed  no  real  harmony  could 
prevail.  I  acted  up  to  the  honest  convictions  of  my  mind,  as 
I  always  intend  to  do,  whether  in  weal  or  woe,  success  or  de 
feat.  When  those  who  adhere  to  doctrines  adverse  to  the 
Democratic  creed  joined  themselves  to  other  organizations, 
I  said  that  only  personal  feelings  and  prejudices,  and  the  de 
sire  of  individuals  for  office,  prevented  the  Democracy  from 
coming  together  and  acting  as  a  unit.  Since  then  I  have,  upon 
all  occasions,  endeavored  to  cast  oil  on  the  troubled  waters. 
I  may  say  of  those  past  dissensions,  as  the  British  king  said 
of  the  United  States,  "  though  the  last  man  to  admit  their  in 
dependence,  he  was  the  first  to  recognize  it  and  welcome  their 
minister,  when  it  was  achieved."  I  have  now  no  fear  for  the 
Democracy  of  the  State,  for  all  its  great  principles  of  liberty  and 
equality,  its  national  heart,  its  humanitarian  efforts,  its  ceaseless 
progress,  its  respect  for  the  universal  rights  of  man ;  and  have 
invoked,  and  here  anew  invoke,  peace  and  harmony  amongst 
all  true  disciples  of  the  Democratic  faith.  Yes,  fellow-citizens, 
I  repeat  I  would  sooner  suffer  my  right  arm  to  be  severed  here 
40 


626  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

before  you ;  I  would  sooner  that  my  tongue  should  cleave  to 
the  roof  of  my  mouth,  than  consent  to  lend  myself  to  wrong, 
to  anything  overreaching — anything  tricky  in  a  deliberative 
convention.  I  never  did,  and  I  never  will.  I  repeat,  I  ex 
press  no  opinion  as  to  what  is  alleged  to  have  been  done,  for  I 
know  nothing  of  the  facts,  but  I  have  the  will  and  the  nerve 
to  stand  by  the  right  when  I  am  satisfied  where  that  right  is. 

I  have  had  some  experience  in  reverses  and  dissensions  in 
the  Democratic  party.  I  have  seen  the  time  when,  for  the 
stern  discharge  of  duty,  like  the  spy  of  Washington,  scarce 
one  would  recognize  my  position  or  take  me  by  the  hand ;  and 
I  did  not  falter.  I  have  seen  the  time  when  bouquets  of  flowers 
were  laid  at  my  feet  because  I  declined  the  use  of  my  name 
for  the  Presidential  nomination,  and  I  did  not  falter  then  ;  and 
I  am  able  to  stand  now,  as  ever,  by  the  Democratic  party, 
through  triumph  or  defeat,  success  or  reverse.  I  am  of  no  sec 
tion  ;  I  know  no  section  geographically,  and  no  section  politi 
cally.  I  am  of  that  party  which  believes  in  and  upholds  the 
equal  and  just  rights  of  man,  and  which  opposes  all  assaults 
upon  the  Constitution,  either  of  the  State  or  nation,  come  from 
whence  they  may.  I  am  opposed  to  the  party  that  treats  the 
State  worse  than  Herod  and  Pilot  together  treated  the  people 
of  Judea  and  Galilee.  Despicable  tyrants  as  they  were,  rob 
bers  of  a  down-trodden  people,  they  did  not  ask  that  the  peo 
ple,  after  being  borne  down  with  exactions,  and  going  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  be  taxed,  should  go  up  to  register  their  names 
besides.  But  the  Republican  party — the  party  of  professed 
benevolence  and  philanthropy — have  not  only  laid  their 
hands  on  the  earnings  of  labor  in  taxes,  but  they  ask  the  la 
borer  to  leave  his  plough  in  the  furroAV ;  every  working  man  to 
forsake  his  labor  for  a  day,  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  get  reg 
istered.  Against  that  party  I  desire  to  see  the  Democracy  ar 
ray  itself  in  a  solid  body,  laying  aside  all  squabbles  about  or 
ganizations  in  localities,  and  all  personal  prejudices.  We  have 
here  a  matter  that  concerns  the  people,  who  have  no  interest 
in  the  squabbles  of  politicians.  The  people  have  a  right  to 
demand  that  justice  shall  be  done  to  them  in  matters  of  so 
grave  a  character,  and  they  will  see  that  it  is  given  them. 

The  Democratic  party  is  the  great  catholic  party  of  the 
country  and  of  the  world.  Bv  its  doctrines  I  abide.  I  do  not 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC   STATE   CONVENTION.  627 

ask  and  do  not  care  what  man  holds  office  if  he  discharges  his 
duty.  I  have  held  office  myself,  and  long  enough  for  my  ad 
vantage.  Whether  I  shall  ever  hold  another  I  do  not  know, 
and  do  not  care.  I  am  better  off  out  of  office  than  in,  and  have 
sense  enough  to  know  it.  If  the  people  want  rne,  I  believe  they 
will  stop  the  great  Democratic  train  and  take  me  in.  I  have 
no  craving  desire  to  be  before  the  public,  for  I  am  a  better  sol' 
dier  in  the  ranks,  as  I  myself  believe,  than  commissioned  leader ; 
but  I  would  not  shrink  from  duty  whenever  devolved  upon  me. 
I  believe  the  people  have  intelligence  enough  to  know  who 
they  want,  and  to  give  them  notice  when  they  are  wanted. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  hope  the  clouds  will  clear  away. 

A  voice.     "  They're  gone  already." 

Mr.  Dickinson.  So  much  the  better.  I  trust  all  breaches 
in  the  Democratic  ranks  will  be  closed,  and  that  the  engine 
will  go  on  at  such  speed  that  people  will  have  to  clear  the  track 
ahead,  and  hold  on  behind,  so  as  not  to  be  run  over  or  left  in 
the  rear.  The  two  branches  of  "  the  opposition  "  are  separated, 
though  their  separation  may  not  be  eternal ;  but  like  that  of 
the  racoon  and  wildcat  who  were  parting.  "  We  shall  never 
meet  again,"  said  one.  "Oh,  yes,  we  shall,"  replied  the  other 
"  at  the  hatter's  shop." 

I  thank  you,  fellow-Democrats,  for  having  given  me  this 
opportunity  of  addressing  you.  It  is  an  interruption  of  the 
regular  proceedings  of  this  Convention,  but  I  am  nevertheless 
glad  of  the  privilege  of  exhorting  you  to  appeal  to  no  sectional 
or  personal  feelings.  Look  only  to  the  future,  and  do  not  live 
in  the  prejudices  of  the  past,  or  gratify  the  ill-feelings  of  a  by 
gone  day.  I  am  willing  to  ignore  and  forget  all  past  dissen 
sions  in  the  Democratic  party.  Every  man  who  will  buckle 
on  his  armor  and  go  on  with  me  to  redeem  the  State  of  New 
York,  to  protect  the  courts,  the  Constitution,  and  the  people, 
and  to  rescue  our  cherished  State  from  misrule — to  him  I  ex 
tend  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to-day.  What  are  now  the 
conflicts  of  1848,  or  any  year  that  is  past  to  us?  Nothing; 
but  the  future  may  be  ours  to  improve.  I  am  glad,  fellow- 
Democrats,  that  I  am  here.  I  doubted,  in  my  own  mind, 
whether  it  was  proper  for  me  to  come  to  this  Convention,  but, 
as  I  said  to  a  Democrat,  doubtless  now  within  hearing  of  my 
voice,  I  had  free  papers  and  a  right  to  come  if  I  pleased.  As 


G28 

these  little  dissensions  have  arisen,  I  repeat,  I  am  glad  I  am 
here.  I  have  seen  squalls  before  to-day,  and  they  never  alarm 
me  in  the  least.  I  do  not  know,  indeed,  but  that  I  feel  more  at 
home  in  a  squall  than  in  a  calm.  I  do  not  intend  to  blame 
anything  that  has  arisen  here.  Indeed,  I  do  not  know  the  cir 
cumstances.  But  I  am  opposed  to  any  unfairness,  to  any  du 
plicity,  to  any  double-dealing,  to  anything  that  does  not  be 
come  a  synod  of  deacons,  in  this  organization. 

The  Democratic  party  is  just  starting  on  a  great  campaign, 
and  the  guns  fired  here  to-day  will  echo  and  re-echo  until  the 
close  of  the  Presidential  election.  Let  every  man  speak  and 
act  so  that  his  words  and  deeds  will  appear  well  one  year 
hence.  Do  that,  and  the  Democratic  party  will  be  united,  and 
stand  on  a  basis  broad  enough  and  strong  enough  to  sup 
port  the  beautiful  superstructure.  There  will  be  room  for  all 
within  its  area.  Away,  then,  with  all  personal  feeling  and 
jealousy.  March  onward,  forward,  to  victory.  Who  will  join 
hands  with  me  to-day  in  this  work  ?  [Cries  of  "  all,  all."] 
That  is  well,  fellow-Democrats.  Let  not  brother  turn  against 
brother.  Look  not  into  the  troubled  past,  but  press  forward, 
and  the  great  Empire  State  will  emerge  into  the  golden  sun 
shine  of  prosperity,  and  the  laborer,  no  longer  pressed  with 
burdens,  will  look  up  to  the  clear  sky  and  know  that  he  is  no 
more  to  be  borne  down  by  taxation  and  registration. 

Let  us  then  stand  to  our  guns.  Let  there  be  no  clique  here, 
or  faction  there,  to  build  up  or  to  pull  down.  But  where  the 
Democratic  party  is,  let  us  be  there.  When  the  drum  beats, 
respond  to  its  call.  And  let  me,  in  closing,  assure  you,  that 
wherever  I  can  be  of  service,  there  you  will  find  me.  You 
may  have  some  among  you  who  can  do  better  service,  but  not 
one  who  will  rise  up  earlier  or  retire  later  in  the  cause. 


ADDEESS 

DELIVEEED      EEFOKE    THE    CHEtfANGO    COUNTY      AGKICULTUKAL 

SOCIETY,  September  22,  1859. 

[The  publication  of  this  Address,  of  which  two  editions  were  issued 
by  the  Society,  was  preceded  by  the  following  correspondence  : 

"  OXFORD,  December  28th,  1859. 
"  HON.  D.  S.  DICKINSON  : 

"  DEAR  SIR — I  have  been  absent  a  few  days.  Returning,  I  found 
yours  of  the  23d,  declining  a  copy  of  the  Address,  delivered  at  our  late 
Fair,  for  publication.  I  regret  it  very  much.  Pardon  me,  if  I  seem 
too  importunate  in  this,  and  repeat  my  request.  By  those  who  were 
fortunate  enough  to  get  places  to  hear,  the  address  will  long  be  held 
in  pleasing  and  profitable  remembrance.  '  They  will  not  willingly  let 
it  die.'  But,  by  reason  of  that  constant  shower  of  rain,  a  very  large 
proportion  of  those  gathered  there  on  that  occasion  were  reluctantly 
compelled  to  deny  themselves  the  pleasure  of  hearing  so  good,  so  great 
a  thing.  Hence  I  am  the  more  anxious  for  publication.  It  is  not  ne 
cessary  to  mention  that  Chenango  is  very  proud  to  claim  as  her  son  one 
who  has  done  her,  the  State,  the  nation,  so  much  honor  ;  and  of  whom 
the  farmers  and  mechanics  are  pleased  to  speak  as  an  elder  brother — 
one  who  went  out  from  them  at  an  early  manhood,  and  after  long 
years  has  returned  at  their  call,  and  given  them  the  teachings  of  a  long 
and  varied  experience,  the  knowledge  gathered  from  broad  fields  of 
observation  and  thought,  and  a  wisdom  obtained  as  well  from  the  high 
and  lofty  standpoints  of  earth  as  from  the  common  walks  of  life. 
Your  words  to  the  people  were  sweet.  They  would  treasure  them  up 
and  have  them  in  such  form  as  they  may  recur  to  them  often,  and 
hand  them  down  to  their  children.  No  county  can  give  like  reasons 
as  this  why  you  should  break  over  your  rule,  '  not  to  publish.'  Suffer 
me  in  this  request  to  prevail.  I  know  not  how  to  go  up  to  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  our  Society  on  Tuesday  next,  and  there  report  my  inability 
to  procure  the  Address  for  the  press. 
"  May  I  hear  from  you  soon. 

"  I  am,  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"  HORACE  PACKER/" 


630 

"  BINGHAMTON,  January  2d,  1860. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  second  and  urgent  application  for  the  pub 
lication  of  the  Address  delivered  by  me  before  the  Chenango  Agricul 
tural  Society  induces  me  to  depart  from  my  determination  and  com 
ply  with  your  request ;  but  I  do  so  with  reluctance,  for  overwhelmed 
as  I  am  with  a  press  of  varied  occupations,  I  have  no  time  to  devote 
to  such  matters,  and  addresses  of  this  character  are  from  necessity 
hastily  prepared — delivered  without  review  or  correction,  and  must 
therefore  lack  accuracy,  compactness,  and  originality  of  thought.  But 
I  owe  Chenango  peculiar  obligations,  and  will  refuse  no  request  she  can 
make  of  me.  I  therefore  place  the  manuscript  in  your  hands  as  it  is, 
for  such  disposition  as  you  may  think  proper,  and  have  the  honor  to 
be  sincerely  yours. 

"  D.  S.  DICKINSON. 
"  HORACE  PACKER,  Esq.,  President  Chenango  Agricultural  Society."] 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  LADIES  AND  GEN 
TLEMEN — When  we  cast  our  eyes  abroad  upon  this  beauteous 
earth,  with  its  extended  plains,  its  majestic  mountains,  its  lovely 
vales,  its  grand  primeval  forests,  its  fertile  fields,  and  its  golden 
harvests ;  when  we  witness  the  throbbing  bosom  of  its  restless 
ocean,  the  gliding  of  its  wandering  rivers,  and  the  murmuring 
of  its  meandering  streamlets ;  when  we  essay  to  contemplate 
the  mysterious  magnificence  of  the  celestial  world,  until  lost 
in  wonder  and  admiration ;  when  we  are  awakened  from  our 
reverie  by  animate  existence,  see  flocks  and  herds  on  either 
hand  for  man's  enjoyment,  the  lamb  gambolling  from  his  hillock, 
the  wild  bird  paying  its  glad  matin  and  vesper  devotions,  pour 
ing  out  from  the  fulness  of  its  heart  its  joyous  notes  ;  when  we 
consider  man,  created  in  the  image  of  his  God,  endowed  with 
the  mysterious  faculties  of  reason,  and  bearing  in  his  breast  the 
germ  of  immortality,  presiding  over  all,  how  can  the  human 
mind  measure  the  mighty  contrast,  when  "  the  earth  was  with 
out  form  and  void,  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep." 
Then  no  azure  heavens,  so  "  darkly,  deeply,  beautifully  blue," 
were  spread  out — no  golden  sunlight  shone,  no  moon  displayed 
her  crescent,  no  stars  twinkled — no  noontide  beamed — no  twi 
light  cast  her  gossamer  curtain  along  the  eastern  horizon — no 
evening  "closed  her  pennons  down" — no  ocean  heaved  with 
ebb  and  flow  like  the  pulsation  of  the  human  heart — no  rivers 
ran — no  streams  meandered — no  rains  descended — no  fertilizing 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY.  631 

dews  stole  gently  to  their  destination — no  herds  lowed — no 
flocks  bleated — no  lambs  skipped — no  birds  sang — no  verdure 
germinated — no  flowers  bloomed — no  fruits  ripened  ;  there  was 
no  hum  of  industry — no  voice  of  man — no  laugh  of  merry  child 
hood  : 

"  But  gay  or  gloomy,  steadfast  or  infirm, 
No  heart  was  there  to  mark  the  hour's  duration ; 
All  tides  and  times  were  lost  in  one  long  term 
Of  stagnant  desolation." 

In  the  progress  of  Divine  economy,  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them,  and  man  was 
created,  and  commanded  to  replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it, 
and  was  given  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the 
fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon 
the  earth. 

The  primary  duty  of  man  is  plain.  His  mission  is  before 
him.  It  is  to  learn  by  the  teachings  of  Revelation  and  the  de 
ductions  of  reason,  the  law  of  his  own  existence  ;  to  estimate  the 
blessings  which  a  beneficent  Creator  has  set  in  boundless  pro 
fusion  before  him,  and  to  discharge  with  conscientious  fidelity 
the  interesting  and  varied  responsibilities  of  his  high  estate. 

The  gorgeous  hues  of  the  lilies  of  the  field  excel  in  beauty 
the  diadems  of  Oriental  princes ;  but  they  were  strewn  along 
the  pathway  of  man's  pilgrimage  to  beguile  his  weary  foot 
steps,  and  are  cut  down  and  perish  like  the  grass.  The  birds 
of  the  air,  with  plumage  rivalling  the  tints  of  the  rainbow,  make 
every  grove  and  woodland  vocal  with  sweet  song,  for  man's  en 
joyment,  but  God  has  vouchsafed  to  them  only  the  faculty  of 
instinct,  and  they  provide  subsistence,  and  build  their  nests,  and 
rear  their  young  the  same  this  day  as  they  did  when  their  notes 
ushered  in  the  first  morning  of  their  existence.  The  wild  fox 
digs  his  hole,  eludes  his  enemy  arid  seizes  his  prey  with  surpris 
ing  skill  and  consummate  cunning,  but  experience  has  been  lost 
to  him,  and  his  race  have  made  no  progress  since  the  first  habi 
tation  he  constructed. 

In  the  adaptation  of  nature,  and  the  spontaneous  produc 
tions  of  the  earth,  God  has  warmed  and  fed  and  clothed  all 
animate  existence  but  man,  to  whom  he  gave  dominion  over  all. 

While  "  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have 


632 

nests,  the  son  of  man  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head."  He  alone 
was  endowed  with  reason,  invested  with  a  deathless  spirit, 
clothed  with  the  habiliments  of  a  glorious  immortality,  and  a 
great  and  benign  mission  set  before  him  in  the  work  of  human 
regeneration  and  progress — progress  in  industrial  pursuits, 
in  agriculture,  commerce  and  the  arts ;  progress  in  science,  in 
all  its  diversified  relations — in  the  occult  mysteries  of  philoso 
phy,  natural,  mental,  and  moral ;  progress  in  the  whole  scope 
of  man's  earthly  mission,  which  demands  his  best  efforts  in  the 
field  of  life,  in  subduing  its  rough  and  forbidding  configuration, 
and  fertilizing  its  barrenness — in  wrestling  with  the  sins  which 
beset,  and  the  temptations  which  allure  him  from  the  path  of 
rectitude  and  duty ;  progress  in  that  Heaven-born  charity  which 
folds  beneath  its  angel  wing  the  most  abject  of  God's  children 
— in  social  duties  and  domestic  affections — in  self-examination, 
communion,  culture  and  elevation,  and  progress  in  advancing 
the  cause  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion — in  mitigating  the  harsh 
features  of  sectarian  creeds,  so  that  all  may  meet  together 
around  the  same  consecrated  home-hearth,  like  children  of  a 
common  father,  and  all  slake  their  thirst  at  the  same  gushing 
well-spring  of  immortality. 

Industry  is  the  cardinal  duty  of  man.  It  is  a  primary  ele 
ment  in  the  economy  of  his  existence.  It  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  the  social  structure.  Its  necessity  is  stamped  by  the  impress 
of  the  Creator's  hand  upon  every  moral  and  material  lineament 
of  his  being,  and  the  injunction  that  he  should  eat  his  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  his  face  is  as  emphatic  and  irrevocable  now  as  it 
was  when,  pale  and  trembling,  he  was  summoned  by  an  Al 
mighty  fiat  from  his  terrified  concealment  in  Paradise.  And 
despite  the  alarming  degeneracy  of  the  times,  and  the  startling 
inroads  of  indolence  and  pride  and  lust  and  luxury,  while  many 
worship  at  the  shrine  of  industry  like  the  poor  publican,  afar 
off,  industry  receives  her  full  meed  of  praise,  and  indolence  her 
appropriate  measure  of  condemnation  and  disgrace.  Industry 
is  the  parent  of  every  virtue,  and  countless  blessings  follow  in 
her  train  ;  indolence  is  the  prolific  mother  of  plagues  as  numer 
ous  and  deadly  as  those  which  escaped  from  the  fabled  box  of 
Pandora ;  theft,  forgery,  robbery,  and  arson  are  its  concomi 
tants,  and  a  brood  of  social  vices,  ending  in  murder,  hang  upon 
its  festering  footprints.  Industry  is  the  associate  of  health  and 


1859.]        CHEXANGO   COUNTY  AGEICULTUEAL   SOCIETY.  633 

happiness  and  joy ;  indolence,  of  disease,  debasement,  and  misery. 
Industry  beckons  the  young  along  the  pathway  which  leads  to 
honor  and  preferment ;  indolence  diffuses  in  their  midst  poisons 
which  rankle  in  the  soul.  Industry  trips  with  elastic  step  upon 
its  errand  of  usefulness,  its  face  buoyant  with  hope  ;  indolence 
drags  its  slow  length  along,  disguised  in  its  unpaid-for  garments, 
or  seeking  to  conceal  its  deformity  under  its  appropriate  rags. 
Industry  comes  as  a  messenger  of  good ;  indolence  as  the  vice 
gerent  of  the  evil  one.  And  the  industrious  farmer  labors  with 
the  guaranty  of  his  Maker  before  him,  that  while  the  earth 
remaineth,  seed-time  and  harvest,  and  cold  and  heat,  and  sum 
mer  and  winter,  and  day  and  night  shall  not  cease. 

In  the  diversified  demands  and  necessities  of  civilized  so 
ciety,  there  must  be  a  division  of  labor.  Its  best  interests  de 
mand  that  all  should  not  cultivate  the  earth.  Some  must  min 
ister  in  holy  things,  be  devoted  to  the  cure  of  souls,  afford 
spiritual  instruction  to  the  inquiring,  and  consolation  to  the 
stricken  and  bereaved.  Some  must  be  masters  of  the  healing 
art,  and  skilled  in  turning  aside  the  insidious  disease  which  is 
wont  to  prostrate  us  upon  beds  of  sickness  and  death.  Some 
must  be  learned  in  the  law,  that  equal  and  exact  justice  may  be 
dispensed  to  all,  and  that  the  strong  do  not  oppress  the  weak. 
Some  must  be  skilled  in  the  mysterious  intricacies  of  mechanism 
and  machinery.  Some  must  serve  as  mediums  of  exchange  be 
tween  interior  towns  and  commercial  ports,  forwarding  the  pro 
ductions  of  the  farmer  and  bringing  in  return  commodities  for 
his  consumption.  These,  and  others  which  might  be  enumerated, 
are  necessary  and  honorable  callings  ;  but  it  has  been  the  ten 
dency  of  the  times  to  produce  more  clergymen  than  congrega 
tions  or  churches,  too  many  doctors  for  the  horses  they  ride  or 
for  the  patients  who  command  their  services ;  more  lawyers 
than  fees  for  honorable  litigations,  and  more  merchants  than 
can  sell  goods  to  paying  customers. 

That  state  of  society  is  best  which  has  the  fewest  non-pro 
ducers,  consistent  with  its  legitimate  demands,  and  the  least 
number  of  systematic  idlers.  Idle,  unemployed  young  men  are 
among  the  most  useless  beings  in  creation, — a  burden  to  them 
selves,  a  tax  upon  friends,  a  reproach  to  their  race,  and  a  nui 
sance  to  society,  and  industry  is  the  only  remedy  for  a  disease 
so  alarming  and  fatal.  Nor  are  idle  young  women  much  better. 


634 

"No  household  duties  are  well  discharged,  unless  the  mistress  of 
the  mansion  at  least  understands  them,  and  superintends,  if  she 
does  not  more  actively  participate  in  their  execution.  No 
young  lady  should  believe  herself  degraded  by  discharging  the 
offices  which  her  honored  mother  never  omitted,  and  which,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  events,  must  be  cast  upon  her.  Though 
the  spinning-jenny  has  silenced  the  hum  of  the  wheel,  the  power- 
loom  abolished  domestic  manufacturers,  and  the  sewing-ma 
chine  is  superseding  the  needle,  yet  woman's  sphere  of  useful 
ness  is  ample  and  abundant,  in  diffusing  comfort  throughout  her 
household,  in  bringing  light  and  joy  to  the  domestic  hearth,  in 
the  practice  of  a  sensible  economy,  and  in  discountenancing  ex 
travagance  in  dress  and  vulgar  display  and  ostentation.  From 
the  days  of  Solomon  to  the  present  moment,  all  sensible  men 
have  appreciated  and  admired  an  industrious,  true-hearted,  and 
frugal  woman,  and  in  a  corresponding  degree  have  despised 
and  distrusted  the  indolent,  artificial  imitation,  made  up  by  the 
niantua-makers  and  milliners,  and  employed  in  search  of  gossip 
and  the  latest  fashions. 

God  created  man  for  the  stern,  and  woman  for  the  delicate 
relations  of  life.  He  gave  to  man  dominion  over  the  physical 
elements,  and  to  woman  the  empire  of  the  heart ;  to  man  the 
implements  of  husbandry  and  the  weapons  of  war,  the  helm  of 
the  ship  and  the  lever  of  the  engine,  and  fashioned  his  nature 
for  the  storm  and  strife  and  conflict ; — to  woman,  the  home'and 
the  affections,  the  accents  of  love  and  peace,  the  gentle  hand  to 
smooth  the  pillow  of  sickness,  and  wipe  the  death-damp  from 
the  fevered  forehead,  the  guidance  of  the  infant  mind,  as  she 
teaches  it  to  lisp  its  first  little  prayer,  the  spirit  to  purify  and 
adorn  by  her  kindly  virtues  the  currents  of  social  and  domestic 
life. 

The  declaration  that  society  in  its  appointments  has  de 
graded  woman,  is  heard  only  in  the  unwomanly  voices  of  such 
of  her  own  sex  as  have  mistaken  restlessness  for  progress,  and 
change  for  improvement ;  and  hence  they  have  entered  upon  a 
pilgrimage,  in  search  of  her  lost  rights,  seeking  indemnity  for 
the  past  and  security  for  the  future,  until  all  that  is  womanly 
has  left  them.  She  must  claim  the  right  to  renounce  the  insti 
tution  of  marriage,  and  indulge  free-love  affinities,  with  all  its 
debasing  associations  and  suggestions  ;  the  right  to  sit  as  judge 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY.  635 

upon  the  bench,  that  her  babe  at  her  bosom  may  act  as  crier  of 
the  court ;  the  right  to  play  the  soldier,  that  she  may  command 
cavalry  as  well  as  infantry,  and  silence  the  savage  war-whoops 
by  hoops  scarcely  less  alarming  ;  the  right  to  be  a  preacher,  and 
give  public  as  well  as  curtain  lectures ;  the  right  to  be  a  stage- 
driver,  that  she  may  have  the  superintendence  of  the  mails ; 
the  right  to  be  a  farmer,  that  she  may  cut  a  wider  swarth  than 
her  husband,  and  do  her  own  cradling  ;  and  above  and  beyond 
and  beneath  all,  the  right  to  dabble  in  the  dirty  pool  of  politics ; 
to  distort  her  fair  face  in  the  excitement  of  election  wrangles, 
neglect  her  household  duties  to  attend  all  meetings  called  ac 
cording  to  the  usages  of  the  party,  run  for  office  when  she  ig 
designated  as  the  woman  for  the  times,  learn  to  jostle  her  way 
to  the  polls  and  deposit  her  vote,  and  to  give  three  cheers  for 
the  victorious.  Neglect  to  prepare  "  the  fire  fair  blazing  and 
the  vestment  warm  "  for  her  absent  husband,  that  she  may  help 
to  kindle  the  flames  of  political  strife  and  light  up  the  torch  of 
partisan  victory.  All  political  parties  and  sections  and  divisions 
and  sub-divisions,  and  just  now  their  name  is  legion,  have  one 
common  redeeming  excellence.  They  not  only  hold  the  good 
of  the  country  in  paramount  esteem,  but,  like  the  individual 
detected  in  stealing  half  bushels,  they  declare  their  determina 
tion  to  go  for  measures  and  not  men.  But  should  woman-voting 
be  legalized,  there  is  reason  to  believe  this  salutary  principle 
would  be  reversed  by  a  portion  of  the  electors,  and  men  be 
preferred  to  measures. 

But  counterfeit  woman,  like  base  coin,  only  serves  to  give 
increased  value  to  the  true.  Woman  was  not  created  to  dis 
charge  the  same  duties  assigned  to  man,  but  as  an  helpmeet  for 
him  ;  and  when  basking  in  the  divine  light  of  a  Saviour's  love, 
she  was  not  engaged  in  discussing  the  political  rights  and  re 
lations  of  Pilate  and  Herod  in  Jerusalem  and  Galilee,  but,  in  fulfil 
ment  of  her  heaven-taught  mission,  she  sat  at  the  feet  of  her  Re 
deemer,  lingered  at  the  cross  when  man  faltered  and  fled; 
when  nature  was  convulsed,  and  the  rocks  were  rent,  and  the 
graves  of  Judea  were  opened,  and  before  that  sun,  which  veiled 
his  face,  that  he  might  not  behold  the  agonies  of  the  cross,  had 
risen  to  gild  another  day,  true  to  the  holy  instincts  of  her 
nature, 


636 

"  Mary,  to  the  Saviour's  tomb, 
Hastened,  at  the  early  dawn ; 
Spice  she  brought  and  rich  perfume, 
But  the  Lord  she  loved  was  gone." 

Let  woman  find  her  examplar  here,  and  in  the  pure  and 
peaceful  of  her  sex,  who,  appreciating  their  sacred  and  inter 
esting  relations,  and  the  vocation  wherewith  they  are  called 
by  a  wise  Creator,  have  diffused  their  noiseless  blessings 
around  them,  as  gently  as  the  dews  oi  evening  fall  upon  the 
grateful  earth.  Oh,  in  what  pleasant  contrast  stand  the  virtu 
ous  mother,  wife,  sister,  and  daughter,  in  the  discharge  of  their 
affectionate  relations  at  the  fireside  of  home,  with  the  noisy, 
turbulent,  disturbing,  woman's  right  reformers,  engaged  in  a 
crusade  against  society,  because  it  is  not  in  its  dispensations 
as  shameless  as  themselves. 

If  we  trace  back  the  mysterious  history  of  man  until  it  is 
lost  amidst  shadowy  traditions, — if  we  invoke  the  teachings 
of  inspiration,  appeal  to  the  experience  of  mankind,  or  thread 
the  subtle  deductions  of  philosophy,  we  shall  learn  that  duty 
and  enjoyment  lie  along  the  same  pathway  of  his  pilgrimage, 
and  that  if  he  would  secure  the  one,  he  must,  with  a  firm  and 
fearless  singleness  of  purpose,  pursue  the  other.  If  it  can  only 
be  said  of  man  that  he  lived,  ate,  drank,  slept,  and  died,  his 
history  will  be  bat  a  humiliating  epitome  of  the  brute  crea 
tion,  and  in  no  respect  superior ;  nor  does  it  improve  the  pic 
ture  to  show  that  he  accumulated,  and  hugged  to  his  cold 
heart,  and  called  his  own,  a  large  amount  of  material  wealth. 
This  may  prove  that  he  was  a  learned  and  acquisitive  animal, 
but  destitute  of  the  true  attributes  of  humanity. 

The  great  and  leading  industrial  pursuit  of  the  masses 
must  be  AGRICULTURE.  Its  productions  are  essential  to  man's 
material  existence  and  comfort.  It  is  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  fabric  of  social  order  reposes.  It  is  the  Archime 
dean  lever  which  moves  the  world.  It  controls  all  other  pur 
suits  and  puts  them  up  and  down  at  pleasure.  A  virtuous, 
intelligent  farmer  has  attained  the  highest  estate  of  fallen 
man.  The  votaries  of  art,  the  devotees  of  pleasure,  the  learn 
ing  of  the  professions,  or  the  enterprises  of  commerce  may 
assert  a  loftier  ambition,  and  in  the  heyday  of  their  success 


1859.]        CHENANQ  0   COUKTT  AGEICULTDKAL   SOCIETY.  637 

may  gain  more  thoughtless  eclat,  but  none  have  realized  the 
security  and  independence,  the  health  and  happiness  which 
have  rewarded  and  blessed  the  farmer. 

Labor  is  the  philosopher's  stone.  It  transmutes  all  sub 
stances  to  gold.  Its  hand  reared  those  huge  monuments  of 
tyranny  over  industry,  the  pyramids  of  Egypt.  It  subdues 
and  fertilizes  the  earth,  and  gathers  in  its  productions.  It 
sweeps  away  the  giant  monsters  of  the  forest.  It  brings 
down  the  crags  of  the  loftiest  mountains  and  fashions  the 
fretwork  of  the  most  delicate  ornament. 

The  young  and  inexperienced  are  prone  to  be  misled  by 
externals.  They  see  the  professional  man,  with  his  soft  gloved 
hand,  his  unsoiled  garments,  and  his  apparent  freedom  from 
care,  but  they  have  not  looked  upon  the  other  side  of  the  pic 
ture  more  replete  with  instruction.  They  have  seen  the  cler 
gyman  when  his  step  was  elastic,  his  form  erect,  his  eye  spar 
kling,  and  his  tongue  eloquent,  —  when  admiring  crowds 
thronged  the  sanctuary  and  hung  upon  his  lip  ;  but  they  have 
failed  to  remember  that  when,  alas  !  that  form  is  bowed  with 
the  infirmity  of  years,  the  step  is  faltering,  the  eye  dim,  and 
the  lip  tremulous,  those  who  were  then  of  his  admirers,  like 
the  priest  and  the  Levite,  pass  by  upon  the  other  side,  and 
leave  him  in  abject  destitution,  with  a  dependent  family,  and 
no  home  this  side  the  grave. 

They  have  failed  to  contemplate  the  case  of  the  physician, 
who,  after  having  spent  a  life  by  the  bed  of  sickness,  endeav 
oring  with  sleepless  solicitude  to  turn  aside  the  disease 
which,  like  the  vulture  of  mythology,  is  tearing  with  remorse 
less  fangs  the  vitals  of  his  fellow-man,  finds  himself  sup 
planted,  and  his  skill  derided  by  some  new  school  of  no-cure- 
no-pay  pretenders :  in  surgery  "  natural  bone-setters,"  and  in 
physic,  seventh  sons  of  seventh  sons,  born  with  a  veiled  face, 
who  cure  all  maladies,  acute  and  chronic,  by  a  decoction  of 
herbs  gathered  in  the  dark  of  the  moon,  and  stirred  while 
seething  by  a  bone  from  a  catamount's  leg ;  and  in  his  turn, 
the  man  of  learning  is  left  in  age  without  employment,  in 
come,  or  subsistence. 

They  have  witnessed  the  forensic  triumph  of  the  able  and 
eloquent  lawyer,  and  heard  the  acclaim  which  greeted  his  suc 
cessful  efforts;  but  they  have  not  been  the  companions  of  his 


638 

sleepless  toil,  nor  experienced  the  painful  solicitude  which 
drinks  up  his  very  soul,  nor  felt  the  corroding  care  which 
burns  upon  his  restless  brain  and  throbs  in  every  pulsation  of 
his  heart ;  nor  have  they  remembered  how  few  of  the  many 
devoted  to  this  profession  succeed  respectably, — how  pitiable 
and  ludicrous  an  object  is  a  poor  lawyer,  nor  that,  though  the 
best  may  live  well,  it  is  the  fate  of  their  calling  to  labor  hard 
and  to  die  poor. 

They  have  seen  with  admiring  sympathy  the  name  of  the 
popular  statesman  borne  upon  every  breeze  for  a  brief  and 
fitful  season ;  but  they  have  not  looked  behind  upon  the  cold 
and  desolate  hearth  he  has  left  to  chase  the  flitting  phantom 
of  a  vain  ambition ;  nor  upon  the  neglected  children  of  his 
body,  whose  moral,  mental,  and  physical  culture  he  has  over 
looked  in  the  absorbing  cheat  of  life ;  nor  have  they  felt  the 
poisoned  arrows  of  detraction  and  injustice  which  are  left  to 
rankle  in  his  bosom,  by  the  malevolence  of  foes  and  the  envy 
and  treachery  of  false  and  faithless  associates,  until  his  heart, 
once  so  elate  with  hope,  so  buoyant  with  expectation,  sickens 
and  dies;  and  he,  whose  word  might  but  yesterday  ;fi>have 
stood  against  the  world,"  is  to-day  so  abject,  that  there  "  is 
none  so  poor  as  to  do  him  reverence." 

They  have  beheld  the  seductive  glitter  of  military  display, 
as  its  gilded  plumes,  untarnished  by  the  realities  of  service, 
have  nodded  in  the  sunshine,  as  it  swept  along  on  the  volup 
tuous  swell  of  music,  stirring  the  deep  and  rapid  counter- 
currents  of  the  popular  heart ;  but  they  have  not  seen  it  in  its 
every-day  costume,  in  the  tent  and  barrack, — in  the  far  distant 
camp,  cut  off  from  all  the  enjoyments  of  social  life,  and  the 
affections  of  the  endearing  fire-side ;  nor  have  they  seen  the 
subjects  languishing  and  dying  amidst  the  malaria  of  poisoned 
swamps,  or  writhing  dismembered  on  the  bloody  battle-field, 
nor  seen  the  blackness  and  desolation  of  war's  sad  history, 
when — 

"  With  fire  and  sword  they  ranged  around 

The  country  far  and  wide, 
And  many  a  childling  mother  there 

And  new-horn  infant  died ; 

But  things  like  these  you  know  must  be 
At  every  glorious  victory." 


1859.]         CEENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY.  639 

Let,  then,  the  adventurous  young  man  look  upon  all  this 
and  receive  instruction :  forsake  not  the  green  fields,  the 
broad  acres,  the  lofty  hills  and  pleasant  vales,  where  health 
and  hope  and  home  and  happiness  beckon  him  to  contentment 
and  a  glorious  independence,  for  the  ambitious  but  precarious 
rewards  of  the  professions,  the  delusions  of  public  station,  or 
the  thankless  life  of  a  soldier. 

"  If  to  the  city  speed,  what  waits  him  there  ? 
To  see  profusion  that  he  must  not  share; 
To  see  ten  thousand  baleful  arts  combined 
To  pamper  luxury  and  thin  mankind; 
To  see  each  joy  the  sons  of  pleasure  know, 
Extorted  by  his  fellow-creature's  woe." 

How  elevated  in  the  scale  of  rational  being  is  our  condition 
as  a  people  !  How  unbounded  is  our  field  of  usefulness  !  How 
spontaneous  the  elements  of  enjoyment !  If,  by  self-culture 
and  communion,  we  could  attain  that  contentment  of  mind 
which  is  a  continual  feast,  our  cup  of  earthly  felicity  would  be 
filled  to  the  brim,  and  we  should  join  in  one  common  thanks 
giving  to  Heaven  for  these  manifold  mercies  and  blessings. 
Our  clime  is  genial  and  salubrious,  our  soil  fertile  and  product 
ive,  our  scenery  delightful  and  attractive  beyond  comparison 
or  description.  ~No  sickness  wastes  at  noonday,  no  grinding 
taxation  consumes  our  substance,  no  starved  and  shivering 
mendicants  pass  from  door  to  door,  craving  a  crust  to  appease 
their  hunger ;  none  languish  in  neglected  want,  but  virtuous 
industry  is  amply  rewarded,  and  health  and  joyous  hope  beam 
upon  every  countenance.  If  we  could  realize  how  choice 
are  the  privileges  vouchsafed  to  us,  we  should  instinctively 
exclaim, 

"  0  Heaven,  it  is  a  goodly  sight  to  see, 

What  God  hath  done  for  this  delicious  land, 
What  fruits  of  fragrance  blush  on  every  tree, 
What  goodly  prospects  o'er  the  hills  expand." 

But  a  few  years  since,  at  the  close  of  a  winter  peculiar  for 
its  severity,  as  the  last  remnant  of  frost  was  yielding  to  the  in 
fluences  of  a  spring-tide  sun,  and  ever  and  anon  the  capricious 
showers  of  April  beckoned  forward  the  hidden  germs  of  vege- 


640 

tation,  in  passing  along  a  street  in  one  of  our  populous  cities,  I 
saw  upon  the  margin  of  the  sidewalk  a  soiled  and  ill-clad 
child,  without  covering  for  head  or  feet,  picking  up  a  dirty 
and  crumpled  spring  flower,  which  had  but  half  escaped  de 
struction  from  the  footsteps  of  passers  by.  A  gleam  of  sad 
dened  joy  struggled  to  light  up  the  hard  child-face  of  the 
little  stranger,  which  told  of  an  abode  of  neglect  and  intem 
perance  and  destitution,  and  perchance  of  crime,  as  she 
dragged  the  rich  prize  from  the  muddy  side-path,  and  wended 
her  way  onward,  bearing  it  in  her  unwashed  hand.  The  crowd 
in  swelling  counter-currents  rolled  by  unheeded  and  unheed 
ing.  There  was  avarice,  with  its  rigid  greed  written  in  its 
pursed  mouth  and  sharp  metallic  features,  in  search  of  its  ex 
tortionate  accumulations ;  there  was  thrift,  with  its  busy, 
bustling  air,  hurrying  along  to  meet  its  customary  engage 
ments  ;  there  was  swollen  intemperance  and  bloated  debauch 
and  abject  beggary  upon  their  respective  errands  ;  there  were 
ministers,  in  the  robes  of  their  sacred  office,  on  their  way  to 
console  the  dying,  or  to  perform  the  last  mournful  rights  over 
the  remains  of  the  departed ;  there  were  criminals  and  play 
ers,  and  venders  of  trifles,  and  singers  and  dancers,  and  organ- 
grinders,  shuffling  along  together,  but  none  saw,  or  thought  of,  or 
cared  for  the  poor  child  and  her  flower,  from  which  I  was  instinct 
ively  solving  a  great  social  problem.  Alas !  said  I,  how  has 
man  perverted  the  choicest  gifts  of  heaven.  How  apt  an  emblem 
of  herself  is  that  ruined  flower,  which  she  clasps  in  her  hand 
with  childish  tenacity.  Both  bear  the  beauteous  impress  of 
a  beneficent  Creator,  and  both  have  been  crushed  and  de 
formed  and  despoiled  under  the  rude  and  thoughtless  foot  of 
man.  Oh,  would  to  heaven  that  some  gentle  guiding  hand  could 
transplant  that  little  immortal  being,  in  whose  bosom,  per 
chance,  there  throbs  as  pure  a  heart  as  ever  animated  child 
hood,  from  the  dark  and  filthy  abode  of  the  hidden  alley  to 
the  green  fields,  the  shady  groves,  the  gentle  slopes,  and  me 
andering  streams  of  Chenango's  happy  valley,  where  heaven's 
sunlight  cannot  be  shut  from  the  cottage  of  the  poor;  where 
birds  sing,  bees  hum,  and  flowers  bloom,  and  all  nature  is  red 
olent  of  beauty ;  from  the  vile  haunts  of  intemperance,  de 
bauchery,  and  crime,  to  the  happy  home,  to  the  fireside,  the 
school-house,  the  church ;  from  where  she  is  led  in  the  down- 


1859.]         CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY.  64:1 

ward  pathway  of  perdition,  to  where  some  kind  spirit  shall 
guide  her  little  foosteps  along  the  paths  of  peace  and  virtue, 
and  point  her  to  that  land  where  flowers  bloom  in  perennial 
loveliness — where  no  rude  footsteps  intrude — where  the  bright 
eye  of  childhood  never  fades — where  its  young  spirit-life  is 
neither  bowed  nor  broken — where  the  hope  of  its  gushing 
heart  is  crowned  by  eternal  fruition,  and  where  there  shall 
be  no  sin  nor  sorrow  forever ! 

The  great  aim  and  object  of  man,  as  a  member  of  a  civil 
ized  society,  is  happiness,  and  his  efforts  will  usually  be  di 
rected  to  an  end  which  he  believes  best  calculated  to  produce 
it.  The  higher,  therefore,  the  order  of  intelligence  which 
guides,  and  the  more  complete  and  perfect  the  refinement,  the 
more  successful  will  be  the  progress  in  the  desired  direction. 
The  farmer  should  cultivate  his  mind  as  industriously  and  care 
fully  as  he  does  his  acres.  This  is  an  age  of  practical,  and  not 
mere  theoretical  progress — not  of  slow  and  measured  tread  by 
cycles  of  human  life,  nor  ages  and  generations  of  men,  but  of 
seven-league  strides  and  gigantic  leaps  from  the  past  to  the 
future.  The  recent  progress  in  physical  science  has  overturned 
the  entire  order  of  things,  material,  moral,  and  social ;  it  has, 
like  the  foretold  beast,  changed  times  and  seasons.  By  the 
omnipotence  of  its  inherent  forces,  it  has  abolished  life-long 
systems,  and  inaugurated  economies  suited  to  the  demands  of 
its  own  peculiar  exigencies. 

But  a  few  years  since  it  required  ten  days'  time  to  visit  the 
commercial  emporium  from  the  Chenango  valley,  transact  busi 
ness,  and  return.  The  same  can  now  be  performed  in  two 
days.  One  week  was  a  brief  period  for  communicating  there 
by  written  message  and  receiving  an  answer.  Now,  by  the 
aid  of  the  telegraph,  if  it  exceeds  an  hour  it  transcends  our 
patience.  It  required,  weeks  to  send  forward  produce,  or  to 
receive  goods  ordered.  These  can  now  be  accomplished  in  as 
many  days,  and  our  means  of  transatlantic  communication 
have  progressed  in  the  same  ratio.  These  improved  methods 
of  transit  demand  a  corresponding  adaptation  by  all  transact 
ing  business,  and  especially  the  producer.  He  respires  a  more 
rarefied  atmosphere,  and  will  find  his  lungs  inflated  according 
ly.  He  cannot  remain  stationary  while  all  are  in  rapid  mo 
tion  around  him,  or  if  he  does,  will  stand  like  the  silly  coun- 
41 


642  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

tryman,  who  lingered  upon  the  banks  of  a  river  waiting  for  it 
to  discharge  its  waters,  that  he  might  pass  over  its  bed  in 
safety. 

The  new  dispensation  has  cancelled  old  requirements  and 
created  new  ones.  It  has  laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  long  un 
healthy  credits  and  over-reaching  profits,  and  given  instead 
increased  competition,  low  prices,  and  ready  payments.  It  is 
fast  inculcating  the  benefits  of  that  philosopher's  stone,  the 
pay-as-you-go  system,  and  the  bitter  curse  of  overshadowing 
debt.  When,  inquires  an  anxious  candidate  for  information, 
shall  we  have  better  times ;  and  when  will  money  be  more 
plenty  ?  The  true  answer  is,  the  moment  we  earn  and  de 
serve  them ;  when  we  produce  more  than  we  consume,  and 
sell  more  than  we  purchase.  There  is  no  mystery  about  it  re 
quiring  solution.  No  one  can  borrow  himself  out  of  debt  at 
the  lowest  rates  of  interest,  nor  prosper  without  earning,  un 
less  he  has  capital  earning  for  him.  But  so  long  as  there  is  a 
demand  in  the  markets  of  the  world  for  earth's  productions,  so 
long  will  the  producing  country,  in  a  pecuniary  relation,  have 
just  such  times  as  it  earns  and  deserves. 

If,  as  a  nation,  we  purchase  from  abroad  more  than  we  ex 
port,  we  shall  be  in  debt ;  the  balance  of  trade  will  be  against 
us,  and  our  specie  will  be  drawn  to  pay  it.  The  banker,  with 
the  flush  of  circulation,  will  become  alarmed,  will  decline  dis 
counts  and  press  collections,  and  we  shall  have,  as  we  ought 
to  have,  hard  times,  because  we  have  consumed  more  than  we 
have  produced.  If  we  send  forward,  in  the  aggregate,  more 
cotton,  corn,  flour,  beef,  pork,  and  other  productions  than  we 
purchase  goods,  the  balance  of  trade  will  be  with  us  as  a  na 
tion,  we  shall  draw  from  specie  abroad,  and  shall  have,  as  we 
shall  deserve  to  have,  good  times,  and  money  will  be  plenty. 
The  same  rules  will  apply  to  sections  of  our  confederacy 
in  their  internal  trade,  to  separate  States  and  communities, 
and  to  individuals.  All  the  countless  treasures  of  California 
and  Australia  combined  are  of  no  advantage  to  the  nation, 
state,  community,  or  individual  who  have  nothing  to  give  in  ex 
change.  They  go  to  consummate  the  rewards  of  industry. 
Those  who  purchase  more  than  they  sell  cannot  retain  capi 
tal  ;  those  who  sell  more  than  they  purchase  cannot  well  keep 
it  away.  The  laws  of  trade  are  as  sure  as  the  laws  of  gravita- 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY.  643 

tion,  and  as  unalterable  as  the  boasted  edicts  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians.  In  obedience  to  these  laws,  money,  like  water,  seeks 
its  level,  and  you  may  as  well  expect  Niagara  to  flow  up  in 
stead  of  down  that  awful  chasm  as  to  expect  that  an  individu 
al  or  a  community  will  be  at  ease  in  their  pecuniary  possessions 
who  purchase  and  consume  more  than  they  produce  and  sell. 

The  phrase  "hard  times,"  as  generally  applied,  was  in 
vented  to  cover  our  short-comings,  and  to  conceal  indolence 
and  extravagance.  When  the  seasons  are  ordinarily  product 
ive,  the  only  hard  times  we  have,  as  a  people,  are  the  natural 
and  legitimate  fruits  of  fashionable  follies  and  vices.  There 
are  many  cases  of  hardship,  toil,  and  suffering,  especially  in 
the  new  settlements,  to  which  these  general  and  sweeping  re 
marks  are  inapplicable:  where  the  farmer  with  slender 
means  is  struggling  to  clear  and  fence  and  cultivate  and  pay 
for  his  farm,  to  rear  and  educate  and  protect  a  growing  fam 
ily  ;  when  his  expectations  are  blasted  by  an  untimely  frost,  a 
short  crop  or  a  depression  in  the  market,  or  when  his  energies 
are  crippled  or  his  means  exhausted  by  sickness.  But  these 
are  mere  exceptions,  which  go  to  establish  the  force  of  the 
general  rule. 

The  farmer  who  pays,  or  agrees  to  pay,  to  the  merchant, 
mechanic,  and  others,  in  the  aggregate,  an  amount  exceeding 
the  sales  of  his  surplus  produce,  will,  at  the  close  of  the  year, 
find  himself  in  debt,  and  it  will  be  hard  times  with  him  in 
earnest.  The  farmer  who  produces  beyond  his  consumption, 
and  sells  more  in  amount  than  he  purchases,  will  realize  good 
times,  and,  like  the  family  of  the  Kilmansegs,  will  have 

"  Gold  to  lay,  and  gold  to  spend, 
Gold  to  give,  and  gold  to  lend." 

and  have  attained  the  very  "  Pike's  Peak "  of  pecuniary  suc 
cess.  A  homely  but  significant  fable,  in  illustrating  industry 
and  indolence,  tells  of  a  grasshopper,  which  at  the  commence 
ment  of  winter  called  upon  the  squirrel  for  provisions.  The 
squirrel  answered  that  he  had  only  provided  for  himself,  and 
inquired  of  the  grasshopper  why  he  had  not  laid  in  his  winter 
store,  and  how  he  had  spent  the  summer  ?  The  grasshopper 
replied  that  he  had  spent  the  summer  in  singing.  "  Then," 
said  the  squirrel,  "  you  may  spend  the  winter  in  dancing." 


644  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Corn  is  and  should  be  in  the  Northern  States  one  of  our 
most  reliable  staples,  and  as  a  specimen  it  should  be  stated 
that,  in  the  last  fiscal  year  but  one,  our  exportations  of  that 
grain  amounted  to  but  six  millions  of  dollars  ;  and  even  that 
literally  vanished  in  smoke,  for  we  imported  the  same  amount 
in  cigars,  and  puffed  them  away  at  our  leisure.  Our  siik  trade, 
like  the  dresses  it  furnishes,  has  within  a  few  years  expanded 
in  a  fourfold  proportion,  and  must  be  paid  for  in  specie  or  its 
equivalent,  together  with  other  importations  to  a  startling 
amount ;  and  if  we  would  enjoy  prosperity,  security,  or  repose 
in  our  monetary  affairs  ;  if  we  would  avoid  rising  one  day  to 
the  very  skies  on  the  inflated  foamy  waves  of  delusive  success, 
and  the  next  being  dashed  down  upon  the  shoals  of  disappoint 
ment,  we  should  beware  of  a  balance  of  trade  against  us.  If 
we  do  not  practise  upon  this  idea  as  a  people,  no  course  of  leg 
islation,  State  or  federal,  with  all  the  panaceas  prescribed  by 
political  doctors,  can  arrest  our  downward  tendency,  nor  can 
all  the  banks  and  borrowing  systems  ever  invented  since  the 
days  of  John  Law  save  us  from  spasmodic  inflations  and  de 
pressions. 

Banks  are  useful  as  mediums  of  exchange — to  furnish  facil 
ities  for  moving  forward  productions  to  their  market,  and  to 
aid  temporary  exigencies.  But  when  relied  upon  for  perma 
nent  relief,  they  aggravate  the  evil  it  is  sought  to  remedy ;  and 
to  depend  upon  them  for  such  purposes,  would  be  like  filling 
your  boots  with  warm  water,  to  preserve  the  feet  from  cold 
during  a  January  sleigh-ride.  All  the  wealth  of  ancient  and 
modern  times  combined  must  be  useless  to  the  non-producer. 
The  untold  treasures  of  the  ocean,  if  they  could  be  gathered 
in  ;  the  gold  of  Sacramento,  Nevada,  Australia,  and  ancient 
Ophir ;  the  tin  of  Thule,  the  spices  of  Arabia,  and  the  silks  of 
Cashmere,  would  have  been  and  will  be  forever  beyond  the 
reach  of  all  who  cannot  unlock  the  storehouse  where  they  are 
secured  with  the  key  of  industry. 

This  great  problem  in  political  economy  and  a  nation's 
wealth  is  becoming  every  day  more  familiar  to  popular  com 
prehension,  and  has  been  most  triumphantly  and  successfully 
solved  in  the  groaning  American  granaries  of  1859;  and  for 
the  current  fiscal  year,  while  our  imports  may  reach  the  enor 
mous  amount  of  three  hundred  and  ninety  millions,  our  ex- 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTUKAL   SOCIETY.  645 

ports  cannot  well  be  less  than  four  hundred  millions  ;  and  when 
we  add  to  this  sura  the  increased  value  of  our  products  at  for 
eign  ports  and  the  cost  of  carriage,  which  should  be  done  to 
show  what  it  truly  is,  we  present  a  prosperous  state  of  inter 
national  trade  and  a  thrifty  balance  in  our  favor. 

In  our  hurried  progress  as  a  people,  commercial  enterprise 
and  the  moral  forces  have  kept  pace  with  our  physical  ad 
vancement.  The  ports  of  China  and  Japan,  so  long  enveloped 
in  an  impenetrable  mystery,  are  yielding  by  degrees  the  im 
mensity  of  their  treasures  to  the  contributions  of  an  enlight 
ened  commerce.  The  theories  of  Confucius,  through  the  in 
ductive  process,  are  giving  place  to  the  mild  and  gentle 
precepts  of  the  Saviour  of  men  ;  the  blasphemous  rites,  obscene 
orgies,  and  disgusting  mummeries  of  Paganism  are  displaced 
before  the  holy  lights  of  Christianity,  and  the  Pantheon  of 
mythology  has  been  converted  to  a  temple  for  invocations  to 
the  living  God.  Ignorance  and  barbarism  are  upon  the  great 
turn-table  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  are  already  making 
prosperous  headway  upon  the  track  of  civilization  and  Chris 
tian  progress. 

Animated  by  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  inspired  by  the 
promise  of  a  generous  fruition,  may  not  the  people  of  the  first 
State  in  this  brilliant  constellation  of  patriotic  hope  interpose 
her  potential  example  of  advancement  in  industry,  frugality, 
and  virtue,  in  rational  liberty  and  the  best  interests  of  human 
ity — of  advancement  in  that  spirit  which  scorns  the  accumula 
tion  of  material  wealth  to  satiate  the  greedy  cravings  of 
avarice  or  corrupt  with  its  vulgar  display  ;  of  advancement  in 
that  temperance  which  would  bring  back  from  its  wanderings 
every  lamb  of  God's  extended  fold,  and  shield  it  from  tempta 
tion  and  save  it  from  destruction  ;  of  advancement  in  the  best 
instincts  of  man's  nature  and  the  most  genial  impulses  of  the 
heart,  until  all  the  jarring  discords  of  earth  shall  be  blended 
in  heavenly  harmonies.  There  are  none  past  hope.  The  law 
of  love  may  reclaim  the  most  erring.  Even  animals,  savage 
or  tame,  yield  to  and  obey  the  law  of  kindness. 

"  There  is  no  grove  on  earth's  broad  chart 

But  has  some  bird  to  cheer  it ; 

And  hope  sings  on  in  every  heart, 

Although  we  may  not  hear  it." 


646 

If  industry,  frugality,  and  temperance  were  universal,  and 
all  directed  their  efforts  with  a  fair  intelligence,  labor  would 
be  a  mere  pastime,  and  one  scene  of  unbounded  prosperity 
would  surround  us.  "No  standard  of  perfection  can  be  attain 
ed  in  its  pursuit ;  but  the  causes  which  depress  labor  may  be 
mitigated  by  inculcating  the  lesson  by  both  precept  and  ex 
ample,  that  its  pursuit  is  elevated  and  honorable  and  that 
indolence  and  its  attendants  are  demoralizing  and  disgraceful. 

A  celebrated  writer  has  delineated  with  stirring  eloquence 
the  vast  benefits  which  might  have  been  conferred  upon  man 
kind,  if  the  money  spent  in  desolating  wars  had  been  expended 
in  cultivating  the  arts  of  peace ;  and  has  shown  the  wonderful 
works  it  would  have  accomplished.  But  give  me  the  energies 
wasted  by  ignorance  in  misdirected  effort,  the  time  squandered 
in  vicious  indolence,  and  the  money  paid  for  intemperate  indul 
gence,  and  I  will  work  out  mightier  problems  still.  I  will  lit 
erally  cause  the  wilderness  to  bud  and  blossom  like  the  rose. 
Every  field  shall  be  a  finished  garden,  every  woodland  a  grove 
of  beauty,  every  hillside  a  lawn,  every  dwelling  shall  be  re 
plete  with  comfort  and  convenience,  every  system  of  pauper- 
age  shall  be  abolished  ;  all  shall  be  warmed  and  fed  and  cloth 
ed,  where  there  is  enough  and  to  spare,  and  poverty,  want 
and  crime  and  destitution  shall  be  unknown.  The  school- 
house  shall  greet  you  where  the  green  lane  meets  the  highway ; 
the  academy  and  college  shall  be  endowed  wherever  demanded 
by  interest  or  convenience ;  and  the  church  spire,  stretching 
away  to  the  very  clouds  at  every  village,  shall  tell  of  refine 
ment  and  religion,  and  of  a  people  who  have  devoted  the  best 
energies  of  life  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  their  kind  and 
to  consecrate  the  rising  generation  to  virtue  and  to  knowl 
edge. 

Wasted  efforts,  grovelling  indolence,  and  debasing  intem 
perance,  may  be  corrected  by  inculcating  a  higher  order  of  in 
telligence,  until  the  head  shall  teach  the  hand  that  economy  of 
life  which  was  designed  by  nature.  But  we  cannot  correct  the 
short-comings  of  individuals  while  society  countenances  sys 
tems  so  fundamentally  vicious,  for  fashion  covers  more  sins 
than  charity.  We  cannot  persuade  one  to  abstain  from  vices 
which  all  practise,  or  at  least  tolerate.  We  cannot  successfully 
wrestle  with  the  man,  while  we  omit  to  correct  the  false  senti- 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY.  647 

merit  of  the  mass.     We  must  not  expect  to  cleanse  the  stream 
without  purifying  the  fountain. 

Indolence  and  intemperance  are  as  intimately  blended  as 
soul  and  body — "  more  fondly  linked  than  wedded  pair."  They 
have,  from  the  earliest  history  of  man,  labored  together  in  the 
terrible  work  of  his  desolation.  If  the  teardrops  which  intem 
perance  has  occasioned,  could  be  gathered  in  one  vast  ocean,  it 
would  float  as  upon  flood-tide  all  the  navies  of  the  world.  Like 
the  infuriated  Hyder  Ali  upon  the  Carnatic,  it  leaves  only 
blackness  and  ashes  in  its  desolate  pathway,  and  as  it  prostrates 
in  its  withering  course  the  young  and  noble  and  manly,  the 
mourning  parent  exclaims  with  the  stricken  patriarch,  "  me 
have  ye  bereaved  of  my  children  :  Joseph  is  not  and  Simeon  is 
not,  and  ye  will  take  away  Benjamin  also." 

But  we  cannot  blot  out  every  chapter  in  the  records  of  hu 
man  frailty,  nor  pluck  all  roots  of  sorrow  from  the  garden  of 
the  world,  and  can  only  inculcate  lessons  of  purity  and  peace, 
and  break  asunder  the  fetters  which  ignorance  and  passion  have 
forged  for  the  immortal  mind. 

As  a  people,  and  as  individuals,  we  have  every  motive  set 
before  us  which  can  influence  human  action  to  persevere  in  the 
course  of  virtuous  industry.  In  contrast  with  our  condition  as 
a  people,  let  us  look  athwart  the  ocean  upon  the  toiling,  bleed 
ing,  starving  masses  of  Europe,  but  recently  emerged  from  a 
conflict  of  blood,  where  hecatombs  of  human  victims,  to  serve 
the  mad  ambition  of  despotism,  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  fierce 
god  of  war ;  a  war  not  waged  in  defence  or  in  pursuit  of  liberty 
— to  cast  off  the  oppressor's  chains,  or  give  freedom  to  man — 
but  a  war  denounced  and  prosecuted  to  preserve  the  execrable 
balance  of  king-craft — to  save  tottering  and  unsteady  thrones 
— to  prop  and  keep  from  decay  moth-eaten  monarchies,  which 
are  too  weak  to  stand  alone,  but,  like  inebriates  who  support 
each  other,  if  one  should  fall,  all  will  go  down ;  to  conceal  the 
dry-rot  which  pervades  their  system,  arrest  the  progress  of 
mildew,  and  cheat  the  grave  of  despotism  and  usurpation  of  its- 
corruption  a  little  longer.  The  war  of  the  Revolution  was 
waged  to  strike  off  the  fetters  of  tyranny  and  transatlantic  op 
pression,  and  advance  the  cause  of  liberty  and  humanity  ;  but 
these  wars  are  prosecuted  to  forge  new  links  in  the  chain  with 
which  power  has  manacled  the  limbs  of  labor,  that  its  hands 


648 

may  be  forced  to  gild  the  wheels  of  the  chariot  which  are  to  be 
driven  over  its  neck.  Alas,  how  many  hapless  beings  has  this 
brief  but  terrible  war  cut  off  with  violence,  butchery,  and 
blood !  In  prosecuting  the  arts  of  peace,  how  many  forests 
they  might  have  felled — how  many  rugged  hillsides  could  they 
have  subdued — how  many  plains  could  they  have  fertilized — 
how  many  happy  homes  would  their  protection  have  cheered 
and  blessed !  And  when  the  wail  of  the  widow,  which  that 
war  has  made,  has  reached  the  judgment-seat,  aud  the  countless 
array  of  orphans  shall  raise  their  hands  in  testimony  against 
those  who  have  bereaved  them,  who  shall  atone  before  high 
Heaven  for  the  untimely  slaughter  which  heartless  ambition 
has  visited  upon  mankind  ? 

Turn  we  again  from  this  melancholy  picture  to  our  own 
dear  land,  which  knows  no  sovereign  but  the  Sovereign  of  the 
skies — which  acknowledges  no  ruler  but  the  Ruler  of  the 
universe — which  invokes  no  protection  but  the  protection  of 
Him,  who  notes  as  well  the  fall  of  a  sparrow  as  the  dissolution 
of  an  empire. 

Look  along  Chenango's  smiling  vale  in  all  its  wide-spread 
beauty.  Look  up  its  gentle  hill-slopes,  where  they  mingle 
their  living  green  with  the  golden  sunlight,  in  ever  delighting, 
ever  varying  interest.  Look  abroad  on  its  fertile  fields,  teem 
ing  with  the  richest  productions  of  earth,  under  the  well-di 
rected  industry  of  man.  See  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills, 
ministering  to  his  necessity,  comfort,  and  convenience.  Cast 
your  eye  upon  its  silver  streams,  which  steal  in  noiseless  cur 
rents  to  their  ocean  bosom,  like  a  human  soul  to  its  eternal 
rest.  See  yonder  forest  already  displaying  its  variegated 
hues  of  gold  and  purple,  and  rivalling  the  rainbow's  pencillings 
in  the  changing  verdure  of  autumn.  Contemplate  these  abodes 
of  comfort,  these  gathering-places  of  affection,  these  holy 
homes,  these  nurseries  of  human  beings,  where,  according  to 
poetic  conceit,  though  man  fell,  and  all  else  was  lost,  in  the 
plcntitude  of  mercy  Satan  was  not  permitted  to  enter  uninvited. 
Whence  these  sacred  temples,  these  schools  for  primary  in 
struction,  these  elements  of  subsistence  and  enjoyment  ?  When 
I  see  this  multitude  of  joyous,  happy  faces,  which  have  assem 
bled  to  pay  their  festive  devotions  to  the  triumph  of  industry, 
my  heart  exclaims, 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY.  649 

"0  blest  retirement,  friend  of  life's  decline, 
Retreat  from  cares  which  never  must  be  mine, 
How  blest  is  he  who  crowns  in  shades  like  these 
A  life  of  labor  with  an  age  of  ease." 

Let  us  then  improve  the  blessing  set  before  us,  that  we  may 
render  a  faithful  account  of  our  stewardship.  Let  us  cultivate 
the  earth,  for  it  will  return  abundant  compensation ;  cultivate  a 
spirit  of  contentment,  for  it  will  give  a  continual  feast ;  culti 
vate  a  spirit  of  charity,  for  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive ;  cultivate  a  spirit  of  temperance,  for  in  afterlife  it  will 
send  forth  glad  and  gushing  well-springs ;  cultivate  a  spirit  of 
friendship,  of  good  neighborhood,  and  of  brotherly  love,  that 
peace  and  prosperity  may  dwell  within  our  gates. 

Our  fathers  furnished  an  example  worthy  of  our  noblest 
emulation.  By  peril,  self-denial,  sickness,  and  the  hardships 
of  pioneer  and  border  life,  they  penetrated  the  forest  while  yet 
it  was  the  home  of  the  savage,  scared  the  beast  of  prey  from 
his  lair,  and  carved  out,  by  the  iron  will  of  stern  and  manly 
hearts,  and  the  energy  of  strong  arms,  the  rich  heritage  of  so 
cial  and  material  blessings  which  we  this  day  enjoy  with  pro 
fusion. 

"  Oft  did  the  harvest  to  their  sickle  yield, 
Their  furrow  oft  the  stubborn  glebe  has  broke. 
How  jocund  did  they  drive  their  teams  afield, 
How  bowed  the  woods  beneath  their  sturdy  stroke." 

"Let not  ambition  mock  their  useful  toil, 
Their  homely  joys,  or  destiny  obscure, 
Nor  grandeur  hear,  with  a  disdainful  smile, 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 

By  the  holy  memories  which  cluster  around  the  venerated 
dead,  by  the  tender  ties  of  domestic  and  filial  love,  by  all  the 
recollections  which  can  solemnize  and  rectify  the  heart,  by 
the  mounds  which  mark  the  resting-place  of  their  consecrated 
ashes,  let  us  prove  ourselves  worthy  children  of  such  patriotic 
sires :  in  fostering  the  pursuits  they  loved,  in  upholding  the 
institutions  they  founded,  in  maintaining  the  stern  virtues  they 
practised,  and  in  preserving  the  priceless  legacy  of  industry 
and  frugality,  of  morality  and  religion,  of  contentment  and 


650 

social  order,  which  they  bequeathed  to  us  ;  remembering  that 
we  are  all  brethren  of  the  same  household,  wending  our  way 
together  to  a  common  and  a  final  home.  May  then  our  skies 
be  bright  and  joyous,  our  sunshine  genial,  our  hopes  buoyant 
and  our  hearts  thankful,  that  we  may  bless  and  cheer  each 
other  by  the  way. 

More  than  half  a  century  since,  a  little  boy,  led  by  the 
hand  of  an  elder  brother,  as  a  member  of  his  father's  family, 
found  an  humble  home  in  Chenango  but  a  few  miles  distant 
from  this  place.  The  inhabitants  were  sparse,  and  but  here 
and  there  a  tenement  of  logs  broke  the  monotony  of  dense  and 
tangled  forests.  The  wild  deer  browsed  in  every  thicket,  the 
panther  crouched  for  his  prey,  and  the  wolf  howled  nightly 
around  the  dwelling.  Here  he  gathered  nature's  fruits  and 
flowers,  learned  to  love  the  song  of  the  wild  bird,  to  pursue 
the  game,  and  to  gaze  with  childish  delight  upon  nature's  un 
broken  scenery ;  to  range  along  its  winding  streamlets,  to 
climb  its  romantic  hill-sides,  to  mingle  in  the  rustic  sports  of 
the  time  and  neighborhood,  and  to  wield  the  implements  of 
husbandry  in  aiding  to  procure  subsistence.  He  saw  its  first 
school-houses  and  churches  rise  up  in  the  wilderness,  its  brave 
sons  march  to  the  defence  of  the  frontier  in  1812.  And  here 
he  grew  up  to  manhood,  and  went  out  upon  the  mission  of  life 
to  conquer  in  its  battles  or  be  driven  from  its  field.  But  when 
he  went  out,  he  went  out  forever.  That  same  child-boy  of  the 
early  settlement  has  never  returned.  That  buoyant  spirit  and 
heart  which  knew  neither  sorrow  nor  bereavement,  but  was 
joyous  as  the  wood-bird's  song,  must  still  range  in  some  fairy 
land  of  flowers  and  spring  life,  where  a  brighter  sunshine  gilds 
the  unseen  hill-tops  and  the  glad  eye  of  childhood  sparkles  for 
ever  !  He  that  was  once  that  boy  has  returned,  but  it  is  not 
the  same.  "  A  change  has  come  over  the  spirit  of  his  dream." 
The  golden  ringlets  of  boyhood,  which  were  tossed  in  the 
morning  breeze,  are  now  whitened  by  the  frosts  of  life's  ap 
proaching  winter,  and  the  ruddy  brow  of  youth  is  blanched 
with  thought  and  care  and  grief.  Great  are  the  changes  which 
his  eventful  life  has  experienced.  Dark  and  deep  are  the 
waves  which  have  rolled  in  painful  succession  over  life's  sea 
of  sorrow.  He  has. reared  children,  and  committed  their  re 
mains  to  the  kindred  dust.  He  has  been  called  away  from  the 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY.  651 

scenes  of  his  early  years,  and  has  stood  in  the  forum  and  in 
senates  with  the  great  and  honored  of  the  land ;  but  he  has 
remembered  his  humble  home,  and  his  rustic  occupations,  and 
his  associates,  and  the  pursuits  to  whiclt  he  was  endeared,  and 
the  rural  scenes  that  he  loved  "  as  only  boyhood  can,"  and  all 
the  lights  and  shadows  which  chequer  the  pathway  of  the  young. 
But  time  has  ploughed  her  furrows,  and  sowed  her  seeds,  and 
gathered  in  her  harvests,  and  all  has  changed.  Herds  low  and 
flocks  bleat  where  the  wolf  howled  and  the  bear  roamed,  the 
dark  forest  has  given  place  to  the  extended  meadow,  and  the 
church  has  risen  upon  the  Indian  wigwam,  and  the  school- 
house  upon  the  rude  cabin  of  the  hunter.  The  aged  men,  into 
whose  faces  he  peered  with  childish  curiosity,  long  since  passed 
away.  Those  who  were  then  of  the  middle  age  sleep  with 
their  fathers  ;  of  those  who  set  out  with  him  upon  the  journey 
of  life,  on  its  cloudless  morning,  death  has  the  majority  ;  and 
the  graveyard  which  he  saw  opened  in  the  brushwood  for  the 
remains  of  a  little  child,  is  now  tenanted  by  thousands.  The 
schoolmaster  has  dismissed  his  noisy  flock  and  lain  down  to 
rest  forever,  and  the  scholars  are  scattered  from  the  risinor  to 

7  £5 

the  setting  sun  ;  the  good  old  parson,  who  preached  occasion 
ally  at  the  little  school-house  at  the  cross-roads,  has  pronounced 
his  last  benediction  and  gone  to  his  rewards  ;  and  the  deacon 
meeting,  which  came  with  all  the  certainty  of  the  returning 
Sabbath,  with  its  sun-burned  farmers  and  sturdy  woodsmen, 
and  their  plain-clad  wives  and  children,  has  ceased  to  assem 
ble.  Those  who  made  the  prayer,  and  set  the  psalm,  and  read 
the  sermon,  now  worship  above,  and  the  music  of  that  voice 
whose  strains  rose  to  heaven  in  the  choir  has  died  away  upon 
earth  and  is  attuned  to  the  harps  of  angels  in  Paradise. 

The  lowly  tenement  in  which  he  was  reared  through  storm 
and  sunshine  has  yielded  to  a  more  ambitious  structure ;  a 
strange  watch-dog  heralds  his  appearance,  and  unknown  forms 
are  at  the  door  and  around  the  fireside,  and  strange  faces  are 
at  the  window,  and  unfamiliar  voices  there  hold  converse  to 
gether.  The  parents  who  nurtured  him  with  a  solicitude 
known  only  to  a  parent  have  bowed  their  sainted  heads  in  the 
dust,  and  their  holy  ashes  rest  upon  the  hill-side  near  the  little 
church  where  they  loved  to  worship  God,  "  far  from  the  mad- 
'ning  crowd's  ignoble  strife." 


652  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Yes,  the  same  boy  returns  again,  but  it  is  when 

"  Sleep  hath  its  own  world, 
And  a  wide  realm  of  wild  reality, 
And  dreams  in  their  development  have  breath 
And  tears  and  tortures  and  a  touch  of  joy  : 

***** 
And  make  us  what  we  are  not — what  they  will, 
And  shake  us  with  the  vision  that's  gone  by." 

There,  clad  in  the  same  rustic  garb,  he  ranges  along  Che- 
nango's  streams  again ;  be  gathers  the  flowers  of  spring, 
the  fruits  of  summer,  and  the  nuts  of  autumn  ;  he  clambers  up 
the  familiar  hill-side,  and  quenches  his  thirst  at  the  spring 
which  bubbles  beneath  the  old  rock  by  the  clump  of  trees.  He 
pursues  the  wild  bird  and  the  squirrel,  and  springs  the  rabbit 
and  the  partridge,  and,  returning,  performs  hi's  round  of  accus 
tomed  duties,  and  sits  down  with  the  group  of  loved  ones  to 
the  family  repast.  When  night  closes  down,  he  is  called  to 
"  share  in  childish  prayer  and  join  in  evening  hymn ; "  he 
sleeps  that  sleep  which  is  given  only  to  the  young  amidst  ru 
ral  scenes,  and  returns  to  his  favorite  sports  and  occupations, 
and  knows  no  sorrow.  But  he  is  far  off  in  the  dreamland  ! 
Alas !  the  spirit  of  his  boyhood  has  flown  away  forever  with 
the  birds  that  cheered  it,  and  lie  awakes  to  the  countless  cares 
and  realities  of  the  life  to  which  destiny  consigned  him ! 

All  that  is  Chenango  is  dear  to  me :  its  configuration,  its 
hills  and  valleys,  its  institutions,  and  its  people.  Its  beauty 
was  an  early  vision  of  childhood,  and  the  solace  of  maturer 
years.  Its  beloved  valley  is  my  home.  My  life  march  has 
kept  pace  with  the  soul-stirring  music  of  its  woods  and  its 
mountain  streams.  Its  wild,  captivating  scenery  fashioned  my 
nature,  and  made  me  love  the  rural  retreat  more  than  to  wor 
ship  with  crowds  or  bask  in  the  favor  of  courts.  Chenango  ! 
I  love  thee  as  the  cradle  where  I  was  nurtured,  as  the  home 
of  my  childhood  and  youth,  and  the  harbor  from  whence  I 
launched  my  frail  bark  upon  the  great  and  troubled  ocean 
of  man's  toils  and  trials ;  for  the  affection  I  bear  thy  living, 
for  the  green  graves  and  holy  memories  of  thy  venerated  dead. 
Yes,  thou  watchful  mother  of  nay  capricious  childhood  I  love 
thee  still ! 


1859.]        CHENANGO   COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY.  653 

"  In  all  my  journeyings  round  this  world  of  care, 
In  all  my  griefs — and  heaven  has  given  my  share — 
I  still  had  hopes,  my  latest  hours  to  crown, 
Amidst  its  humble  bowers  to  lay  me  down — 
To  husband  out  life's  taper  at  the  close, 
And  keep  the  flame  from  wasting  by  repose. 
I  still  had  hope,  for  hope  attends  us  still, 
Amidst  the  swains  to  show  my  book-learned  skill, 
Around  my  fire  an  evening  group  to  draw, 
And  tell  of  all  I  felt,  and  all  I  saw. 
And  as  a  hare  whom  hounds  and  horns  pursue, 
Pants  to  the  place  from  whence  at  first  ho  flew, 
I  still  had  hopes — my  long  vexations  past — 
Here  to  return,  and  die  at  home  at  last." 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED  AT  A  GRAND   RATIFICATION"    MEETING    OF   THE    DEMO 
CRATIC  PARTY,  HELD  AT  ST.  JAMES  HALL,  BUFFALO,  October 

20,  1859. 

MK.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS — The  legitimate 
consideration  of  our  political  condition,  by  assembling  together 
and  comparing  opinions,  is  a  high  duty  and  a  proud  privilege. 
It  awakens  popular  attention  to  concerns  of  deep  public  mo 
ment,  too  generally  neglected,  and  learns  the  inquiring  mind 
to  think  for  itself,  and  to  rise  above  the  narrow  conceits  of 
mere  partisan  rallying-words,  designations,  and  pretensions. 
Its  tendency  is  to  educate  the  masses  in  public  affairs,  and 
make  the  government  what  it  should  be,  a  goverment  of  the 
people,  and  not  of  politicians  ;  a  government  of  the  many,  and 
not  of  the  few,  and  to  hold  public  servants  to  a  rigid  account 
ability  before  a  well-informed  constituency.  When  political 
gatherings,  meetings,  or  conventions  are  so  conducted  as  to 
elevate  and  liberalize  the  mind  and  to  mitigate  partisan  preju 
dice,  spleen,  and  rancor,  they  render  a  high  public  service; 
when  they  have  no  worthier  aims  than  inculcating  error  and 
stimulating  passion  for  a  temporary  advantage,  they  would 
be  "  more  honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observance." 

There  are,  and  always  will  be,  in  our  political  system  two 
great  parties,  and  two  only ;  for  all  others  must  be  mere  tem 
porary  off-shoots.  One  of  these  will  be  the  party  of  the  peo 
ple  and  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  other  will  be  of  miscella 
neous  formation,  acting  under  a  roving  commission,  as  im 
pelled  by  immediate  circumstances.  In  this  address  I  shall 
treat  of  parties  entirely  as  such;  of  the  pretensions  they  ad 
vance,  the  professions  they  make,  and  the  works  they  accom 
plish. 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION  MEETING.  655 

The  Democratic  party  is  a  party  of  the  people  j  its  name  is 
no  unmeaning  designation  ;  its  power  reposes  with  the  masses. 
It  is  the  great  antagonism  of  privilege  and  combination,  and 
the  friend  of  political  equality ;  it  lives,  and  moves,  and  has 
its  being  wherever  strong  sinews  grasp  their  implements,  and 
warm  and  generous  hearts  pulsate.  It  is  a  party  of  to-day  as 
well  as  to-morrow,  and  forever ;  it  takes  counsel  of  the  experi 
ence  of  the  past,  but  seeks  to  redress  the  grievances  of  the 
present,  and  provide  against  the  abuses  of  the  future.  Like  a 
great  army  it  marches  forward  to  its  destination,  leaving  none 
but  those  who  suffer  and  sicken  on  the  way  for  lack  of  promo 
tion,  who  are  wounded  by  neglected  expectation,  or  die  by 
suicide  from  disappointed  hope ;  and  the  places  of  all  such  are 
supplied  from  new  enlistments  from  the  young  and  healthy 
and  vigorous,  and  from  the  mature,  who  are  won  by  the  jus 
tice  of  its  cause.  Like  all  armies  it  must  have  its  camp  follow 
ers  and  laggards  and  prophetic  Cassandras ;  but,  while  they 
are  more  expensive  than  ornamental  or  useful,  they  neither  re 
tard  its  progress,  control  its  movements,  nor  sway  its  princi 
ples.  Its  mission  is  to,  and  its  care  for  the  living.  It  has  no 
time  to  mourn  over  the  grave  of  dead  and  buried  issues ;  to 
redress  personal  griefs ;  to  stand  as  arbiter  between  the  con 
flicting  claims  of  rival  leaders ;  no  strength  to  waste  upon  the 
aspirations  of  personal  ambition,  nor  sympathy  to  expend 
upon  individual  controversies  for  position.  Its  solicitude  is 
for  the  many,  and  not  the  few ;  for  the  people,  and  not  for 
politicians;  for  masses,  and  not  for  individuals;  for  princi 
ples,  and  not  for  men. 

The  great  chart  of  Democracy  may  be  read  in  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  ;  its  guiding  star  is  the  Constitution  ;  its 
strong  and  radical  analysis  exposes  and  casts  off  error,  and  its 
grand  and  majestic  conservatism  forms  a  barrier  against 
which  the  waves  of  falsehood  and  fanaticism  may  dash  in  vain 
for  ages.  Its  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  is  a  conflict  for  freedom, 
equality,  and  the  rights  of  man,  against  falsehood,  favoritism, 
and  privilege  ;  for  complete  equality  of  political  rights  between 
persons,  and  for  that  equality  of  right  between  sovereign 
States  which  the  spirit  of  the  compact  suggested  and  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Constitution  guaranteed ;  an  equality  of  rights 
to  be  asserted  in  theory  and  maintained  in  practice ;  to  be 


656 

read  in  the  letter  and  enforced  in  the  spirit,  without  technical 
evasions  or  mental  reservation,  and  embracing  persons,  prop 
erty,  and  political  rights.  Its  "  irrepressible  conflict "  is  with 
the  destructive  who  would  break  down  the  barriers  of  the 
Constitution,  erected  for  the  common  guidance  and  protection, 
that  he  might  array  people  against  people,  brother  against 
brother,  State  against  State,  in  a  war  of  extermination,  even 
to  battles  of  blood,  over  an  institution  recognized  by  the  guar 
anties  of  the  Constitution,  which  unites  all  in  a  common  bond. 
Its  "irrepressible  conflict"  is  with  the  spurious  philanthro 
pist,  whose  confused  dreams  of  social  progress  have  turned 
him  from  the  pathway  of  justice  and  sound  reason,  to  disturb 
the  public  peace  by  officious  and.  offensive  intervention  in  the 
domestic  concerns  of  other  States.  Its  "  irrepressible  conflict  " 
is  with  that  weird  fanaticism  which,  with  its  one  idea,  would 
destroy  the  confederacy,  free  States  and  slave  States  together, 
with  their  institutions  of  religion,  charity,  and  learning,  in 
one  common  conflagration,  that  it  might  abolish  forever  do 
mestic  servitude  by  violence.  Its  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  is 
with  honest  error,  which,  misled  by  glozing  pretension,  en 
deavors  to  work  out  visionary  reformations  by  a  process  re 
plete  with  mischief  and  injustice. 

The  only  "  irrepressible  conflict "  which  Democracy  would 
wage  between  the  States  of  this  Union  is  a  conflict  of  gener 
ous  rivalry  in  the  performance  of  fraternal  duties  ;  in  observ 
ing  and  obeying  the  obligations  enjoined  by  the  Constitution; 
in  securing  to  each  other,  with  alacrity,  every  constitutional 
right ;  in  strengthening  the  ties  and  brightening  the  chains 
which  bind  them  together,  and  in  making  numerous  free,  sov 
ereign,  equal,  and  independent  States  one,  in  sentiment,  friend 
ship,  and  kindly  regard.  Any  other  "  irrepressible "  or  ag 
gressive  "  conflict  "  between  the  States,  or  the  people  thereof, 
with  a  view  to  absorb  or  change  or  exterminate  the  institu 
tions  of  each  other,  or  interfere  with  or  deny  their  protection 
and  enjoyment,  must  be  a  conflict  hatched  by  the  incubations 
of  treason,  to  end  in  estrangement,  sectional  strife,  bloodshed, 
and  disunion. 

Every  great  measure  of  the  government,  financial  or  terri 
torial,  foreign  or  domestic — from  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  to 
the  acquisition  of  California;  from  1800  to  1859— has  been  the 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION  MEETING.  657 

fruit  of  democratic  policy  against  the  heated  and  unyielding 
resistance  of  the  opposition  ;  and  every  important  issue  raised 
before  the  people  has  been  decided  with  the  democracy,  and 
its  wisdom  has  been  sanctioned  by  the  results  of  time,  trial, 
and  experience.  Such  is  the  democratic  party ;  such  its  prin 
ciples,  its  purposes,  its  mission.  It  will,  so  long  as  it  has  ex 
istence,  sustain  the  cause  of  popular  rights  and  vindicate  the 
supremacy  of  the  Constitution  ;  and  when,  if  ever,  it  falls,  the 
last  hope  of  free  government  will  fall  with  it. 

The  opposition  party,  whose  name  has  been  as  changeable 
as  the  expedients  to  which  it  resorts  as  an  apology  for  princi 
ples  ;  taking  color,  like  the  chameleon,  from  the  object  on 
which  it  rests ;  without  popular  power  or  fixed  principles, 
seems  to  have  been  contrived  to  give  steadiness  of  movement 
to  the  democratic  party  and  retard  its  action,  as  a  heavy 
weight  called  a  "  balance-wheel  "  is  attached  to  machinery.  A 
lineal  descendant  of  the  old  federal  party,  it  inherited  little 
but  its  intolerance  and  its  vices ;  and  in  dissolving  the  late 
whig  party  and  bidding  for  the  malcontents  of  democracy,  it 
threw  oft'  its  only  redeeming  characteristics,  its  best  ability, 
and  its  conservatism.  Professing  supreme  regard  for  the  pu 
rity  of  legislation,  it  has  made  the  State  capitol  the  smoking, 
reeking  sweat-pit  of  a  corrupt  and  shameless  lobby  ;  the  guar 
dian  of  State  debt  and  State  honor,  it  has  swollen  the  public 
debt  to  about  forty  millions,  and  failed  to  provide  for  the  pay 
ment  of  accruing  interest ;  the  protector  of  labor,  it  has  bur 
dened  it  with  unnecessary  and  oppressive  taxation  for  more 
than  questionable  objects ;  the  friend  of  free  suffrage,  it  has 
erected  difficult  and  burdensome,  expensive  and  unconstitu 
tional  barriers  between  the  voter  and  the  balJot-box,  under 
the  pretence  of  a  registry  law,  to  deprive  him  of  a  freeman's 
privilege  or  greatly  embarrass  its  exercise,  and  has  uniformly 
thrown  impediments  in  the  way  of  the  naturalization  of  for 
eigners.  Boasting  a  creed  of  universal  application  wherever 
Christianity  and  civilization  have  travelled,  its  aliment  is  sec 
tional  disturbance  ;  and  so  pernicious  its  purposes,  so  fugitive 
its  character,  that  it  finds  neither  "  local  habitation  nor  a 
name  "  in  nearly  one  half  the  States  of  the  Union.  The  cham 
pion  of  law,  it  deposes  judges  of  its  own  party  who  declare 
it  from  the  bench ;  and  while  profanely  swearing  allegiance  to 
42 


658  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

the  constitution,  it  defies  its  provisions,  resists  their  enforce 
ment,  and  seeks  to  wage  a  war  of  "  irrepressible  conflict "  be 
tween  sovereign  States  of  a  common  Union,  and  between 
children  of  the  same  heritage,  until  all  shall  be  free  or  all 
slave  States.  It  mourns  as  one  without  hope  over  the  woes  of 
the  colored  man,  and  excludes  him  by  law  from  new  States 
when  it  has  the  power.,  upon  the  idea  of  the  sarcastic  abolition 
poet,  that 

"  It's  well  enough  agin  a  king 
To  draw  resolves  and  triggers, 
But  Liberty's  a  kind  o'  thing 
That  don't  agree  with  niggers." 

Destructiveness  is  written  upon  every  feature  of  its  phre 
nology,  and  its  constructive  power  is  confined  to  the  creation 
of  debt,  the  erection  of  registry  laws,  and  kindred  abuses.  In 
addressing  the  masses,  it  seeks  to  inflame  the  passions  rather 
than  appeal  to  their  reason ;  to  excite  prejudice,  rather  than 
awaken  the  understanding  ;  to  seize  upon  the  clap-traps  of  the 
moment  instead  of  inculcating  wholesome  and  permanent  prin 
ciples.  It  has  placed  its  candidates  in  nomination  to  carry  out 
and  perpetuate  its  policy.  However  worthy  they  may  be  as 
individuals,  they  are,  to  a  man,  representatives  of  the  debt- 
contracting,  tax-levying,  and  registry-making  party  in  State 
affairs,  and  of  the  irrepressible  conflict  in  the  Union ;  and  it 
would  be  as  absurd  to  expect  the  doctrines  of  enlightened 
Christianity  from  a  howling  dervish  as  to  look  to  them  for  a 
safe,  sound,  and  prudent  policy  in  domestic  concerns,  or  the 
observance  of  the  federal  constitution  in  matters  concerning 
the  confederacy. 

Fortunately  it  has  grafted  few  of  its  pernicious  heresies 
upon  the  country.  If  its  policy  had  been  adopted,  our  boun 
daries  would  have  been  limited  to  the  old  thirteen  States  and 
our  northwestern  Territories.  The  Mississippi  and  its  vast 
and  fertile  valley  would  have  been  in  the  hands  of  a  foreign 
and  hostile  power ;  the  second  war  of  independence  would 
never  have  been  fought ;  we  should  now  be  living  under  the 
reign  of  a  United  States  bank  and  a  high  protective  tariff;  we 
should  never  have  acquired  Florida,  nor  Texas,  nor  California, 
nor  New  Mexico  ;  and  could  it  now  gain  control,  the  North- 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION   MEETING.  659 

ern  and  Southern  States  would  be  driven  to  an  "  irrepressible 
conflict  "  with  each  other,  until  all  should  become  free  or  all 
slave  States — until  one  half  the  States  of  the  Union  should  be 
forced  to  bow  in  servile  submission  to  the  other  ! 

That  we  may  enjoy  a  foretaste  of  the  moral  and  political 
beauties  of  the  "  irrepressible  conflict,"  we  have  but  to  read 
of  the  insurrection,  revolt,  and  murder,  where  it  has  recently 
been  ushered  in  at  Harper's  Ferry — the  legitimate,  neces 
sary,  and  terrible  fruits  of  such  evil  and  industrious  sowing. 
From  its  course  of  legislation,  one  would  suppose  its  members 
had  read  the  constitution  as  carelessly  as  certain  members  of 
Congress  are  said  to  have  read  theology,  or  in  the  place  of  the 
constitution  "  Living  Made  Easy,"  or  "  John  Law  on  Bank 
ing."  It  is  related  of  two  members  of  Congress  that  in  a  so 
cial  moment  each  boasted  over  the  other  of  his  early  advanta 
ges,  and  especially  of  his  religious  education  ;  when  one  laid 
a  wager  that  the  other  could  not  accurately  repeat  the  Lord's 
prayer.  The  bet  was  taken,  and  the  money  put  up,  and  he 
who  was  to  recite  commenced — 

"  Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep, 
I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep. 
If  I  should  die — -— " 

"  Stop  !  stop  !  "  said  the  other,  "you  need  not  go  through. 
I  give  up  the  money.  Iliad  no  idea  you  Jtnew  it" 

The  people  of  the  first  State  in  the  confederacy  have  been 
long  enough  withdrawn  from  the  redress  of  domestic  abuses 
to  the  consideration  of  subjects  abroad,  to  return  for  a  season 
to  the  embarrassed  concerns  of  their  own  noble  Empire.  It 
was  the  old  democratic  policy  to  pay  as  you  go.  "  Republic 
an  "  rule  has  repudiated  the  paying  system,  and  the  following 
are  the  fruits  of  its  policy. 

The  public  debt  and  the  financial  condition  of  the  State  is 
substantially  as  follows : 

Old  Canal  Debt $11,765,098  99 

General  Debt,  funded 6,505,654  37 

New  Canal  Debt 12,000,000  00 

Miscellaneous  Debt 1,612,585  49 

Floating  Debt 3,000,000  00 

Total $34,783,338  85 


660  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  Yearly  Interest  on  this  Debt  is  about ....     $2,000,000  00 

The  Net  Resources  of  the  State  about 1,000,000  00 

Leaving  a  deficiency  of  $1,000,000  00,  every 
year,  in  paying  interest  alone.  All  the  res 
idue  of  principal  and  interest,  beyond  the 
annual  revenues,  must  be  paid  by  direct 
taxation. 

Besides,  the  Taxes  imposed  by  the  last  Legis 
lature  were  in  amount $3,500,000  00 

Taxes  to  be  submitted  for  approval  at  the  com 
ing  election 2,500,000  00 

Leaving  still  payments  postponed  and  unpro 
vided  for 1,000,000  00 

These  items,  it  will  be  seen,  swell  the  public  debt  above 
$40,000,000,  to  be  levied  upon  the  land  and  labor  and  capital 
of  the  people  of  the  Empire  State. 

The  State  is  now  in  somewhat  the  same  condition  financial 
ly  as  the  celebrated  Barney  W.  of  Albany,  now  no  more — 
peace  to  his  ashes !  Barney  was  a  character,  if  not  an  institu 
tion.  He  was  a  politician  of  the  Peter  Brush  school,  wanting 
something  to  have  rather  than  something  to  do,  and,  being  a 
patriot  as  well  as  a  politician,  he  was  willing  to  receive  it  from 
any  party  in  power  at  the  time.  But  advancing  age  checked 
his  activity  and  usefulness ;  republicans  as  well  as  republics 
proved  ungrateful ;  and  Barney  began  by  degrees  to  yield  to 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  to  exhibit  in  his  external  man  unmis 
takable  evidences  of  seediness.  Upon  one  occasion  there  was 
a  religious  revival,  especially  among  people  of  the  Methodist 
persuasion,  and  Barney,  in  one  of  his  evening  jaunts  around 
the  city,  saw  the  doors  of  their  church  open  and  the  building 
cheerfully  lighted  and  looking  warm  and  comfortable,  and, 
with  his  hands  thrust  deep  in  his  bare  pockets,  he  walked  com 
posedly  in  and  took  the  only  vacant  seat  he  saw,  and  there  sat 
with  rigid  gravity.  It  proved  to  be  the  anxious  seat,  though 
Barney  was  more  anxious  for  his  temporal  than  spiritual  con 
dition.  The  uncharitable  had  long  regarded  Barney  as  a  rep 
robate  of  the  first  water,  and  now  to  see  him  upon  the  anxious 
seat  of  sinners  in  a  revival  meeting  was  hailed  by  the  good 
and  zealous  people  there  assembled  with  almost  a  delirium  of 
joy.  Brothers  and  sisters  knelt  around  him,  and  prayed  long 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION   MEETING.  661 

and  fervently  for  his  conversion,  and  the  pious  clergyman, 
joining  in  the  enthusiasm,  approached  him  and  cried  out, 
"Brother  Whipple,  do  you  feel  any  change  ?  Brother  Whip- 
pie,  do  you  feel  any  change?"  At  which  Barney  thrust  his 
hands  yet  deeper  into  the  tenantless  pockets  of  his  pantaloons, 
and  replied  with  stoical  composure,  "  Not  one  red  cent !  " 

Such  is  the  party  sarcastically  Bell-christened  "Republi 
can;"  such  its  lack  of  principles;  such  its  aims  and  objects,  its 
pursuits  and  purposes.  Its  only  popular  star  is  power,  which 
it  will  gain  to  the  country's  cost,  unless  the  democracy  does  its 
whole  duty.  Its  uses  will  be  to  admonish  the  democracy  of 
their  mission  and  their  noble  principles.  Its  existence  in  some 
form,  and  under  some  name,  will  be  coeval  with  the  existence 
of  democracy  ;  but  it  will  bear  the  same  relation  to  democracy 
that  error  does  to  truth,  and  rival  entomology  in  the  changes 
it  will  experience,  from  the  egg,  deposited  by  its  dying  parent, 
and  the  creeping  larvae,  to  the  gaudy-winged  butterfly  in  the 
full  tide  of  the  summer  sunshine. 

Since  the  country  and  the  constitution  must  repose  for  safety 
upon  the  democratic  party,  the  members  of  which  are  scattered 
over  the  vast  area  stretching  from  the  St.  John  to  the  Pacific, 
and  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  Rio  Grande,  they  must,  if  they 
would  succeed,  listen  to  a  common  watchword,  be  moved  by  a 
common  impulse^  aim  at  a  common  object,  and  march  in  solid 
column  to  its  attainment.  The  opposition,  being  assailants,  can 
act  as  guerrillas  and  carry  on  a  miscellaneous  and  predatory 
warfare  effectually  and  successfully,  if  they  find  the  democracy 
divided.  They  are  in  cities  and  villages,  and  at  the  cross-roads, 
and  are  always  ready  to  assail  democratic  principles,  and  can 
work  better  without  organization  than  with.  If  they  succeed, 
they  gain  all,  for  they  only  seek  the  overthrow  of  the  demo 
cratic  party  for  station  and  forage ;  if  defeated,  they  lose  noth 
ing,  for  they  have  nothing  to  sustain  but  their  own  political 
necessities  and  desires.  The  union  of  the  democratic  masses  of 
the  party  is  now  complete,  beyond  the  power  of  faction  to  tear 
open  its  wounds.  For  this  union,  since  there  ceased  to  be  a 
difference  in  principle,  I  have  zealously  and  faithfully  labored 
with  the  best  faculties  of  my  nature ;  and  now  that  its  consum. 
mation  is  sealed,  I  am  content.  If  there  are  any  who  would 
still  grope  in  the  cold  ashes  of  a  burned-out  controversy,  to  see 


662  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

if  there  are  yet  some  embers  which  can  be  fanned  into  flame ; 
or  who  refuse  to  recognize  the  entire  union  of  the  party,  in  a 
crisis  so  interesting,  as  more  important  than  the  names  of  agents 
or  the  modes  of  their  election  ;  or  whose  tastes  or  resentments 
lead  them  into  the  field  of  denunciation,  open  or  covert,  let 
them  by  all  means  be  indulged  by  significant  silence.  It  is  a 
moderate  tax  for  the  attainment  of  so  great  an  object,  and  one 
which  a  united  democracy,  or  individuals  assailed,  can  well 
afford  to  pay.  For  one,  I  have  been  accustomed  to  act  respon 
sibly,  and  find  it  no  inconvenience.  I  have  done  so  when  sus 
tained  by  many,  when  sustained  by  few,  and  when  left  "  soli 
tary  and  alone."  He  who  launches  his  bark  upon  a  political 
sea  should  depend  upon  great  permanent  currents,  and  never 
turn  aside  for  squalls. 

We  have  now,  and  for  years  have  had,  a  common  platform, 
from  which  no  voice  dissents.  That  fruitful  source  of  ills  and 
great  abolition  bug-bear,  slavery,  has  become  familiar  to  the 
people,  and  can  now  be  considered  with  calm  philosophy,  jus 
tice,  and  reason.  The  question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  has, 
like  fire  in  the  woods,  burned  itself  out,  and  no  longer  affords 
real  cause  for  agitation  and  disturbance,  though  pressed  into 
the  service  of  "  irrepressible  "  agitators.  Even  shrieking,  bleed 
ing,  burning,  dying  Kansas,  has  proved  a  surfeit  to  agitators, 
and  has  quietly  adopted  her  Wyandotte  constitution  without 
arresting  public  attention.  The  highest  judicial  tribunal  known 
to  the  constitution  has  decided  all  questions  of  practical  mo 
ment  concerning  it,  and  all  good  citizens  will  acquiesce ;  and  the 
principle  of  popular  sovereignty  will  settle  all  controversies 
where  they  arise. 

We  have  a  democratic  Administration  to  sustain  in  a  wise 
foreign  and  domestic  policy,  which  it  has  steadily  pursued 
with  quiet  and  unpretending  firmness,  amidst  every  conceivable 
embarrassment  which  the  prolific  spirit  of  the  times  and  the 
machinations  of  desperate  faction  could  produce,  and  the  de 
mocracy  of  New  York  should  stand  united  to  cheer  its  labors 
by  their  approval,  and  aid  it  by  harmonious  counsels.  We 
have  a  ticket,  the  high  character  of  which  all  admit. 

Then  why  should  we  permit  longer  a  disgraceful  contro 
versy  over  the  question  whether  one  ambitious  leader  should 
gain  successful  rivalry  over  another.  The  Pickwick  papers 


.1859.]  DEMOCRATIC   RATIFICATION   MEETING.  663 

describe  a  good  old  lady,  who,  whenever  she  saw  any  unusual 
movement  in  the  family,  fancied  the  kitchen  chimney  was  on 
fire ;  and  some  politicians,  upon  the  same  principle,  believe  in 
each  campaign  that  they  will  have  to  fight  over  the  battles  of 
1848,  1853,  or  some  other  intestine  broil.  The  masses,  I  repeat, 
are  united ;  as  for  mere  managing  leaders,  I  neither  have,  nor 
did  I  ever  have  any  sympathy  or  combination  with  them,  nor 
shall  I  ever  have,  when  it  does  not  affect  results  in  which  all 
have  an  interest.  So  far  as  the  strife  among  them  is  concerned, 
in  the  language  of  the  old  verse, 

"  I  care  not  a  toss  up 
Whether  Mossup  JcicJc  Barry, 
Or  Barry  Trick  Mossup." 

Should  we  hear  the  discordant  notes  of  some  aspiring  leader 
from  the  broken-up  and  abandoned  camp  of  the  "  Softs  "  patri 
otically  trying  to  rally  and  embody  the  disbanded  "  Hards  " 
again  by  "  hereditary  recollections,"  as  a  faction  under  his 
command  ;  or  should  we  find  some  former  "  Hard  "  endeavor 
ing,  by  considerations  no  less  unselfish,  to  rally  as  a  disorgan 
izing  section  those  who  were  once  "  Softs,"  when  unfortunate 
divisions  gave  the  designations  a  meaning;  we  should  naturally 
be  uncharitable  enough  to  believe  that,  in  an  unthinking  mo 
ment,  personal  schemes  or  feelings  or  resentment,  were  serving 
as  a  substitute  for  patriotism  and  party  loyalty.  At  the  close  of 
the  Revolution,  one  Johnny  Hook,  an  avaricious  Scotchman, 
prosecuted  a  commanding  officer  in  Virginia  for  the  value  of  a 
bull,  taken  by  the  famishing  soldiers  for  food  in  the  darkest 
days  of  that  trying  period.  The  officer  was  successfully  defend 
ed  before  a  jury  by  the  renowned  Patrick  Henry,  who,  at  the 
close  of  his  summing  up,  exclaimed,  "Who  is  this,  that  dis 
turbs  a  nation's  repose  at  the  close  of  her  War  for  Indepen 
dence  by  the  cry  of  beef,  beef,  beef !  "  And  I  repeat,  who  is 
there  that  would  disturb  the  harmony  of  a  great  party  and  re 
vive  its  buried  conflicts  after  a  bootless  war,  equal  in  duration 
to  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  by  a  cry  equally  discordant  ? 
Away  then,  away  with  all  divisions  forever  !  Let  us  have  no 
designation  but  that  of  democrat ;  and  away  too  with  those 
who  would  perpetuate  old  or  breed  new  causes  of  division  for 
personal  aggrandizement ! 


664 

The  Democracy,  with  such  a  mission  before  it,  can  afford  to 
bury  the  rivalries  and  jealousies  and  resentments  and  prejudices 
of  its  cliques  and  leaders  in  a  common  and  resurrectionless 
grave.  It  reposes  for  hope  upon  its  principles,  and  not  upon  its 
temporary  agencies.  It  is  of  little  moment  to  the  toiling  masses 
whether  Smith  is  upon  a  committee,  Jones  a  delegate,  Brown  a 
chairman,  Lamb  a  secretary,  or  Lyon  a  candidate,  or  what  par 
ticular  individual  represents  them  in  the  Senate  or  Assembly, 
or  in  Congress,  or  even  who  administers  the  laws  at  the  State  or 
the  National  Capital,  provided  the  trust  be  faithfully  executed. 
But  it  is  of  the  highest  moment  that  the  Democracy  bear  rule, 
so  that  the  principles  of  the  party  be  maintained,  and  that  none 
but  those  true  and  faithful  to  the  Constitution  be  clothed  with 
important  public  responsibilities — those  who,  in  the  true  sense 
of  Democracy,  will  stand  by  the  Constitution  and  uphold 
all  and  singular  its  provisions  and  obligations,  to  the  letter  and 
in  the  spirit,  in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory ;  those  who  do  not 
fear  to  do  right  lest  selfishness,  and  timidity,  and  chronic  preju 
dice  may  charge  them  with  wrong ;  those  who  can  be  neither 
corrupted,  nor  seduced,  nor  awed  by  fear,  nor  tempted  by  ambi 
tion,  but  who  will  truly  represent,  and  maintain,  and  reflect  at 
all  times  and  upon  all  occasions,  the  great  principles  of  the 
party  which  confided  to  their  integrity  a  trust  so  sacred.  The 
Democracy  demands  and  will  select  men,  when  a  great  crisis  is 
impending,  who  can  stand  to  the  watch  in  storm  and  peril,  as 
well  as  in  the  calm  and  placid  sea  ;  those  who  can  hold  the  helm 
firmly  when  the  ocean  casts  up  her  mire  and  dirt,  when  light 
nings  flash  and  thunders  roar,  when  waves  dash  and  winds  beat, 
and  danger  threatens,  as  fearlessly  as  when  all  is  peace.  When 
the  storm  has  howled  itself  to  rest  and  all  is  serene  and  beauti 
ful,  there  is  never  a  lack  of  manly  daring,  and  the  vaunts  of 
sunshine  patriotism  quite  often  throw  the  sons  of  real  service 
in  the  shade. 

It  is  no  apology  for  the  true  Democrat  that  the  party,  in 
designating  its  agents,  has  failed  in  his  judgment  to  take  them 
from  its  best  personnel ;  or  that  the  selection  was  partial,  or 
might  have  been  improved  ;  or  that  just  claims  or  pretensions 
were  overlooked  or  disregarded ;  or  that  the  action  of  the  party 
passed  beyond  or  fell  short  of  the  line  of  true  wisdom  ;  or  that 
some  other  time  or  mode  would  have  been  better.  If  such 


1859.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION  MEETING.  665 

criticisms  were  just,  the  objections  would  be  of  a  temporary 
character,  and  the  remedy  for  such  and  all  kindred  grievances 
would  rest  in  forward  and  not  in  retrograde  movements ;  it 
would  be  soonest  found  in  forming  a  more  complete  and  perfect 
union  of  the  rank  and  file,  and  not  in  sowing  seeds  of  irritation, 
discord,  and  strife,  and  yielding  to  a  common  enemy.  If  any 
one  whose  expectations  have  not  been  answered  is  inclined  to 
ventilate  his  complaints  over  committees,  or  conventions,  or 
delegations,  or  candidates  chosen,  let  him  remember  the  rebuke 
of  the  Irish  officer  to  the  soldier  who  was  howling  so  noisily  on 
the  battle-field,  where  both  were  wounded, — "  Shut  your  noisy 
head! — do  you  suppose  nobody  is  kilt  but  yourself!"  The 
support  of  Democratic  measures  and  the  advancement  and  suc 
cess  of  the  benign  principles  of  Democracy  are  worthy  of  the 
noblest  ambition.  To  cavil  and  dispute  and  divide  and  disor 
ganize  over  the  selections  of  agents  and  placemen,  and  leave  the 
defence  of  the  citadel,  is  a  position  too  humiliating  for  the  con 
templation  of  an  honorable  mind. 

The  power  rests  with  the  masses ;  those  who  deserve  will 
receive  their  sympathy,  and  they  will  demand  of  their  agents, 
at  all  times,  a  faithful  execution  of  their  respective  trusts,  and 
enforce  obedience  to  their  behests,  and  woe  be  to  him  who  dis 
regards  the  mandate.  The  ticket  nominated  by  the  Democratic 
State  Convention  is  one  of  the  highest  order  for  capacity,  in 
tegrity,  and  experience,  which  has  ever  been  presented  for  the 
support  of  the  people  of  the  Empire  State.  Every  name  upon 
this  ticket  was  presented  with  a  unanimity  unknown  in  the  his 
tory  of  nominating  conventions.  A  unanimity  as  flattering  to 
the  nominees  as  honorable  to  the  generous  sentiment  of  the 
convention,  and  an  earnest  of  the  first  fruits  of  a  cordial  union 
and  a  presage  of  victory. 

Let  then  all  the  struggles  in  the  Democratic  party  be  here 
after  laudable  competition  in  seeing  who  shall  do  most  to  heal 
divisions,  and  heart-burnings  which  should  be  forgotten, — most 
to  rally  the  voters  and  fill  up  the  ranks, — most  to  push  on  the 
column  and  sustain  the  principles  of  the  party  by  the  election 
of  this  ticket — most  to  restore  complete  Democratic  ascendency, 
— most  to  blot  out  the  pernicious  and  ruinous  debt  policy,  the 
bitter  fruits  of  Republican  rule. 

It  was  the  standing  order  of  Napoleon  that  whenever  his 


666  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

marshals  or  generals  heard  a  cannonading  which  made  the  ground 
tremble,  they  should  repair  with  their  force  to  the  scene  of 
action,  with  all  possible  speed,  to  take  part  in  the  battle. 
Grouchy,  though  within  hearing  of  Waterloo,  with  a  large  and 
fresh  division  of  the  army,  neglected  to  obey  this  order,  and  one 
of  the  greatest  battles  the  world  ever  saw  was,  because  of  the 
neglect,  lost  to  Napoleon,  and  the  whole  destiny  of  Europe 
thereby  changed.  We  now  hear,  as  the  struggle  begins  in 
New  York,  the  distant  roar  of  cannon  booming  for  the  great 
battle  of  1860  ;  drums  are  beating,  bugles  are  sounding,  steeds 
are  prancing,  bayonets  are  bristling,  and  platoons  are  march 
ing  ;  the  earth  will  soon  tremble  to  its  centre  with  the  shock 
of  the  onset.  The  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  against  the  consti 
tution  is  soon  to  be  set  in  array,  and  to  be  lost  or  won  for  the 
residue  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Let  every  Democrat,  whether 
belonging  to  the  horse  or  foot ;  whether  leader  or  follower  ; 
whether  at  the  head  of  a  division  or  a  private  soldier,  repair  to 
the  field  and  help  to  turn  the  tide  of  victory.  Let  no  democratic 
forces  refuse  to  march  to  the  scene  of  action,  for  any  grievance, 
real  or  imaginary,  lest  the  cause  of  sectionalism  and  disunion 
thereby  triumph. 


SPEECH. 

AT  A  DEMOCRATIC  MASS  MEETING,  HELD  TO  RATIFY  THE  NOMI 
NATIONS  OF  BRECKENRIDGE  AND  LANE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 
AND  VICE-PRESIDENCY. 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  COOPER  INSTITUTE,  NEW  YORK,  July  18,  1860. 

[The  Democratic  National  Convention  of  1860,  whose  performances 
are  celebrated  in  this  speech,  though  comprising  in  its  membership 
many  good  and  patriotic  men,  in  its  action  at  Charleston  and  Balti 
more  will  ever  be  held  in  deserved  reprobation.  It  broke  up  and  pre 
destinated  the  defeat  of  the  Democratic  party,  and,  through  the  breach, 
secession  and  disunion  rushed  in,  to  lay  waste  and  despoil  the  sacred 
heritage  of  liberty  and  nationality. 

Two  sinister  influences  held  divided  control  in  the  Convention: 
one,  the  Southern  secession  element,  under  the  secret  management  of 
Slidell,  Benjamin,  Gwinn,  Cobb,  and  others,  known  as  the  Senatorial 
clique,  who,  though  not  delegates,  were  skulking  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Convention,  and  operating  through  associates  within  it ;  the  other,  the 
leaders  of  the  majority  of  the  New  York  delegation,  who,  having  the 
large  minority  tied  up  by  a  cunningly  devised  rule,  requiring  the  delega 
tion  to  act  as  a  unit,  wielded  the  whole  vote  and  power  of  the  State,  and 
formed  the  controlling  element  among  the  Northern  delegates— virtu 
ally  holding  the  balance  of  power  in  that  portion  of  the  Convention. 
The  first  was  impelled  by  personal  and  sectional  ambition,  and  acted 
with  planned,  deliberate,  and  crafty  but  cowardly  wickedness ;  shap 
ing  its  policy  to  break  up  the  Convention  and  prevent  a  nomination 
that  could  be  successful  at  the  polls,  and  having  for  its  ulterior  object 
disunion.  It  succeeded,  if  progress  towards  perdition  can  be  called  suc 
cess;  its  immediate  purpose  was  attained.  The  other  was  moved  by 
sheer  blind,  mean  selfishness ;  and,  "  operating  for  a  rise  "  in  the  stock 
it  had  taken  in  a  combination  to  produce  a  certain  result,  with  a 
fatuity  as  obstinate  as  it  was  short-sighted,  the  "New  York  gam 
blers,"  as  in  reference  to  their  conduct  in  this  regard  they  were  truly 
called,  played  completely  and  effectually  into  the  hands  of  the  South 
ern  conspirators,  and  miserably  failed  in  their  object. 


SPEECHES. 

Either  of  these  influences,  without  the  aid  and  in  face  of  the  oppo 
sition  of  the  other,  could  have  produced  a  nomination  that  would  have 
been  harmonious  and  successful.  A  large  majority  of  the  Southern 
delegates  were  anxious  to  produce  a  satisfactory  nomination,  and  the 
continued  pressing  upon  them  of  a  candidate  whom  they  had  come  to 
consider  objectionable,  and  determined  not. to  support,  alone  enabled 
the  conspirators,  whose  purposes  were  darkly  known  only  to  a  few,  to 
keep  them  embodied,  as  they  supposed,  upon  the  defensive.  If  a  proper 
candidate,  other  than  Mr.  Douglas,  had  been  brought  forward  by  or 
with  the  assent  of  the  leading  Northern  influence,  the  Southern  delega 
tions  would  have  broken  from  control  and  hailed  the  act  with  alacrity 
and  enthusiasm.  This  is  not  said  in  reference  to  a  particular  candidate. 
There  were  several  if  not  many  names  that  would  have  produced  this 
result.  But  the  New  York  leaders  would  accept  nothing  nor  permit 
anything  but  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Douglas — apparently  blind  to  the 
fact,  patent  to  every  man  of  common  sense,  and  which  he  must  have 
bitterly  felt,  that  the  course  taken  to  produce  his  nomination  left  him 
not  the  remotest  chance  of  an  election.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
South  had,  with  tolerable  unanimity,  presented  a  candidate,  the  effect 
would,  without  doubt,  have  been  the  same  in  the  Northern  delegations. 

Thus,  through  two  evil  influences,  in  which,  on  one  hand  a  com 
prehensive  wickedness,  and  on  the  other  selfishness  and  littleness  pre 
dominated,  the  Democratic  party  was  wrecked  in  1860.  A  single  step 
into  the  right  had  saved  it  and  the  country.  Persistence  in  the  wrong 
opened  the  flood-gates  to  the  disasters  that  swept  over  both. 

The  speech,  it  will  be  seen,  deals  with  but  one  of  these  influences. 
When  it  was  made,  the  hidden  purposes  of  the  other,  furnishing  the  in 
terpretation  of  its  action,  had  not  appeared. nor  been  suspected.  The 
writer  of  this  note  was  present  through  the  sitting  of  the  Convention; 
witnessed  much  of  the  combinations  and  operations  that  attended  its 
proceedings,  and  religiously  believes  that  the  responsibility  for  conse 
quences  rests  alike  on  the  two  influences  alluded  to.] 

ME.  PKESIDENT  AND  MY  FELLOW-CITIZENS — Ever-fleeting 
time  has  brought  us  upon  another  period  prescribed  by  the 
Constitution  for  the  election  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  great 
Confederacy  ;  a  popular  struggle  known  to  no  other  people  but 
ourselves,  and  exceeding  in  interest  and  importance  anything 
occurring  in  the  history  of  governments  among  men,  cilvilized 
or  savage. 

Upon  preceding  similar  occasions,  it  has  generally  been  the 
good  fortune  of  that  great  party  to  which  you  and  I  belong — of 
that  party  which  has  swayed  the  destinies  of  the  country,  and 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION   MEETING.  669 

shaped  its  policy  from  the  days  of  Jefferson  to  the  present  mo 
ment — to  stand  united  in  principle,  purpose,  and  movement,  like 
a  Roman  cohort  in  the  best  period  of  the  mistress  of  the  world. 
With  such  purposes  and  principles  as  heretofore  governed  and 
inspired  the  Democratic  party  ;  with  united  energies  and  har 
monious  action,  it  deserved  and  won  the  highest  confidence  and 
gratitude  of  the  masses  ;  it  bore  aloft  on  its  banner  the  sacred 
word,  equality  ;  it  plucked  hoary-headed  privilege  by  the  beard, 
and  arraigned  error  and  pretension  before  the  great  tribunal  of 
the  people  ;  it  was  radical  in  the  reformation  of  abuses  ;  it  was 
conservative  in  the  preservation  of  all  that  experience  had  ap 
proved  ;  the  Constitution  was  its  pillar  and  its  cloud,  and  prog 
ress  was  its  watchword.  Under  its  benign  policy  our  borders 
were  extended  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific ;  we  subdued 
and  fertilized  new  Territories ;  we  civilized,  educated,  and  ab 
sorbed  their  barbarous  or  semi-barbarous  races,  and  nearly 
trebled  the  number  of  free,  sovereign  States. 

Overshadowing,  monopolizing,  unconstitutional  federal  banks 
and  protective  tariffs,  those  devices  of  craft  and  fraud,  that  they 
might  subsist  upon  the  fruits  of  others'  labor,  have,  after  years 
of  conflict  with  the  Democracy,  been  driven  from  the  field,  and 
the  only  great  work  left  us  in  the  present  crisis  is  to  vindicate 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and  the  equality  of  the 
States.  The  present  Administration  was  quietly  advancing  the 
great  interests  of  the  country,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  foes 
without  and  foes  within,  and  Democracy  was  in  the  zenith  of 
its  triumphs.  If  to-day  that  great  conservative  party  of  the 
People  and  the  Constitution — the  country's  safety  and  the  pa 
triot's  hope,  is  crippled  and  divided ;  if  its  power  is  weakened, 
its  forces  scattered,  its  energies  weighed  clown,  and  there  are 
forebodings  that  its  proud  banner  may  fall  trailing  in  the  dust ; 
let  it  be  remembered  that  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  party  or  its 
principles,  or  of  its  masses,  that  it  is  thus  degraded;  but  that 
it  is  because,  in  an  evil  moment,  its  management  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  selfish,  corrupt,  and  venal,  who  have  betrayed  the 
trust  half  gained  by  stealth,  half  confided  to  them ;  and  because, 
in  attempting  to  use  its  power  to  advance  personal  ends  only, 
they  have  destroyed  its  organization,  divided  it  into  sections, 
and  brought  them  into  conflict  with  each  other,  instead  of  con 
centrating  all  its  forces  upon  the  enemies  of  the  Constitution. 


6TO 

The  Republican  party,  with  many  elements  of  personal  worth 
and  cleverness  among  its  members,  in  its  organization  bodes 
evil  to  the  best  interests  of  true  freedom  and  humanity ;  it  is 
founded  in  sectional  disturbance ;  its  aliment  is  prejudice  and 
passion  ;  its  efforts  calculated  to  array  State  against  State,  sec 
tion  against  section,  man  against  man,  brother  against  brother  ; 
destroy  all  kindly  relations,  and  light  up  the  fires  of  sectional 
discord  and  strife,  to  end  in  battles  of  blood.  Though  its  mana 
gers  threw  overboard  its  great  founder  and  leader,  Governor 
Seward,  because  he  had  too  plainly  declared  its  principles,  there 
by  acknowledging  while  intending  to  conceal  its  dangerous 
tendencies,  its  true  theories  are  boldly  avowed  by  its  Cheevers 
and  Wendell  Philipses,  and  reduced  to  practice  by  its  John 
Browns.  It  disturbs  and  embitters  the  social  relations ;  it 
severs  the  holy  ties  of  religious  brotherhood ;  it  breaks  the 
bonds  of  a  common  political  faith  ;  it  blots  out  the  great  mem 
ories  of  the  Revolution ;  it  destroys  commercial  interests  and 
the  interchanges  of  trade  ;  it  degrades  us  as  a  nation  before  the 
envious  monarchies  of  earth,  and  deprives  us  of  our  inherent 
power  to  vindicate  our  rights;  it  sows  broadcast  the  terrible 
seeds  of  domestic  strife  and  passion,  that  the  people  may  ere 
long  reap  in  sorrow  a  harvest  of  ashes  and  desolation. 

There  was  never  a  moment  in  the  history  of  the  Democratic 
party,  when  the  masses  of  the  people  looked  to  the  sitting  of  a 
National  Convention  with  more  confiding  expectation  than  to 
that  last  held  when  it  was  about  to  assemble  at  Charleston  in 
April.  There  was  never  a  time  when  such  confidence  wras  more 
wickedly,  wantonly,  and  shamefully  betrayed;  when  reasonable 
expectations  were  so  madly  blasted,  as  in  the  results  produced 
by  its  action.  Its  proceedings  find  no  parallel  in  disgrace  and 
degradation,  since  the  Empire  of  the  World  was  sold  at  auction 
for  money. 

The  Democratic  party,  for  its  steady  devotion  to  the  princi 
ples  of  the  Constitution,  the  catholicity  of  its  creed — for  its 
grand  radical  analysis,  and  its  just  and  lofty  conservatism — had 
won  the  confidence  of  the  masses,  and  wrung  unwilling  admira 
tion  from  its  hereditary  opponents ;  and  all  good  men  looked 
to  it  in  this,  the  evil  day  of  our  country,  for  deliverance  and 
safety.  Its  Convention  assembled  at  Charleston  and  organized 
for  business.  A  holy  man,  arrayed  in  the  robes  of  his  sacred 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION   MEETING.  671 

office,  with  raised  hands  and  fervent  supplication,  invokes  the 
favor  of  the  beneficent  Being  who  has  vouchsafed  to  us,  as  a 
people,  so  many  blessings.  The  whisper  of  beauty  is  hushed  in 
the  galleries  ;  the  aged  bow  their  gray  hairs  in  sympathetic  and 
deep  devotion ;  levity  is  humbled  in  silence,  and  even  lurking 
fraud  is  abashed,  and  cowers  for  a  hiding-place.  But  the  prayer 
is  over,  and  a  band  of  conspirators  take  possession  of  the  assem 
blage  ;  and,  instead  of  a  National  Convention,  a  great  huckster 
ing  bazaar  is  erected ;  a  political  trade  sale  is  opened ;  manage 
ment  inaugurates  her  slimy  and  repulsive  court,  and  the  office 
of  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  mighty  Republic  is  put  up,  like  the 
board  of  a  public  pauper,  to  the  lowest  bidder.  Its  proceedings 
bear  evidence  of  a  deliberate  and  long-cherished  design,  of  a 
combination  and  conspiracy  to  tie  up  minorities  against  them, 
and  leave  those  free  who  were  for  them,  and  thus  attain  by 
fraud  or  force  a  particular  result,  regardless  of  popular  senti 
ment,  or  of  consequences  which  might  follow.  The  ruling  fac 
tion  had  snuifed  up  the  scent  of  four  hundred  millions  of  spoils, 
and  for  them  the  Administration  was  expected  to  rain  milk  and 
honey,  snow  powdered  sugar,  and  hail  Moffatt's  Vegetable  Life 
Pills. 

Under  nearly  two  weeks  of  this  application  of  the  forcing 
process,  the  Convention  proved  unequal  to  the  emergency,  and 
paused  for  breath  ;  a  portion  of  the  delegations  withdrew,  and 
the  residue  adjourned  to  Baltimore,  for  a  period  of  some  six 
weeks,  for  ventilation.  The  public  had  reason  to  hope  that, 
separated  from  the  influences  which  had  surrounded  them,  and 
no  longer  breathing  the  contagions  they  engendered,  but  inhal 
ing  a  healthy  moral  atmosphere,  they  might  return  and  discharge 
the  duty  they  had  undertaken.  But  abstinence  only  edged  their 
appetites,  and  their  last  state  was  worse  than  the  first.  The 
same  drilled,  packed,  machine  majority  met  again,  composed  of 
delegates  from  a  portion  of  the  States,  and  assumed  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  the  rights  of  regular  delegates  from  another 
portion ;  to  punish  them  for  some  non-conformity  to  the  ma 
jority  standard  or  other  delinquency  ;  in  short,  to  deny  to  the 
delegations  of  sovereign  Democratic  States  the  right  to  return 
to  their  seats  at  Baltimore,  because  they  did  not  occupy  them 
for  the  whole  period  of  the  protracted  sitting  at  Charleston ;  a 
question  belonging  entirely  to  the  constituency  of  those  delega- 


672 

tioDS  alone,  and  with  which  the  National  Convention  had  no 
business  whatever.  And  not  only  were  these  delegations  ex 
pelled  under  such  pretensions,  but  spurious  delegations,  made 
up  to  suit  the  convenience  and  necessity  of  the  occasion,  were 
put  in  their  places.  A  decision  so  abhorrent  to  every  principle 
of  common  fairness — so  replete  with  outrage  and  usurpation, 
divided,  dismembered,  and  broke  up  the  Convention,  as  it  should 
have  done,  and  as  every  sensible  mind  saw  it  would  do,  and  I 
commend  with  my  whole  heart  the  spirit,  and  approve  the  con 
duct  of  the  President,  General  Gushing,  who  refused  longer  to 
preside  over  the  tyrannous  cabal,  and  of  the  delegations  who, 
under  the  same  President,  reorganized  and  placed  in  nomination 
Messrs.  Breckinridge  and  Lane. 

The  remaining  faction,  made  up  chiefly  of  delegates  from 
Republican  States,  deprived  of  their  head,  and  without  a  Dem 
ocratic  body,  proceeded  to  nominate  Messrs.  Douglas  and  Fitz- 
patrick,  as  we  were  informed  amidst  tremendous  enthusiasm  ; — 
Vermont  and  other  New  England  States,  and  the  whole  North 
west,  were  pledged  to  Mr.  Douglas  (subject,  of  course,  to  a 
slight  incumbrance,  held  by  one  Abraham  Lincoln),  with  deaf 
ening  applause  !  Some  flatboatmen,  descending  the  Mississippi, 
in  rather  a  jolly  mood,  passed  a  house  on  the  shore  where  there 
were  fiddling  and  dancing  on  the  piazza ; — the  boat  fell  into  an 
eddy,  and  once  in  each  half  hour  passed  the  house  again,  and 
the  boatmen  swore  they  were  fiddling  and  dancing  in  every 
house  for  a  hundred  miles  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  while  they 
had  been  revolving  in  an  eddy,  and  had  seen  but  one.  The 
Douglas  strength  is  estimated  in  the  same  way. 

Waiving  all  questions  of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  as  a  candidate,  his  pretensions  were  pressed  upon  the 
Convention — sometimes  under  the  pretence  of  a  platform  upon 
which  he  could  stand  with  convenience ;  sometimes  in  the  ad 
mission  and  rejection  of  delegates  by  the  process  of  machinery 
and  management,  and  at  other  times  in  the  direct  presentation 
of  his  name,  beyond  all  precedence,  or  bounds  of  courtesy,  or 
reason ;  in  a  manner  and  in  a  spirit,  and  with  a  feeling  which 
spoke  defiance  to  nearly  one-half  of  the  States  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  when  it  was  well  known  they  would  not  acquiesce  in  his 
nomination — that  they  would  not  support  him  if  nominated,  and 
that  he  could  not  be  elected  without  their  votes ;  pressed,  too, 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  EATIFICATION   MEETING.  673 

in  a  tone  and  temper,  and  with  a  dogged  and  obstinate  persist 
ence,  which  was  well  calculated,  if  it  was  not  intended,  to  break 
up  the  Convention,  or  force  it  into  obedience  to  the  behests  of 
a  combination. 

The  authors  of  this  outrage,  whom  we  should  hold  account 
able,  and  who  are  justly  and  directly  chargeable  with  it,  were 
the  ruling  majority  of  the  New  York  delegation.  They  held 
the  balance  of  power,  and  madly,  and  selfishly,  and  corruptly 
used  it  for  the  disruption  of  the  Democratic  party  in  endeavor 
ing  to  force  it  up  to  a  fixed  point,  to  subserve  their  concerted 
schemes.  They  were  there  charged  with  high  responsibilities 
by  a  patriotic  and  confiding  constituency  ;  in  a  crisis  of  unusual 
interest  in  the  history  of  the  party  and  the  country,  they,  in  an 
evil  moment,  held  in  their  leprous  hands  the  destinies  of  a  noble 
party  and  of  this  great  country  ;  they  professed  to  be  governed 
by  honorable  considerations,  and  to  desire  the  unity,  and  har 
mony,  and  success  of  the  Democracy  ;  they  proclaimed,  person 
ally  and  through  their  accredited  organs,  that  in  their  view  the 
Southern  States  were  entitled  to  name  a  candidate ;  and  de 
clared  that  it  would  be  their  first  policy  to  second  such  sugges 
tions  as  were  made  in  that  quarter,  and  support  such  candidate 
as  should  be  named  by,  or  be  most  acceptable  to  the  South  ;  and 
with  such  professions  and  false  pretences  on  their  lips,  they 
went  to  Charleston.  But  from  the  moment  they  entered  the 
Convention  at  Charleston,  until  it  was  finally  broken  up  by  their 
base  conduct  and  worse  faith  at  Baltimore — conduct  which 
secured  them  the  designation  of  political  gamblers  upon  the 
floor  of  the  Convention — their  every  act  was  to  oppose  the 
wishes,  and  resist  each,  any,  and  every  candidate  who  would  be 
acceptable  to  the  Southern  States ;  and  their  every  effort,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  by  night  and  by  day,  was  to  force 
upon  the  Southern  States  a  candidate  whose  creed  they  repudi 
ated  and  condemned ;  a  candidate  they  had  declared,  in  the 
most  solemn  form  and  with  repeated  asseverations,  they  could 
not  and  would  not  support ;  a  candidate  who  was  at  open  war 
with  the  Democratic  Administration ;  who  had  but  a  single 
supporter  in  the  Democratic  Senate,  and  whose  especial  adhe 
rents  had  just  aided  the  Republicans  in  the  election  of  a  Speaker 
and  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives — two  of  the  most 
influential  and  commanding  positions  in  the  government. 
43 


674:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

Those  who  ruled,  and  dictated  to,  and  wielded  the  vote  of 
the  New  York  delegation,  through  the  fraudulent  process  of  a 
unit  vote — a  rule  forced  upon  a  large  minority  of  this  delegation 
to  stifle  their  sentiments,  while  small  minorities  were  released 
from  it,  in  others,  to  suit  the  purposes  of  the  conspirators,  will 
hereafter  be  known  by  the  name  plainly  branded  upon  their 
guilty  foreheads  at  Charleston — "  political  gamblers  !  " — wrho 
hang  festering  upon  the  lobbies  of  State  and  Federal  legislation, 
to  purchase  chartered  privilege  and  immunity  by  corrupt  appli 
ances  ;  who  thrive  in  its  fetid  atmosphere,  and  swell  to  obese 
proportions,  like  vultures  upon  offal ;  office-seekers,  who  crawl 
and  cringe  around  the  footsteps  of  power,  and  by  false  pre 
tences  procure  themselves,  or  vile  tools,  places  of  official  trust 
and  emolument,  that  they  may  pack  and  control  caucuses  and 
conventions  at  the  expense  of  the  people  they  defraud  and  be 
tray,  wrhile  honest  men  are  engaged  in  their  industrial  avoca 
tions  to  earn  their  bread. 

Oh,  how  has  the  once  noble  spirit  of  the  Democracy  fled  from 
such  contaminating  approaches !  Rome,  whose  proud  banner 
once  waved  triumphant  over  a,  conquered  w^orld,  degenerated  in 
the  pursuits  of  sensual  delights  to  a  band  of  fiddlers  and  dancers ; 
and  the  Democratic  party  in  New  York,  founded  in  the  spirit 
of  a  Jefferson,  and  emulating,  for  many  years,  the  noble  efforts 
of  a  Jackson  and  a  Tompkins,  has,  in  the  hands  of  "  political 
gamblers,"  been  degraded  by  practices  which  would  dishonor 
the  resorts  of  a  Peter  Funk  in  cast-off  clothing ;  cheating  the 
sentiment  of  the  people  of  the  State  and  Nation ;  cheating  a 
great  and  confiding  party,  whose  principles  they  put  on  as  a 
disguise,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  them  to  cheat ;  cheating 
the  Convention  which  admitted  them  to  seats ;  cheating  delega 
tions  who  trusted  them ;  cheating  everybody  and  everything 
with  which  they  came  in  contact,  except  Mr.  Douglas,  their 
nominee,  and  then  lamenting,  through  their  accredited  organ, 
from  day  to  day,  that  the  Convention  had  not  remained  together 
longer,  so  that  they  might  finally  have  cheated  him !  They 
have  overthrown  the  Democratic  masses,  but  "  woe  to  the 
riders  that  trampled  them  down."  "  Political  gamblers  !  "  you 
have  breathed  your  contagion  throughout  the  Democratic  cita 
del,  and  profaned  and  polluted  its  very  walls.  You  have  defiled 
its  holy  places  by  your  corrupting  presence  ;  unclean  beasts  fold 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION   MEETING.  675 

in  the  area  of  its  temples,  and  filthy  reptiles  have  inhabited  the 
sanctuary  of  its  gods.  Its  towering  eagle  of  liberty  has  fled, 
for  a  brief  season,  and  foul  ravens  croak  for  prey  and  whet  their 
bloody  beaks  and  dirty  talons  upon  its  sacred  altars.  "  Political 
gamblers  !  "  you  have  perpetrated  your  last  cheat,  consummated 
your  last  fraud  upon  the  Democratic  party,  for  you  will  never 
again  be  trusted.  Henceforth  you  will  be  held  and  treated  as 
political  outlaws,  and  set  at  defiance.  There  is  no  fox  so  crafty 
but  his  hide  finally  goes  to  the  hatter's.  You  will  hang  upon 
its  skirts  to  regain  power,  and  lie  in  ambush  for  revenge ;  but 
as  an  open  enemy  you  are  powerless,  and  are  only  dangerous  to 
those  who  trust  you.  With  parties,  and  especially  cliques,  who 
betray  trusts  and  abuse  power,  as  with  individuals,  there  is  a 
day  of  reckoning  and  retribution,  and  yours  is  at  hand. 

The  defection  of  a  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  in  1847, 
under  cover  of  advocating  "  Free  Soil "  principles,  defeated 
General  Cass  in  1848,  and  prostrated  the  power  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  the  State  and  nation.  While  its  sections  were 
standing  or  professing  to  stand  on  principles  or  doctrines  in 
direct  antagonism  to  each  other,  there  were  those  who  advo 
cated  a  coalition  and  a  division  of  spoils,  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  patronage  and  "  beating  the  Whigs."  Regarding  it 
as  most  shamefully  demoralizing,  I  resisted  it  with  all  the  ar 
guments  I  could  summon  and  all  the  influence  I  could  com 
mand  ;  but  the  necessities  of  office-seeking  patriotism  were  too 
strong  for  me ;  and  under  the  ministration  of  some  who  had 
received  a  taste  of  official  favor  and  were  willing  to  barter 
principle  for  place,  and  the  acquiescence  of  good-natured  weak 
ness,  the  foul  scheme  was  consummated ;  individuals  obtained 
office,  and  the  moral  foundations  of  the  party  were  shaken. 
From  that  day  to  the  present,  elements  before  unknown  and 
unheard  of  in  the  history  of  the  party  have  been  rife,  wielded 
by  "  political  gamblers."  Since  then,  caucuses  have  been  run 
by  contract,  conventions  have  been  packed,  and  the  manage 
ment  of  the  party  machinery  has  been  assigned  to  its  chief 
and  assistant  engineers  with  as  much  precision  and  regard  to 
minutiaB  as  the  running  of  railroad  trains.  When  a  corps  of 
servitors  was  wanted  to  falsify  domestic  history  at  Washing 
ton,  and  calumniate  faithful  democrats  and  honest  men,  they 
were  at  once  in  motion  with  all  the  alacrity  of  police  detect- 


676  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

ives,  who  start  to  arrest  and  punish,  not  perpetrate,  fraud.  In 
short,  they  usually  keep  stationed  there  a  drill  sergeant  and  a 
file  of  men  to  serve  in  emergencies.  When  an  office  was  va 
cant,  or  a  job  of  depleting  the  treasury  was  in  the  market, 
they  snuffed  up  the  spoil  with  that  keen  instinct  given  to  all 
birds  of  evil  omen,  and  demanded  it  as  their  lawful  booty. 
They  were  "  political  gamblers  "  by  trade,  and  pursued  their 
avocation  with  appropriate  and  shameless  desperation. 

Administrations  which  knew  or  ought  to  have  known  their 
bleared  and  blackened  history,  which  knew  or  should  have 
known  their  occupation,  and  should  have  shunned  them  as 
they  would  a  contact  with  the  plague,  though  at  first  regard 
ing  this  clique  as 

"  A  monster  of  such  frightful  mien, 
That,  to  he  hated,  needs  hut  to  he  seen," 

have  usually  realized  the  humiliating  illustration  of  the  poet, 
and 

44  Seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  its  face, 
They  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace. 

Hereafter,  when  Democrats  and  others  abroad  fail  to  compre 
hend  what  they  term  the  "tangled web  of  JVeio  York  politics" 
let  them  remember  that  nine  tenths  of  the  "  tangled  web  "  and 
embarrassment  to  the  Democratic  party  have  arisen  abroad  ; 
because  this  same  clique  of  "  political  gamblers,"  who  make 
politics  a  business,  have  been  able  to  fasten  their  fangs  upon 
the  party  organization  at  home,  from  being  recognized  and 
clothed  with  power  and  place  and  patronage  abroad  ;  and  that 
they  have  been  recognized  and  rewarded  abroad  for  the  alleg 
ed  reason  that  they  had  power  and  position  at  home,  which 
power  and  position  they  gain  by  the  very  patronage  placed  in 
their  hands  by  those  having  its  dispensation.  This  enables 
them  to  drive  a  profitable  trade  in  political  affairs,  when  true 
Democrats  are  prosecuting  their  ordinary  pursuits  and  looking 
to  popular  sentiment  to  direct  the  political  currents. 

This  clique  and  its  accomplices  and  sympathizers  avowed 
free-soil  doctrines  until  they  were  universally  repudiated  and 
condemned  by  the  Democratic  party  everywhere,  and  then, 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  EATIFICATION   MEETING.  677 

without  the  least  hesitation  or  inconvenience,  professed  the  doc 
trines  of  the  Democratic  party  with  equal  zeal  and  probably 
with  equal  sincerity.  Though  I  opposed  their  recognition  as 
Democrats  by  the  party  so  long  as  they  refused  to  stand  upon 
its  platform,  yet  they  were  bargained  in  ;  and  I  could  do  so  no 
longer  when  they  professed  and  acknowledged  its  whole  creed 
and  swore  allegiance  again  to  its  principles.  Many  of  the  old 
free-soil  wing,  I  cheerfully  admit,  have  proved  to  be  among 
the  most  reliable  and  faithful  members  of  the  party.  But  I 
have  looked  upon  all  the  movements  of  the  political  clique  of 
which  I  speak  with  distrust,  and  would  gladly  have  seen  them 
perform  quarantine  before  landing.  But  they  had  sapped  and 
mined  the  foundation  of  the  Democratic  edifice  so  long  that 
they  knew  its  weak  points,  and,  having  perfected  their  machin 
ery  accordingly,  they  were  enabled  to  influence  its  movements 
and  to  rule  or  ruin  in  party  affairs,  generally  doing  the  last 
when  they  failed  to  accomplish  the  first.  Thus  they  became 
formidable,  and  thus  did  a  great  and  generous  party  yield  to 
their  imperious  demands  from  time  to  time,  rather  than  see 
their  treacherous  arms  turned  against  the  Democratic  encamp 
ment  while  its  hosts  were  engaged  in  great  periodical  battles 
with  its  open  enemies. 

As  the  great  conflict  of  1860  approached,  it  was  obvious 
that  New  York  must  be  the  battle-groun  d  over  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  bear  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  mighty  struggle,  if, 
indeed,  her  potential  act  did  not  decide  it  for  good  or  for  evil. 
In  view  of  this,  I  early  determined  to  countenance  no  divisions 
in  the  ranks,  for  any  purposes,  under  any  circumstances.  I 
knew  that  divisions,  no  matter  how  arising,  would  produce  cer 
tain  and  inevitable  defeat.  I  knew  that  this  clique  of  politi 
cians  had  abated  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  their  rule  or  ruin  policy. 
I  knew  they  were  loud  in  their  professions  of  harmony,  for  for 
eign  consumption,  and  to  gull  the  masses,  and  I  determined  to 
take  them  at  their  word — to  discountenance  all  divisions ;  to 
obtain  as  fair  a  selection  of  delegates  to  the  National  Conven 
tion  as  possible,  and  to  make  a  last  final  experimental  effort  for 
union  for  the  sake  of  the  Union  !  Events  at  Syracuse,  whither 
I  went  to  promote  reconciliations  and  prevent  disruptions, 
gave  my  voice  a  potential  influence.  I  exerted  it  to  bring  all 
elements  into  one  organization,  which  should  represent  the  Em- 


6Y8 

pire  State,  and  though  the  effort  was  censured  by  some,  and 
resisted  by  others,  and  criticised  by  mole-eyed  vision,  it  was 
substantially  successful.  I  appealed  to  the  masses  throughout 
the  State  in  popular  addresses,  and  the  Democracy  responded 
by  electing  the  most  important  portion  of  the  ticket  placed  in 
nomination.  But  a  single  delegated  representation  was  recog 
nized  at  Charleston,  and  if  that  delegation  had  discharged,  nay, 
if  it  had  not  grossly  violated  its  duty,  the  State  of  New  York, 
in  this  great  contest,  would  have  been  the  surest  State  in  the 
Union  for  the  Democratic  nominees. 

When  the  Syracuse  Convention  of  1859  approached,  I  could 
have  remained  at  home,  and  permitted  a  division,  which  I  saw 
was  almost  certain.  The  division  would  have  come ;  New 
York  would  have  been  prostrate  ;  and  I  and  my  friends  would 
have  been  charged  with  producing  it,  and  good-natured  credu 
lity  abroad  would  have  believed  the  asseverations  of  those  whose 
vocation  it  is  to  verify  such  falsehoods.  I  could  have  joined 
others,  and  could  have  ministered  to  the  just  but  profitless  re 
venges  of  true  and  faithful  men  for  a  long  catalogue  of  wrongs  ; 
but  I  preferred  to  look  forward  for  the  benefit  of  all,  rather  than 
look  backward  to  gratify  the  just  resentment  of  any.  I  could 
have  seconded  others  in  some  Quixotic  expedition  to  attain  re 
sults  to  minister  to  far-fetched  individual  hopes ;  but  each  of 
these  would  have  left  New  York  powerless  for  good,  and  old 
line  Democrats  seemingly  responsible ;  and  I  determined  to 
give  those  who  had  power  to  rule  or  ruin,  and  a  determination 
suited  to  the  ability,  undisputed  power  to  rule,  after  associat 
ing  all  the  good  influences  I  could  command.  They  professed 
to  desire  harmony,  unity,  and  conciliation.  I  proposed  to  take 
them  at  their  word,  without  saying  how  much,  or  how  little 
faith  I  had  in  their  professions.  I  saw  they  would  have  the 
power.  I  determined  they  should  have,  so  far  is  I  could  con 
trol  it,  the  responsibility  also.  I  knew  if  they  fairly  and  faith 
fully  represented  the  State,  they  would  merit  and  receive  the 
commendation  of  all  good  Democrats,  and  that  the  party  would 
be  compensated  in  the  results  which  would  follow.  I  knew 
if,  by  treacherous  schemes  and  gambling  resorts,  they  betrayed 
their  trust,  and  repeated  the  cheats  abroad  which  they  prac 
tised  at  home,  they  would  expose  to  the  world  their  own  per 
fidious  natures,  and  destroy  themselves  forever,  and  defeat 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC   KATIFICATION   MEETING.  679 

their  further  power  for  mischief  at  home  and  abroad,  and  that 
the  Democratic  party  in  New  York  could  afford  unbounded 
compensation  for  a  consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished. 
In  short,  I  meant  they  should  have  the  responsibility  with  the 
power,  and  they  had  both.  The  power  they  might  have  exer 
cised  so  as  to  give  life,  and  health,  and  joy,  and  unquestioned 
success  to  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State  and  Nation.  But 
they  chose  to  exercise  it  in  another  direction,  and  now  let  them 
prepare  for  the  responsibility  which  they  cannot  escape.  They 
have,  that  they  might  advance  the  selfish  purposes  of  a  corrupt 
clique,  with  malice  aforethought,  wickedly  and  wantonly  com 
mitted  the  crime ;  let  them  stand  up  in  the  world's  pillory  and 
suffer  the  penalty  due  to  falsehood,  treachery,  ingratitude,  and 
baseness. 

When  I  threw  my  whole  soul  into  an  effort  to  unite  the 
Democratic  party  of  this  State,  I  determined,  if  it  was  finally 
unsuccessful,  because  of  the  bad  conduct  of  this  trading  com 
bination,  that  I  would  never  again  make  an  effort  to  unite  the 
party  with  such  material  in  it.  That  effort  at  union  would  have 
been  crowned  with  complete  success  but  for  them,  for  the  ranks 
of  the  party  had  closed  up,  and  the  masses  hailed  a  deliverance 
from  eternal  division  and  strife,  as  a  proud  day  in  their  coun 
try's  history.  But  they  have  torn  open  again  its  wounds,  to 
subserve  their  own  selfish  schemes,  and  now  let  division  be  the 
order  of  the  day  until  these  faithless  "political  gamblers"  are 
driven  without  the  pale  of  the  Democratic  party  forever.  So 
totally  abhorred  as  they  are,  we  shall  sooner  attain  success  with 
out  than  with  them,  and  we  have  proved  now,  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  all,  how  vain  the  attempt  for  a  party  to  repose  upon  such 
rotten  foundations ;  and  hereafter  their  power  will  not  be  court 
ed,  nor  their  necessities  rewarded  by  Democratic  Administra 
tions.  No,  I  shall  hereafter  make  no  efforts  for  union  where 
they  are  to  be  recognized,  but  war  upon  any  faction  under  their 
treacherous  rule,  and  nothing  but  faction  will  follow  their  lead  : 

"  Twice  Lave  I  sought  clan-Alpine's  glen 
In  peace ;  but  when  I  come  again, 
I  come  with  banner,  brand,  and  bow, 
As  leader  seeks  his  mortal  foe." 

Much  has  been  said  upon  the  subject  of  non-intervention  and 


680 

squatter  sovereignty,  as  it  is  termed,  and  there  has  been  much 
more  said  upon  them  than  has  been  understood  by  those  who 
have  said  it.  And  it  would  be  well  for  the  political  magpies, 
who  chatter  so  flippantly  upon  the  subject,  to  learn  their  lesson 
before  they  prate  it.  The  two  principles  have  been  strangely 
and  unpardonably  confounded ;  but  I  will  state  the  true  defini- 
nitionofeach  separately.  Non-intervention  means  that  there 
should  be  no  intervention  to  extend  or  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
Territories  ;  but  that,  while  Territories,  the  people  of  the  States 
and  the  Territories  should  be  left  to  enjoy  just  such  rights  as 
to  carrying  their  slaves  with  them  when  removing  into  the 
Territories,  or  their  exclusion  therefrom,  as  it  should  be  held 
by  the  courts  belonged  to  them  under  the  Constitution. 
Squatter  sovereignty  claims  the  sovereign  right  of  the  people  of 
a  Territory  to  exclude  the  introduction  of  slavery  from  the 
Territory  by  hostile  Territorial  legislation,  regardless  of  the 
construction  given  to  the  Constitution  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  Before  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  this  was  an 
open  question  ;  since  that  decision  it  is  so  no  longer.  The  dif 
ference  is  plainly  this  : — non-intervention  by  Congress  and  pop 
ular  sovereignty,  propose  such  Territorial  legislation  as  should 
be  in  deference  and  subject  to,  and  in  harmony  with  the  decis 
ions  of  the  Supreme  Court  upon  the  great  question  touching 
the  right  of  the  citizen  under  the  Constitution.  Squatter 
sovereignty  asserts  the  authority  of  the  Territorial  Legislature 
to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territory  by  law,  absolutely,  re 
gardless  of  the  construction  given  to  the  Constitution  by  the 
Court. 

It  has  been  often  said,  with  truth,  that  I  was  the  first  to 
introduce  the  principle  of  non-intervention  and  popular  sover 
eignty  into  Congress  for  the  government  of  the  Territories  ; 
and  when  the  doctrine  has  been  regarded  with  disfavor  it  has 
been  assigned  to  me,  but  when  it  has  been  greeted  with  popu 
lar  applause  it  has  had  numerous  claimants.  It  has  sometimes 
been  said,  but  erroneously,  that  I  was  an  advocate,  if  not  the 
author,  of  the  doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty.  I  was  and  am 
an  advocate  of  non-intervention  and  popular  soA'ereignty — 
that  is,  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  legislate,  in  harmony  with 
the  Constitution,  for  their  domestic  government.  I  never  was 
an  advocate  for  or  a  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  squatter  sover- 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  EATTFICATIOtf  MEETING.  681 

eignty,  and  hold  it  to  be  an  out-and-out  absurdity,  for  it 
makes  the  laws  of  a  Territorial  Legislature  to  override  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  resolutions  which  I 
introduced  in  1847,  proposing  non-intervention  in  the  Territo 
ries,  and  suggesting  the  principle  of  popular  sovereignty,  pro 
posed,  as  shown  by  the  speech  which  followed  their  introduc 
tion,  that  the  Territorial  legislation  should  keep  in  view  such 
construction  as  should  be  given  to  the  Constitution  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  move  in  harmony  with  it.  In  1848  Mr. 
Calhoun,  myself,  and  others,  were  upon  the  committee  charged 
with  a  bill  known  as  the  Clayton  Compromise.  I  proposed, 
and  Mr.  Calhoun  assented,  that  the  bill  should  be  framed  upon 
the  principle  of  non-intervention,  and  it  was  so  framed,  and  so 
passed  the  Senate,  but  it  was,  near  the  close  of  the  session, 
laid  on  the  table  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  only 
difference  between  Mr.  Calhoun  and  myself  upon  the  subject 
was  this :  he  proposed  that  the  bill  should  recognize,  in  declar 
atory  form,  the  right  of  the  citizens  of  all  the  States  to  go  to 
the  common  Territories  with  their  property — slave  property 
included — and  there  be  protected.  I  proposed,  as  it  was  an 
unsettled  question  and  strictly  belonged  to  the  judiciary,  to 
leave  it  to  be  decided  by  the  courts,  to  which  he  assented,  re 
marking  that  the  South  had  such  entire  confidence  in  their 
position  that  they  were  willing  to  stand  upon  non-interven 
tion,  and  await  a  judicial  construction  of  the  Constitution  as 
.affecting  their  rights  in  the  Territories.  The  compromise  meas 
ures  of  1850  were  based  upon  the  same  non-intervention  idea, 
and  in  my  advocacy  of  them  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  I  declared  that  it  was  not  my  intention,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  favor,  by  voice  or  vote,  the  extension  of 
slavery  or  the  restriction  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  by  Con 
gress,  or  any  interference  with  the  subject  Avhatever,  but  to 
leave  the  people  of  the  Territories  and  of  the  States  to  such 
rights  and  privileges  as  are  theirs  under  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  without  addition  to  or  diminution 
from  such  rights  by  the  action  of  Congress.  The  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  Bill,  except  in  its  disturbance  of  the  Missouri  line, 
contained  no  new  principle  whatever,  but  copied  the  same 
non-intervention  principle  which  had  been  recognized  by  Con 
gress,  and  awaited  the  judicial  construction  of  the  Constitution. 


After  the  passage  of  all  these  measures  came  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
pronounced  after  unusual  labor  and  deliberation,  construing 
the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  citizens  of  States  in  the 
Territories  as  Mr.  Calhoun  and  other  Southern  statesmen  had 
contended,  and  thus  settling  the  question  for  all  those  who 
propose  to  abide  by  the  Constitution  and  laws.  The  sub 
stance  of  the  decision  was  this  : 

"  The  territory  thus  acquired  is  acquired  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  for  their  common  and  equal  benefit,  through  their  agent  and 
trustee,  the  Federal  government.  Congress  can  exercise  no  power 
over  the  rights  of  persons  or  property  of  a  citizen  in  the  Territory, 
which  is  prohibited  by  the  Constitution.  The  government  and  the  citi 
zens,  whenever  the  Territory  is  opened  to  settlement,  both  enter  it 
with  their  respective  rights  denned  and  limited  by  the  Constitution. 
Congress  has  no  right  to  prohibit  the  citizen  of  any  particular  State  or 
States  taking  np  their  home  there,  while  it  permits  citizens  of  other 
States  to  do  so.  Nor  has  it  a  right  to  give  privileges  to  one  class  of  cit 
izens  which  it  refuses  to  another.  The  Territory  is  acquired  for  their 
equal  and  common  benefit,  and  if  open  to  any  it  must  be  open  to  all, 
upon  equal  and  the  same  terms. 

Every  citizen  has  a  right  to  take  with  him  into  the  Territory  any  ar 
ticle  of  property  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  recog 
nizes  as  property.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  recognizes 
slaves  as  property,  and  pledges  the  Federal  government  to  protect  it, 
and  Congress  cannot  exercise  any  more  authority  over  property  of  that 
description  than  it  may  constitutionally  exercise  over  property  of  any 
other  kind.  The  act  of  Congress,  therefore,  prohibiting  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  from  taking  with  him  slaves  when  he  removes  to  the 
Territory  in  question  to  reside,  is  an  exercise  of  authority  over  private 
property  which  is  not  warranted  by  the  Constitution,  and  the  removal 
of  the  plaintiff  by  his  owner  to  that  Territory  gave  him  no  title  to 
freedom." 

Kowifall  had  acquiesced  in  this  decision  like  good  citi 
zens,  had  yielded  assent  and  obedience  to  its  authentic  con 
struction  of  the  fundamental  law  by  the  highest  tribunal,  the 
question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  would  have  been  at  rest, 
and  the  Democratic  party  would  have  been  on  its  way  rejoic 
ing.  But  every  kind  of  means  was  resorted  to  to  evade  it. 
Rampant  Abolitionism,'  more  manly  than  its  accomplices  in 
mischief,  openly  denounced  and  defied  it— as  it  is  wont  to  do 


I860].  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION   MEETING.  683 

all  legal  obstacles  to  the  consummation  of  its  own  distempered 
idea;  demagogueism  inflated  itself;  fanaticism  foamed  and 
raged ;  trimming  cowardice  shrunk  around  it  and  insisted  that 
the  question  was  not  decided;  and  all  these  combined  to 
gether  sought  to  deny  the  citizens  of  the  slave  States  the  ben 
efits  of  the  decision  either  in  theory  or  practice.  I  repeat,  the 
South  were  satisfied  with  non-intervention,  awaiting  in  good 
faith  the  decision  of  the  courts  before  this  adjudication ;  since 
the  decision  they  would  have  been  satisfied  with  non-interven 
tion,  and  the  acknowledgment  and  practical  execution  of  it 
according  to  its  fair  and  equitable  spirit. 

The  South  did  not  object  to  Mr.  Douglas  because  of  his 
principles  of  non-intervention,  nor  because  of  his  doctrines  of 
popular  sovereignty  in  the  Territories,  as  is  so  often  and  so 
pompously  alleged ;  but  their  opposition  to  him  arose,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  unfortunate  controversy  with  the  Administra 
tion,  from  his  advocacy  of  what  they  regard  as  a  most  rank 
and  mischievous  error,  the  squatter  sovereignty  heresy ;  con 
tending,  as  he  does,  as  we  have  already  seen,  notwithstanding 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  hold 
ing  that  all  citizens  with  their  property  are  to  be  admitted 
there  on  equal  terms,  slave  property  included,  that  a  Territori 
al  Legislature  may,  by  its  enacted  law,  exclude  slave  property 
from  the  Territory — thus  virtually  investing  a  Territorial 
Legislature  with  power  to  annul  this  provision  of  the  Consti 
tution  as  construed  by  the  highest  tribunal  known  to  the  law. 
These  are  the  articles  of  the  creed  proposed  by  Mr.  Douglas, 
to  which  the  South  object.  In  the  celebrated  campaign  de 
bate  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  previous  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in 
response  to  certain  questions  proposed  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr. 
Douglas  answered  as  follows  : — 

"  The  next  question  propounded  to  me  by  Mr.  Lincoln  is,  can  the 
people  of  a  Territory,  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the  wishes  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a 
State  Constitution  ?  I  answer  emphatically,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  has  heard 
me  answer  a  hundred  times  from  every  stump  in  Illinois,  that  in  my 
opinion  the  people  of  a  Territory  can  by  lawful  means  exclude  slavery 
from  their  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution.  Mr. 
Lincoln  knew  that  I  had  answered  that  question  over  and  over  again. 
He  heard  me  argue  the  Nebraska  bill  on  that  principle  all  over  the 


684:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

State  in  1854,  in  1855,  and  in  1856,  and  he  has  no  excuse  for  pretending 
to  be  in  doubt  as  to  my  position  on  that  question." 


After  the  Dred  Scott  decision  had  been  pronounce:!  and 
published,  Mr.  Douglas  stated  his  position  thus  : 

"  It  matters  not  what  way  the  Supreme  Court  may  hereafter  decide  as 
to  the  abstract  question  whether  slavery  may  or  may  not  go  into  a  Terri 
tory  under  the  Constitution,  the  people  have  the  lawful  means  to  intro 
duce  it  or  exclude  it  as  they  please,  for  slavery  cannot  exist  a  day  or  an 
hour  anywhere  unless  it  is  supported  by  local  police  regulations.  Those 
police  regulations  can  only  be  established  by  the  local  legislature  ;  and 
if  the  people  are  opposed  to  slavery,  they  will  elect  representatives  to 
that  body  who  will,  by  unfriendly  legislation,  effectually  prevent  the 
introduction  of  it  into  their  midst.  If,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  for  it, 
their  legislation  will  favor  its  extension.  Hence,  no  matter  what  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  may  l)e  on  that  abstract  question,  still  the 
right  of  the  people  to  maJke  a  slave  Territory  or  a  free  Territory  is  per 
fect  and  complete  under  the  Nebraska  bill.  I  hope  Mr.  Lincoln  deems 
my  answer  satisfactory  on  that  point." 


For  these  doctrines  the  Southern  States  refused  to  accept 
Mr.  Douglas  as  a  candidate  ;  but  whether  they  were  reasonable 
or  capricious  in  their  refusal  to  accept  and  support  him,  they 
had  taken  their  stand  deliberately  after  mature  consideration  ; 
their  avowal  was  before  the  country  and  was  well  understood ; 
and,  unless  he  had  some  pre-emptive  right  to  the  nomination, 
which  is  not  conceded,  they  had  a  right  to  set  him  aside  as  a 
mere  matter  of  choice,  without  any  reason  whatever.  These 
States  held  one  hundred  and  twenty  electoral  votes,  sure  for 
the  Democracy  with  an  acceptable  candidate ;  while  every 
other  State,  except  those  on  the  Pacific,  were  counted  against 
us  or  doubtful ;  and  yet  managers  of  the  minority  and  doubt 
ful  States,  by  artifice  and  combination,  sought  through 
the  strangely  protracted  sessions  of  the  conventions  held  at 
Charleston  and  Baltimore  to  force  this  one  candidate  upon  the 
Southern  States ;  and  in  this  persistent  and  insane  effort  first 
dismembered  and  then  adjourned  the  Convention  at  Charles 
ton,  and  finally  divided  and  broke  it  up  at  Baltimore.  It  was 
of  all  others  an  occasion  when  all  mere  personal  preferences 
should  have  been  forgotten  and  surrendered  for  the  public 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION  MEETING.  685 

good ;  but  with  them,  it  was  Douglas  or  nothing,  and  hence 
the  result — the  convention  broken  up,  the  party  divided,  and 
all  for  a  candidate  wrho  cannot  probably  get  a  single  electoral 
vote.  The  Democratic  party,  under  such  rule,  is  like  the  ser 
pent  in  the  fable,  which  gave  up  the  lead  for  a  time  to  the  tail 
instead  of  the  head,  to  prevent  its  clamor ;  and,  in  attempting 
to  go  tail  foremost,  stuck  fast  and  thus  remained,  the  tail  re 
fusing  to  give  up  the  right  to  act  as  head.  And  thus  will  the 
Democratic  party  remain,  until  it  sheds  its  tapering  extremity, 
which  insists  on  being  honored  with  command. 

For  the  purpose  of  turning  attention  from  the  weakness 
and  absurdity  of  their  own  position,  and  their  responsibility 
lor  the  mad  and  selfish  prostration  of  the  Democratic  party ; 
to  alarm  the  fears  of  the  timid,  shake  the  knees  of  the  weak, 
and  minister  to  the  morbid  cravings  of  a  lingering  and  dor 
mant  abolitionism ;  they  proclaim  that  the  National  Demo 
cracy  are  the  advocates  of  a  slave  code  for  the  Territories. 
This  ideal  bantling  was  begotten  by  design  upon  ignorance, 
and  is  supported  by  empty  noise  and  brazen  clamor.  The 
platform  asked  for  and  insisted  upon  by  Southern  States  was 
just  what  the  Constitution  entitles  them  to,  as  construed  by 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  nothing  more.  It  is  the  same  non 
intervention  which  every  true  Democrat  has  advocated,  and 
gives  effect  to  the  decision  of  the  Court,  and  that  is  all.  Let 
every  Democrat  read  it  with  unclouded  vision,  and  not  through 
the  smoked  glass  of  incipient  abolitionism ;  let  him  analyze  it 
carefully,  and  then  tell  us  in  what  section,  or  sentence,  or  syl 
lable,  this  terrific  slave  code  reposes ;  and  when  read  and 
weighed  and  understood,  let  any  one  who  cannot  subscribe  to 
the  great  principles  of  personal  and  State  equality  there  enun 
ciated,  as  established  and  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  and 
authorized  and  vindicated  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  remember  that  he  has  taken  the  first  lesson  in  aboli 
tion  Republicanism,  and  is  already  on  his  way  to  that  organi 
zation  in  his  sympathy  with  a  sectional  bigoted  creed  and  a 
narrow  political  belief. 

But  when  all  other  expedients  fail,  we  are  reminded  that 
the  nomination  of  Douglas  and  Johnson  is  entitled  to  support 
for  its  regularity  /  and  I  have  observed  that  several  gentlemen 
who  were  regular  members  of  the  speckled  Buffalo  convention 


686  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

of  1848  are  most  emphatic  in  swearing  allegiance  to  regular 
ity.  The  Convention  which  made  this  nomination  had  no  sign, 
show,  nor  shadow  of  regularity.  The  delegated  Convention 
at  Charleston  had  no  power  to  adjourn  to  Baltimore,  a  distance 
of  hundreds  of  miles,  in  another  State,  and  nearly  two  months 
after  the  time  appointed.  No  such  thing  was  ever  contem 
plated  ;  no  such  power  or  discretion  was  delegated  even  by  the 
most  far-fetched  implications.  A  good  nomination  at  Balti 
more  would  have  been  entitled  to  support,  but  not  on  the  score 
of  regularity,  for  it  had  not  even  the  semblance  of  it.  The 
regular  delegations  for  a  large  number  of  States  were  rejected, 
and  bogus  contestants,  some  of  them  without  a  pretence  of 
regularity  or  delegated  authority,  were  admitted  in  their 
places  ;  while  regular  delegations  from  numerous  other  States, 
because  of  this  outrage,  withdrew,  and  this  pretended  regular 
Convention  was  a  mere  fraction  of  one,  partly,  but  not  wholly, 
filled  up  with  unauthorized  persons  from  the  outside.  It  act 
ed  in  violation  of  the  uniform  rule  of  Democratic  National 
Conventions,  which  it  had  itself  adopted,  requiring  two  thirds 
to  nominate,  and  then  disregarded  it  in  making  the  nomina 
tions  ;  for  at  no  time,  spurious  delegates  included,  did  the  vote 
reach  near  a  two  thirds  vote.  Its  nominee  for  Vice-President 
was  Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  who  declined  to  accept  such  a  nomina 
tion  ;  and  the  regularity  of  Mr.  Johnson,  who  now  runs  as 
Vice-President  with  Mr.  Douglas,  consists  in  the  request  of 
some  half  dozen  individuals,  after  the  adjournment,  that  he 
would  run — in  which  request,  it  seems,  he  cordially  united. 
The  regular  president  of  the  Convention,  General  Gushing, 
left  the  chair  and  went  away,  and  presided  over  the  Conven 
tion  which  nominated  Breckinridge  and  Lane ;  so  that  the 
regularity  of  the  nomination  of  Douglas  and  Johnson  may  be 
summed  up  in  this : — that  Mr.  Johnson  was  not  and  has  not  yet 
been  nominated  by  any  convention ;  that  Mr.  Douglas  was 
nominated  by  an  irregular,  fractional,  broken-up  convention, 
without  a  head,  without  a  democratic  body,  but  a  mere  skele 
ton,  half  soft,  half  Republican  State  delegations,  and  a  bogus 
tail.  No  one  pretends  that  the  nominations  of  Breckinridge 
and  Lane  have  the  authority  of  a  regular  National  Convention, 
according  to  the  usages  of  the  party ;  but  they  are  much  more 
regular  than  the  other.  This  Convention  had  a  head  in  the 


I860.]  DEMOCRATIC  RATIFICATION  MEETING.  687 

president  of  the  whole  Convention.  It  had  a  Democratic  body 
in  the  regular  delegations  from  all  the  sure  Democratic  States 
— a  majority  of  the  States  of  the  Union ;  it  had  no  spurious 
extremity,  and  it  had  a  platform  of  manly  principles  upon  which 
every  true  Democrat  of  the  whole  Union  can  stand  together. 

The  question  recurs,  what  shall  we  do  ?  Do  !  Why,  stand 
resolutely  by  principle,  and  let  the  storm  rage  on ;  there  is  sun 
shine  beyond  the  clouds.  Shun  all  entangling  alliances  of  every 
name  and  kind.  The  readiest,  surest,  speediest,  most  honora- 
able  way  to  success  is  to  repudiate  all  fusions,  all  factions,  all 
patchwork,  all  devices,  all  expedients,  all  attempts  to  mend  the 
break,  as  old  ladies  mend  broken  crockery  with  Spaulding's 
prepared  glue — all  efforts  to  be  upon  both  sides — and  stand  by 
our  candidates  and  our  creed.  We  shall  then  commence  to 
deserve  success  ;  and  if  we  persevere  in  the  path  of  Constitu 
tional  rectitude,  we  shall  preserve  our  self-respect,  command 
the  respect  of  others,  and  our  efforts  will  be  crowned  with  tri 
umph  for  our  party  and  our  principles,  the  good  influences  of 
which  will  last  when  party  managers  and  tricksters  and  their 
vile  schemes  are  forgotten,  or  remembered  only  to  be  hated  and 
execrated. 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED    ON   THE   OCCASION   OF    A    SERENADE,    AT   THE   KIRK- 
WOOD  HOUSE,  WASHINGTON  CITY,  August  1,  1860. 

[On  a  casual  visit  to  the  National  Capital  in  the  summer  of  1860, 
Mr.  Dickinson  met  a  most  cordial  and  enthusiastic  reception,  and  among 
other  demonstrations  was  tendered  the  compliment  of  a  serenade  at  his 
Hotel  by  the  Democracy  of  the  District.  He  was  introduced  to  the  as 
semblage  by  Gov.  Stevens  of  Washington  Territory,  Chairman  of  the 
National  Democratic  Committee,  who,  in  the  great  and  deadly  struggle 
which  followed,  sealed  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  with  his 
life,  on  the  ill-starred  plains  of  Manassas. 

Gov.  STEVENS  :  Fellow-citizens  of  the  City  of  "Washington,  this  is  a 
most  important  occasion  ;  an  important  crisis  in  the  history  of  our  coun 
try.  At  this  time  I  have  a  most  agreeable  duty  to  perform.  On  the 
18th  of  July  we  heard  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  from  the  city  of  New 
York ;  that  sound  reached  the  remotest  limits  of  this  broad  Confederacy ; 
a  sound  so  pure,  so  clear,  reaching  to  the  skies,  extending  in  every  di 
rection,  that  aroused  the  heart  of  every  citizen  of  our  land.  But  the 
voice  which  came  to  you  through  the  press  on  the  telegraph  you  have 
here  to-night.  That  voice  has  been  heard  in  this  city  before,  in  your 
Congressional  halls.  It  has  been  a  voice  always  standing  on  the  immu 
table  and  invincible  right.  It  has  been  a  voice  which  in  every  political 
crisis  in  our  country's  history  has  stood  by  the  equal  rights  of  the  sove 
reign  States  of  the  Union  !  Without  detaining  you  any  longer  from  the 
great  treat  that  is  before  you,  I  now  introduce  to  you  that  veteran,  that 
clear-headed  Democrat,  that  whole-souled,  that  warm-hearted  patriot, 
Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  of  New  York.] 

IT  is  always  gratifying  and  pleasant,  my  fellow-citizens,  to 
be  thus  greeted  and  thus  remembered  personally ;  to  be  thus 
remembered  for  services  to  the  country,  or  to  the  great  Demo 
cratic  party  of  the  nation ;  to  be  thus  greeted  with  soul-stirring 
music  ;  to  be  thus  introduced  by  complimentary  eloquence,  by 
so  distinguished  a  gentleman  as  he  who  has  addressed  you,  to 


AUG.  1,    I860.]       COMPLIMENTARY     SERENADE.  689 

so  numerous  and  respectable  an  auditory  as  the  present.  The 
only  return  I  can  make  you,  my  fellow-citizens — the  only  return 
I  can  make  to  the  committee  and  its  organ,  is  the  tribute  of  a 
grateful  heart ;  and  that  is  freely  tendered. 

The  lines  of  the  American  people,  my  friends,  have  been 
cast  in  pleasant  places.  Heaven's  warm  and  golden  sunshine 
bathes  all  God's  children  within  the  vast  area  of  this  Republic. 
The  tree  of  liberty,  planted  by  the  fathers  of  the  Revolution, 
though  but  a  slender  shoot,  watered  by  the  tears  of  its  daugh 
ters  and  nurtured  by  the  blood  of  its  sons,  has,  under  the  fos 
tering  care  of  the  democratic  party  of  the  nation,  grown  to  be 
great  and  mighty.  Its  roots  have  sunk  deep  into  the  fertile 
earth ;  its  vast  trunk  stretches  upward  to  the  very  heavens, 
and  its  mighty  branches  reach  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the 
North,  down  to  where  they  are  fanned  by  the  tropical  breezes 
of  the  South  ;  to  the  broad  Atlantic,  and  across  to  the  far  off 
Pacific.  It  invites  not  only  the  children  of  America,  but  the 
children  of  liberty  everywhere,  the  down-trodden  and  oppressed 
of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  to  come  and  sit  down  under  the 
shadow  of  its  protecting  branches  and  subsist  upon  its  fruits.. 
And  throughout  this  vast  country,  with  its  fertile  soil,  its  grand 
mountains,  its  pleasant  vales,  its  heaving  oceans,  its  winding 
rivers  and  its  murmuring  streamlets,  under  such  institutions  as 
the  sun  never  shone  upon  before,  every  interest  is  protected, 
every  industry  rewarded,  and  the  great  and  sacred  principle 
of  equality  crowns  the  moral  beauty  of  the  whole. 

But  in  all  this  prosperity,  amidst  all  these  benefits,  under 
all  these  mighty  blessings  that  are  vouchsafed  to  us,  one  canker 
gnaws  at  the  root  of  our  domestic  peace.  One  subject  alone, 
like  a  wild  and  fevered  dream,  disturbs  our  land,  and  causes 
consternation,  care,  anxiety,  and  deep  solicitude  for  our  politi 
cal  safety.  It  is  not,  my  fellow-citizens,  merely  that  one  of 
those  great  periodical  struggles  approaches  for  the  election  of  a 
Chief  Magistrate ;  for  amidst  all  the  stirring  conflicts  of  the 
times  (and  they  are  many),  we  have  an  Administration  that 
guides  the  ship  of  state  in  a  manner  that  gives  confidence  to 
the  American  people  that  it  will  be  brought  over  a  prosperous 
ocean  to  a  harbor  of  safety  and  peace. 

It  is  not,  my  fellow-citizens,  that  political  parties  are  in  the 
field  ;  for  that  has  been  before.     It  is  not  that  political  weap- 
44 


690  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

ons  are  burnished  for  this  contest  and  the  knights  are  entering 
the  lists ;  for  they  have  been  there  before.  The  great  demo 
cratic  party  of  the  country,  with  its  principles  of  progress,  is 
in  the  field;  and  it  has  been  there  before.  The  rich  fruits  of 
which  our  country  has  boasted  are  the  results  of  its  rule  and 
its  benign  policy.  Its  opponent,  too,  has  been  in  the  field  be 
fore.  The  old  Whig  party  has  nought  left  but  its  memories. 
I  will  not  discuss  the  party  ordinarily  called  the  American 
party,  because  I  do  not  regard  it  as  a  considerable  element  in 
the  great  and  stirring  controversy  of  the  times.  The  Republi 
can  party,  the  present  antagonist  of  the  democracy,  upon  its 
own  record  is  a  sectional  party;  for  it  comes  into  the  field  ig 
noring  fifteen  States  in  the  Union  and  their  institutions,  and 
manfully — manfully  I  say,  because  it  does  it  openly  and  boldly 
— places  both  its  candidates  within  the  Northern  or  free  States, 
and  enters  into  the  conflict  with  sectionalism  upon  its  banner. 
And  here,  with  all  its  errors,  with  all  its  wrong-doings,  with 
all  its  elements  of  mischief,  it  throws  off  its  concealment,  and 
stands  before  the  American  people  to-day  in  its  sin,  as  our  first 
parents  stood  before  Heaven  in  their  innocence,  naked  but  not 
ashamed !  The  democratic  party  to-day,  armed  with  the  pan 
oply  of  the  constitution,  with  the  sympathy  of  the  masses  of 
the  people,  could  literally  drive  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
It  conquered  it  before,  and  in  the  struggle  that  is  approaching, 
and  is  even  now  at  our  doors,  can  overcome  it  again.  It  has 
not  an  element  of  success.  It  has  appealed  to  sectionalism, 
and  passion,  and  prejudice ;  but  it  will  appeal  in  vain  to  the 
confidence  of  the  American  people.  Yet,  though  it  is  fraught, 
as  we  have  seen,  with  elements  of  evil,  there  are  other  elements 
of  evil  in  our  midst  to-day  that  threaten  us  far  more  than  the 
republican  party.  Its  disguises  have  been  stripped  off.  It 
stands  forth  avowed  in  its  purposes,  and  therefore  it  is  robbed 
of  nine  tenths  of  its  power  to  harm.  It  is  the  division  of  the 
great  democratic  party  that  endangers  our  success  and  jeopar 
dizes  the  safety  of  the  country.  This  is  the  absorbing  question 
of  the  day  and  of  the  times,  and  that  to  which  we  must  practi 
cally  Address  ourselves. 

The  Democratic  party  is  in  the  field  with  Breckinridge  and 
Lane  as  its  standard-bearers  in  this  contest.  They  are  names 
that  are  no  strangers  to  the  country,  but  are  inscribed  on  its 


AUG.  1,  I860.]   COMPLIMENTARY  SERENADE.  691 

highest  page  ;  that  are  no  strangers  in  the  public  councils,  but 
have  honorable  place  in  the  records  of  Congress  and  of  their 
respective  States ;  no  strangers  on  the  field  of  battle,  but  in 
trepid  soldiers  who  answered  and  honored  the  country's  call  to 
arms,  by  bravely  battling  for  its  rights  on  a  foreign  soil ;  no 
strangers  to  the  Democratic  party,  in  whose  ranks  they  have 
done  honorable  service,  and  now  bear  aloft  the  banner  under 
which  the  Democracy  are  going  to  fight  this  battle  of  the  Con 
stitution.  But  the  chief  impediment  to  our  success  is  division 
in  our  ranks,  under  pretence  of  another  nomination  called  Dem 
ocratic — a  nomination  based  upon  the  idea  of  Sherwood 
Forest : 

"  For  why  ?  because  the  good  old  rule 

Sufficeth  them,  the  simple  plan, 
That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power 
And  they  should  keep  who  can." 

I  have  nothing  to  say,  at  present,  of  the  candidates  which 
faction  has  put  in  the  field  against  us,  for  these  are  questions 
which  reach  lower,  rise  higher,  and  spread  out  in  extent  clear 
beyond  personal  considerations.  They  go  beyond  mere  men, 
and  have  nothing  to  do  with  them  as  such.  Questions  of  or 
ganization  ;  movements  of  political  bodies ;  principles,  that 
underlie  and  form  the  foundation  of  ail  these,  are  fit  subjects 
for  discussion,  and  I  will  treat  of  them  and  lay  individuals  out 
of  the  question.  Xor  do  I  dwell  upon  the  technicalities  of 
regularity  of  convention  or  delegates ;  I  start  with  this  broad 
proposition,  that  the  party — the  division,  or  faction,  rather,  op 
posed  to  us — is  as  sectional  to-day  as  the  Republican  party,  and 
ten  times  more  mischievous.  You  need  not  tell  me  that  it  is  not 
sectional  because  it  has  a  small  support  here  and  there  in  the 
Southern  portion  of  the  Union.  It  was  conceived  in  section 
alism,  brought  forth  in  sectionalism,  and  it  has  all  the  mischiev 
ous  elements  of  sectionalism  around  and  about  it.  What  was 
it  that  disrupted  the  Charleston  Convention  ?  An  effort  to  force 
upon  a  portion  of  the  States  a  candidate  whom  they  would  not 
accept.  What  was  it  that  finally  dismembered  the  Baltimore 
Convention  ?  It  was  precisely  the  same  issue ;  and  then  we 
find  both  Conventions  unequal  to  the  task  of  nominating  a 
Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  in  this  time  of  extra- 


692  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

ordinary  interest  and  extraordinary  peril,  according  to  the 
regular  course  and  usage  of  the  party,  because  a  nominal 
majority  held  the  rule  of  the  Convention  in  its  hands,  and  was 
determined  to  force  a  candidate  upon  it  who  was  unacceptable 
to  a  portion  of  the  States — even  to  a  majority  of  the  States  of 
the  Union.  I  insist  that  it  is  essentially  sectional ;  that  all  the 
mischiefs  and  objections  of  a  sectional  candidate,  under  what 
ever  name  it  may  be  called  or  pretended,  attach  to  its  nomina 
tion.  I  care  nothing  either  for  its  particular  platform,  real  or 
pretended,  original  or  amended.  It  is  an  organization  formed 
and  supported  by  a  portion  of  the  States  against  another  por 
tion,  when  numerous  considerations,  at  this  time  of  all  other 
times,  suggested  that  no  such  sectional  issue  should  be  pressed 
upon  the  National  Convention  or  the  country.  I  admit  that  a 
great  many  of  the  elements  enter  into  this  that  have  entered 
into  other  struggles,  and  that  many  who  participate  in  it  do 
not  believe  it  is  intended  for  a  sectional  movement ;  but  it  has 
one  element  in  it  that,  if  it  has  been  discovered,  has  not  been  as 
fully  exposed  as  it  deserves  to  be,  and  which  is  the  great  and 
controlling  consideration  in  this  opposition  to  the  Democratic 
party.  And  it  is  this  : — laying  aside  all  other  elements,  worthy 
or  unworthy,  that  enter  into  this  campaign  upon  the  part  of  this 
organization,  it  clearly  has  a  secret  motive  power  that  propels 
this  terrible  train  of  evils  that  threaten  the  Democratic  party 
and  the  country.  Has  not  every  observing  and  reflecting  man 
been  surprised  that  a  section  of  the  party  should  have  spent 
nearly  two  weeks  at  Charleston  in  the  effort  to  press  upon  the 
Convention  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  that  was  unaccept 
able  to  those  States  that  must  be  relied  on  to  give  Democratic 
votes  ?  Has  not  every  reflecting  and  observing  man  been  sur 
prised  that  when  they  came  to  Baltimore,  after  returning  to 
their  constituencies,  all  this  effort  should  have  been  renewed 
with  re-doubled  power  and  virulence  ? 

There  are  those  who  have  belonged  to  the  Democratic  party 
who  would  rather  reign  in  hell  than  serve  in  Heaven.  They 
have  seen  four  hundred  millions  of  spoils,  and  have  hungered 
and  thirsted  for  them  like  famished  wolves.  Some  of  them  are 
lacking  principle,  wanting  power  and  wanting  bread  ;  and  they 
determined,  if  possible,  to  take  possession  of  the  treasury  of  the 
country  ;  and  how  are  they  to  do  that  ?  They  are  unwilling  to 


AUG.  1,  I860.]         COMPLIMENTARY     SERENADE.  693 

serve  under  a  Seward,  a  Hale,  a  Sumner,  and  ,a  Giddings ;  but 
have  conceived,  or  renewed,  rather,  the  idea  of  a  great  Northern 
party  to  be  controlled  by  what  they  called  Democratic  in 
fluences,  and  are  reviving  the  efforts  of  1848  to  raise  up  a  party 
that  shall  be  able  to  control  the  destiny  of  this  nation  by  con 
trolling  the  electoral  votes  of  the  free  States  ; — a  party  that  can 
ride  rough-shod,  if  need  be,  over  Southern  States  and  over  the 
Constitution  alike.  Let  the  Southern  States  bestir  themselves. 
Let  them  see  the  meaning  of  this  effort.  Let  them  see  the  hid 
den  springs  that  have  put  in  motion  all  this  destructive  ma 
chinery.  Let  no  one  lay  the  flattering  unction  to  his  soul  that 
this  is  a  mere  effort  at  the  election  of  an  individual.  They  will 
see  that  they  cannot  hope  to  elect  the  individual  that  they  have 
named ;  that  he  cannot  probably  get  a  single  electoral  vote ; 
but  they  are  laying  the  foundations  of  a  sectional  party  to  be 
controlled  by  themselves,  that  is  to  absorb  the  Republican  party 
and  rule  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North ;  and  when  their 
plans  shall  attain  so  much  of  success,  they  will  control  the  des 
tinies  of  the  nation,  and  seize  upon  this  mighty  spoil.  The  prize 
in  view  has  tempted  them  to  this  atrocious  act ;  and,  hungering 
and  thirsting  as  they  are — lacking  principles  as  they  do — it  is 
not  surprising  that  they  have  made  the  effort.  The  angels  fell 
from  Heaven  with  comparatively  less  temptation. 

Now,  so  long  as  the  Southern  people  are  true  to  themselves 
in  this  matter,  they  need  have  no  fear ;  they  will  find  noble 
hearts,  willing  spirits,  and  strong  arms  in  the  North,  in  the  free 
States,  that  will  stand  by  the  Constitution  for  them,  as  long  as 
they  will  stand  by  themselves.  This  good  ship  of  state  will 
never  be  surrendered  until  the  Southern  States  mutiny ;  until 
they  shall  forsake  it  themselves.  But  when,  if  ever,  this  gov 
ernment  goes  down  ;  when,  if  ever,  this  mighty  fabric  shall  be 
dissolved  ;  when,  if  ever — and  God  grant  that  it  may  never  be, 
for  "procul,  0  procul,  esteprofani!" — but  if  it  shall  be,  may 
the  South  not  see,  when  prostrated  and  bleeding — as  in  the  case 
of  the  noble  bird, — their  own  feather 

" on  the  fatal  dart 

That  winged  the  shaft  that  quivered  in  her  heart !  " 

May  no  States  at  the  South,  may  no  organization  at  the 


694 

South,  may  no  individuals  at  the  South,  who  have  the  good  of 
the  country  and  the  integrity  of  the  Constitution  at  heart,  aid 
on  this  movement,  supposing  that  it  means  nothing  but  the 
election  of  individuals.  I  raise  my  warning  voice  to-night,  and 
tell  you  that  it  has  a  far  deeper  import.  What  does  it  mean, 
this  desperate  effort,  urged  on  by  some  unknown  cause,  if  it  is 
riot  intended  to  lay  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  a  great 
Northern  sectional  party,  to  rule  the  destinies  of  this  country  ? 
I  know  full  well  what  it  means,  and  I  intend  to  battle  against  it 
with,  if  necessary,  the  last  effort  of  my  life.  When  I  raised  my 
voice  in  this  sectional  issue  in  1847,  in  yonder  Capitol,  I  en 
listed  for  the  war.  I  knew  then  the  terrible  controversy  of 
opinion  that  was  to  go  forward  in  this  country;  and  if  I  had 
believed  that  I  could  ever  be  tempted  to  retrace  my  steps,  like 
the  adventurer  Cortez,  I  would  have  destroyed  the  means  of 
retreat  behind  me ;  and,  survive  or  perish,  through  success  or 
defeat,  life  or  death,  I  intend  for  one  to  invoke  my  friends  to 
stand  up  to  the  integrity  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  whole 
Union — of  no  particular  section  of  the  Union,  but  for  the  in 
tegrity  of  the  whole,  and  preserve  this  great  legacy  that  has 
been  handed  down  to  us  by  our  fathers.  Of  what  avail  are  all 
the  struggles  of  parties ;  of  what  avail  are  all  the  spoils  of 
office ;  of  what  avail  are  all  the  rich  products  of  the  Treasury, 
if  we  throw  away  such  a  priceless  inheritance  as  has  been  given 
to  us  ?  And  of  what  avail  is  the  boasted  Democratic  party,  if 
it  degenerates  into  mere  sectionalism ;  if  it  ignores,  either  in 
theory  or  practice,  the  land  and  memory  of  the  Washingtons, 
the  Sumters,  the  Marions  of  the  Revolution ;  if  it  forgets  the 
Jeffersons,  the  Jacksons,  the  Madisons  and  Monroes  in  the  coun 
cils  of  the  nation  ?  We  may  as  well  be  a  sectional  Republican 
party  as  a  sectional  Democratic  party,  if  we  forget  our  nationality 
and  degenerate  into  sectionalism. 

The  Democratic  party  will  be  of  no  avail  when  it  surrenders 
up  its  great  principles.  It  has  maintained  its  hold  upon  the 
affections  and  confidence  of  the  masses  through  all  the  fluctua 
tions  of  the  past  by  the  integrity  of  its  principles,  by  the  catho 
licity  of  its  creed,  by  its  benign  doctrines  of  equality,  by  its 
following  the  advice  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  to  frown 
upon  all  efforts  to  kindle  sectional  jealousy  or  disturbance. 
Whenever  it  departs  from  that ;  when  it  submits  to  follow  am- 


DEC.,  I860.]  COMPLIMENTARY    SERENADE.  695 

bitious  leaders ;  when  it  degenerates  into  cliques  and  personal 
organizations,  and  undertakes  to  force  objectionable  candidates 
upon  a  portion  of  our  country  because  it  holds  the  power,  that 
moment  it  is  no  longer  worthy  of  the  name  of  Democracy.  The 
name  of  Democracy  then,  instead  of  rallying  the  mighty  masses 
of  the  country,  and  instead  of  stirring  up  generous  hearts  and 
interests,  causing  them  to  thrill  with  joy,  will  be  a  byword,  a 
reproach,  a  hissing,  and  a  shame.  It  is  significant  as  a  name, 
and  honorable  because  the  principles,  and  associations,  and 
memories  that  cluster  around  it  are  generous,  noble,  and  sug 
gestive  of  the  great  emancipation  of  the  masses  of  the  earth 
from  tyrannous  corporations  and  privileged  classes  ;  but  when 
ever  it  fails  to  assert  its  dignity  and  its  power,  and  to  regard 
alike  the  whole  country,  and  degenerates  into  sections  and 
cliques,  it  will  only  be  remembered  to  be  despised,  and  will  be 
ten  times  more  mischievous  than  the  Republican  party,  which 
we  war  against.  I  know  this  will  be  a  great  struggle.  I  know 
the  efforts  that  will  be  made  to  crush  those  who  interpose  in 
behalf  of  principle  in  this  crisis ;  but  I  say  to  them,  Go  on ! 
Maintain  the  right !  Here  is  a  great  battle  of  principle  to  •  be 
fought.  "  The  sunshine  patriot  and  the  summer  soldier  may 
shrink  from  the  crisis  in  a  time  like  this  ;  but  he  who  stands  up 
now  will  deserve  the  respect  and  receive  the  love  and  thanks  of 
every  man  and  woman." 


SPEECH 

DELIVERED    AT    A   UNION    MEETING    HELD  IN  PINE    STREET,  NEW 

YORK,  December,  1860. 

[The  meeting  at  which  this  speech  was  made  was  called  to  consider 
the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  Southern  portion  of  the  Union, 
and  was  composed  of  leading  and  influential  citizens  of  the  city  and 
State.  It  was  one  of  the  many  vain  attempts  made  at  that  stage  of  the 
national  crisis  to  devise  some  means  of  averting  the  impending  dis 
asters.] 

I  CAME  here,  Mr.  Chairman,  without  intending  to  take  part 
in  this  meeting,  because  invited  here ;  for,  although  I  have 
little  faith  in  anything  that  can  be  done  at  this  moment,  I 
would  not  stay  away  from  a  meeting  called  as  this  has  been, 
and  looking  to  such  great  and  beneficent  objects.  I  would 
not  stay  away  if  there  was  the  least  hope  that  anything  could 
be  accomplished.  I  have  nothing  new  to  say  upon  this  sub 
ject  ;  nothing  more  than  I  have  said  before,  through  a  long 
course  of  years.  I  have  seen  the  seed  planted  ;  I  have  seen 
the  sprout  shoot  up  in  rank,  luxuriant  growth  and  overshadow 
the  whole  land ;  and  it  has  finally  produced  its  crop  of  terri 
ble  and  poisonous  fruit.  We  are  upon  perilous  times,  and  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  every  patriot,  every  individual  who  loves 
his  country,  to  put  forth  every  energy  within  his  power  for 
the  purpose  of  averting  not  merely  the  danger  that  threatens, 
but  the  danger  that  is  upon  us. 

In  other  days  I  had  the  honor  to  be  associated  with  that 
somewhat  eccentric,  but  pure  and  elevated  statesman,  Cal- 
houn ;  he  has  gone  to  his  rest  and  his  reward ;  and  Henry 
Clay — who  looked  upon  this  Union  with  a  solicitude  scarcely 
less  anxious  than  that  the  Saviour  of  men  bestowed  upon  Je 
rusalem — he  is  not  here  now  to  take  part  in  the  affairs  of  the 
day ;  and  if  this  Union  is  to  be  dissolved,  as  I  religiously  fear, 


DEC.,  I860.]  UNION   MEETING.  697 

heaven,  in  mercy,  has  granted  the  prayer  of  the  immortal 
Webster,  that  when  his  eyes  last  beheld  the  sun  in  heaven,  it 
might  not  shine  upon  the  fragments  of  a  dissevered  Union. 
From  New  York,  and  from  most  of  the  Northern  States,  every 
individual  who  thought  as  I  did  in  former  times  of  peril  has 
retired  to  private  life,  and  their  names  have  been  supplied  and 
their  seats  filled  by  those  of  diametrically  opposite  opinions. 

"But  more  true  joy  Marcellus  exiled  feels, 
Than  Coasar,  with  the  Senate  at  his  heels." 


This  union  of  States  did  not  repose  at  other  times  and  does 
not  repose  to-day  solely  upon  paper  laws  and  paper  Constitu 
tions.  It  was  founded  in  mutual  friendship  and  regard  and 
common  interests,  and  these  fraternal  feelings  and  common 
motives  are  necessary  for  its  continuance.  They  form  its  life- 
principle,  and  when  they  cease  to  exist,  what  remains  is  but  a 
body  without  the  animating  spirit ;  a  shadow  without  the 
substance ;  a  delusion  and  a  mockery.  All  the  paper  laws  we 
have  ever  enacted  or  can  pass  in  the  future  ;  all  the  force  and 
strength  and  power  of  the  Constitution  ;  the  mandates  of  the 
National  Legislature  ;  the  adjudication  of  the  federal  courts ; 
the  authority  of  the  Executive,  with  the  assistance  of  the  army 
and  navy,  are  not  worth  a  single  rush  to  compel  a  State  to 
discharge  its  duties  and  fulfil  its  relations  faithfully  as  a  State 
of  the  Union  when  it  elects  to  do  otherwise.  The  federal 
government  has  no  power  over  a  State  as  such,  except  to  ad 
mit  it  to  the  Union.  If  it  refuses  to  send  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  to  Congress,  no  earthly  power  can  compel  it  to 
do  so.  Whatever  may  be  its  duty,  its  full  allegiance  as  a 
State  can  only  be  secured  to  the  federal  Constitution  because 
it  chooses  to  fulfil  its  obligations  to  the  federal  head  and 
the  sisterhood  of  States  according  to  the  requirements  of  the 
Constitution.  The  authority  which  the  federal  government 
may  exercise  over  States,  is  the  assertion  of  its  own  peculiar, 
and,  for  many  purposes,  paramount  jurisdiction  over  the  terri 
tory  and  people,  and  not  over  the  State  as  apolitical  organiza 
tion.  Should  a  State  resist  the  lawful  authority  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Union,  and  arm  its  people  or  any  portion  of 
them  against  it,  it  would  be  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty 


698 

of  the  government  to  take  armed  possession  of  its  territory, 
bring  to  condign  punishment  every  transgressor,  and  subju 
gate  every  disloyal  element.  To  this  extent  and  in  this  sense, 
upon  occasion  of  revolt  and  resistance,  the  territory  of  a  State 
might  be  seized  and  its  disloyal  people  punished  and  subju 
gated,  but  in  no  other ;  and  in  no  other  manner  can  a  State 
defying  the  federal  Constitution  be  punished.  But  what 
heart  does  not  revolt  at  such  a  prospect  and  such  a  remedy  ? 

The  act  to  which  my  friend  who  has  just  preceded  me  al 
luded,  which  was  called,  in  common  parlance,  the  nine  months 
law,  permitted  our  Southern  brethren  who  visited  the  State  of 
New  York  to  bring  with  them  their  servants  and  remain  for 
nine  months  without  the  relation  between  them  being  affected 
by  our  laws  on  the  subject,  applicable  to  our  own  citizens. 
By  an  exercise  of  State  comity  they  received,  for  this  limited 
time,  to  a  partial  extent,  the  same  protection  as  in  the  State 
from  whence  they  came.  In  1840  that  act  was  repealed.  I 
was  then  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  this  State,  and  although 
never  dreaming  that  I  should  be  upon  the  national  boards  of 
legislation — knowing  little  of  this  great  question  compared 
with  what  I  know  now — I  resisted  the  repeal  of  that  law  to 
the  best  of  my  ability  as  long  as  I  could  by  arguments,  and 
finally,  when  driven  to  the  wall,  my  blood  coursing  more  rap 
idly  then  than  now,  I  resisted  it  factiously,  and  kept  the  ma 
jority  waiting  nearly  a  whole  night.  I  received  the  rewards 
of  approbation  from  patriotic  men  for  my  exertions  on  the  one 
side,  and  my  full  basket  of  anonymous  letters  of  abuse  on 
the  other.  But  I  scorn  to  speak  of  my  personal  action.  I  be 
lieve  that  was  the  first  source  of  trouble  between  the  North 
and  South. 

It  is  not  an  amendment  of  the  constitution  that  is  wanted; 
the  laws  are  well  enough — the  federal  laws  and  constitution, 
but  it  is  their  execution  according  to  the  spirit  in  which  they 
were  enacted  that  is  called  for  and  demanded  on  the  part  of 
the  South.  They  insist  upon  the  great  principle  of  the  equality 
of  the  States,  and  in  that  they  are  right,  upon  every  considera 
tion  that  can  influence  men,  communities,  and  States.  The 
constitution  makes  them  equal — the  law  makes  them  equal — 
they  are  equal  in  the  sight  of  honest  men,  and  are  equals  in  the 
sight  of  God,  and  woe  be  to  him  who  undertakes  to  degrade 


DEC.,  I860.]  UNION   MEETING.  699 

and  trample  them  down.  They  see  and  feel  the  advancing  num 
bers  and  power  of  the  North ;  and  that  now  in  the  national 
Legislature  they  are  in  the  minority.  They  see  that  in  a  few 
years  there  will  be  a  majority  of  two-thirds  against  them,  not 
only  in  the  States,  but  of  representatives  of  both  branches  of 
Congress,  and  they  fear  that  the  sentiment  of  the  entire  free 
States  will  sweep  their  institutions  away.  And  hence  it  is  that 
they  take  alarm;  hence  it  is  determined  now,  while  they 
have  some  power  and  some  strength,  unless  they  can  have  ad 
ditional  guaranties  to  protect  and  sustain  them,  to  secede  from 
the  Union.  They  are  forewarned  and  intend  to  be  forearmed, 
and  unless  they  can  find  safety,  security,  equality,  and  repose  in 
the  Union,  they  intend  to  seek  it  outside,  whatever  fate  may 
await  them.  I  know  there  are  those  amongst  us  who  say  that 
the  South  do  not  intend  to  secede ;  they  say  this  is  an  unneces 
sary  alarm ;  that  they  can  be  coerced  and  driven  back  in  their 
position.  All  that  is  necessary  is  firmness.  But  the  South 
have  seen  for  years  these  little  rivulets  of  opposition  gathering 
from  the  hills  and  forcing  down  through  the  gorges,  until  they 
form  the  black  and  bitter  waters  of  one  great  sea  of  abolition, 
which  threatens  to  overwhelm  and  engulf  them. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  this  Union  was  formed  as  a 
union  of  good  feeling ;  a  fraternal  union  of  equals,  of  good- 
fellowship  ;  and  he  who  supposes  that  these  States  can  be  con 
tinued  in  the  bonds  of  union  by  coercion ;  that  they  can  be 
fought,  defeated,  and  subdued,  into  equal  and  faithful  members, 
should  go  home  to  his  domestic  hearth  and  there  breed  jeal 
ousies,  distrust,  and  animosity  between  himself  and  the  partner 
of  his  bosom  ;  she  who  pledged  herself  to  love,  honor,  and  obey 
him  ;  who  is  the  mother  of  his  children ;  who  has  attended  him 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  life  and  the  bereavements  which 
have  awaited  them ;  and  after  he  has  created  disturbance  and 
disagreement  there,  let  him  then  attempt  to  chastise  her  to 
make  her  love  and  honor  him  more.  And  when  he  has  succeed 
ed,  let  him  try  to  chastise  a  State  until  it  shall  become  a  more 
faithful  member  of  the  Union.  Will  the  children  of  a  common 
father,  who  sit  down  at  the  family  table  as  equals,  consent  to 
be  degraded  by  being  driven  under  a  system  of  domestic  ine 
quality  to  submission  ?  Let  those  who  believe  that  this  evil 
can  be  averted,  and  the  Union  preserved  by  force,  attempt  that 


TOO 

method  when  it  comes  to  that ;  but  let  all  good  men,  let  every 
patriot,  set  to  work  to  correct  the  public  sentiment  of  the 
North,  and  if  possible  save  the  country  from  the  terrible  inflic 
tion.  The  public  feeling  of  the  South  has  been  wrought  upon 
and  irritated,  until  it  has  arrived,  in  a  good  degree,  at  a  point 
of  desperation. 

The  South  cares  little  about  the  mere  election  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  ;  they  view  it  as  the  development  of  a  public  sentiment,  as 
a  last  and  final  sentiment  of  the  free  States.  They  look  at  us 
as  States,  not  as  individual  members  of  the  community,  as  we 
look  at  them,  as  States,  not  as  individual  members  of  society. 
They  regard  this  as  an  evidence  of  public  opinion  which  has 
passed  beyond  their  control,  and  they  say  now  there  is  no  hope 
for  them  within  the  Union  as  equals,  and  they  will  secede. 
What  we  should  convince  them  of  is,  that  we  will  not  only  re 
peal  our  obnoxious  laws  upon  paper,  but  that  we  will  repeal 
the  prevailing  public  sentiment  that  is  more  pernicious  than  all 
the  obnoxious  laws  of  New  England  and  all  the  free  States  to 
gether.  It  is  a  sentiment  that  has  been  infused  by  political 
demagogues  who  have  gone  through  the  land,  preaching  dcma- 
gogueism  and  sectionalism  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  and 
whether  in  the  character  of  a  political  demagogue  or  a  minis 
terial  one  I  care  very  little. 

Our  Southern  brothers  will  reason  with  us  when  we  reason 
with  them.  No  amount  of  finished  and  eloquent  addresses  will 
serve  in  this  emergency ;  no  finely  turned  periods  in  speech  ; 
no  resolutions,  however  patriotic  and  well  pointed  and  con 
sidered,  will  answer  the  occasion.  No  commission  of  individu 
als,  however  elevated,  patriotic,  and  pure  of  record,  will  be  of 
the  least  avail,  unless  the  Southern  people  are  satisfied  that 
they  represent  the  public  sentiment.  When  the  belief  of  the 
South  can  rest  on  the  sincerity  of  our  resolutions,  addresses, 
and  speeches,  as  representing  the  public  mind  of  the  North,  and 
not  till  then,  will  come  concord  and  unity.  I  have  little  faith 
in  anything  except  that  which  goes  towards  creating  or  devel 
oping  at  home  a  pure,  patriotic,  elevated  public  sentiment.  I 
have  little  faith  in  a  meeting  in  this  great  commercial  city,  or 
anything  it  can  do,  further  than  as  giving  evidence  of  a  public 
sentiment.  The  South  are  sure  of  the  fidelity  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  It  has  been  true  at  all  times  ;  it  has  never  swerved 


DEC.,  I860.]  UNION   MEETING.  701 

with  its  great  and  patriotic  majority.  But  the  South  have  seen 
that  the  vote  of  the  country  is  overwhelming,  and  renders  the 
city  powerless ;  so  far  as  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  public  senti 
ment  of  the  State  and  city,  it  will  have  its  influence,  and  no 
further.  But  we  should  go  further ;  we  should  repeal  the  ob 
noxious  laws  on  our  statute  book,  and  the  repeal  should  carry 
evidence  that  it  is  not  for  any  mere  temporary  purpose  ;  that 
it  is  not  because  our  pecuniary  interests  have  been  touched ; 
but  it  must  carry  evidence  that  it  is  a  reflection  of  the  return 
ing  public  sense ;  that  those  who  would  not  see  have  been  made 
to  feel,  and  that  the  returning  sense  and  reason  are  real  and 
will  be  permanent.  The  free  States  must  be  wrought  up  to  the 
consideration  of  a  great  public  duty. 

The  South  have  not  offended  us.  We  cannot  say  that  they 
have  ever  laid  a  finger  upon  us.  They  have  not  invaded  our 
domain.  They  have  not  interfered  with  any  interests  belonging 
to  us  as  sovereign  States.  But  they  read  in  our  newspapers 
that  their  slaves  have  been  run  off  in  numbers  by  an  under 
ground  railroad,  and  they  see  it  set  down  in  derision  that  one 
more  Southern  individual  has  been  robbed  of  his  property ;  one 
more  slave,  instead  of  having  been  returned  according  to  the 
compact  of  the  constitution,  has  been  run  off  into  the  provinces 
of  Canada,  and  insult  and  injury  returned  for  a  constitutional 
duty.  They  have  determined  to  bear  these  things  no  longer ; 
and  it  becomes  the  Northern  people  to  determine  whether  they 
will  permit  this  state  of  things  to  go  on,  or  whether  they  will 
make  one  last  grand  effort  to  see  whether  this  false  sentiment 
and  these  evil  practices  can  be  corrected.  You  cannot  send 
forth  a  stream  by  any  natural  process  higher  than  the  fountain. 
The  South  know  it.  They  have  no  faith  in  addresses  and  reso 
lutions  that  have  not  their  sources  in  the  feelings  of  the  masses 
of  the  people. 

It  is  useless  to  say  there  is  no  serious  trouble.  I  believe 
that  South  Carolina  will  secede,  so  far  as  the  movement  of  her 
convention  can  do  it,  on  the  17th  or  18th  of  this  month,  and 
events  must  transpire  shortly  after  which  will  bring  all  the  cot 
ton  States  in  association  with  her  ;  and  eventually  every  State, 
which  is  a  slave  State  and  intends  to  continue  such,  will  go  along 
together,  unless  the  danger  can  be  arrested.  This  is  as  certain 
as  the  law  of  gravity,  and  he  is  a  blind  man  and  madman  who 


702  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

cannot  see  it.  All  that  we  can  now  do  is  to  get  time  to  con 
vince  the  Southern  people  that  there  is  a  returning  sentiment 
of  fidelity  and  justice  in  the  Northern  States ;  that  the  honest 
masses  have  been  misled,  and  have  misunderstood  this  irritating 
question,  as  I  believe  they  have,  and  upon  proper  consideration 
will  go  back  to  their  duty  as  members  of  this  confederacy,  and 
will  welcome  back  our  Southern  brethren  to  the  great  family  of 
political,  social,  and  moral  equals.  Our  constitution  and  federal 
laws,  I  repeat,  are  well  enough.  Our  obnoxious  State  laws 
should  be  repealed,  and  in  their  place  a  public  sentiment  should 
be  set  up  and  borne  aloft,  as  the  great  lawgiver  of  olden  times 
set  up  the  brazen  serpent,  that  every  one  who  has  been  bitten 
by  Abolitionism  may  look  on  it  and  be  healed. 

I  will  close  as  I  began.  I  did  not  intend  to  take  part  in  this 
meeting.  I  have  no  particular  views  but  what  I  have  often 
repeated ;  and  my  hope  is,  that  by  this  respectable  meeting  a 
public  sentiment  may  be  inaugurated  ;  and  if  it  be  as  just,  con 
servative,  and  beneficial,  as  I  believe  it  to  be,  we  may  then 
properly  so  represent  it  to  our  Southern  brethren,  and  no  long 
er  be  misunderstood.  We  must  look  the  danger  fully  and 
squarely  in  the  face.  We  must  not  put  too  much  trust  in  meet 
ings,  in  Congress,  or  in  legislation ;  but  if  we  would  remain  an 
united  people,  we  must  treat  the  Southern  States  as  we  treated 
them  on  the  inauguration  of  the  government — as  political 
equals.  When  we  have  done  that,  we  shall  have  done  our 
whole  duty ;  and  perhaps  this  glorious  government  may  still  be 
maintained  and  go  forward  to  the  fruition  that  should  await  it. 


ADDEESS 


ON  TEMPERANCE;    THE  POLICY  OF  LICENSE  LAWS,  &c. 

DELIVERED  BEFOUE  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY,  AT  ITS  ANNUAL 
MEETING  AT  ALBANY,  February  8,  1843. 

FEW  subjects,  in  modern  times,  have  commanded  a  greater 
share  of  public  consideration  than  that  of  temperance.  Its 
benign  influences  have  been  inculcated  by  philanthropists 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  The  press  has  lent  its  giant 
power  to  disseminate  its  blessings,  and  the  ministers  of  reli 
gion  have  mingled  its  precepts  with  the  glad  tidings  of  the 
gospel,  in  proclaiming  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men. 

In  contrast,  the  evils  of  intemperance  have  been  most 
vividly  portrayed.  The  choicest  figures  of  rhetoric  and 
liveliest  images  of  poetry  have  been  invoked,  and  the  pencil's 
mimic  power  has,  with  startling  fidelity,  thrown  back  from  the 
canvas  its  hideous  and  loathsome  deformity.  But  the  pain 
ful  and  humiliating  reality  has  not  been  shown,  for  in  the 
history  of  intemperance,  as  in  that  of  romance,  "truth  is 
stranger  than  fiction."  It  has  been  so  often  established,  that 
the  misery,  pauperism,  and  crime,  which  burden  and  infest 
society  are  caused  by  intemperance,  that  to  repeat  it  would 
be  worse  than  gratuitous. 

The  salutary  truth,  that  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
human  system  by  stimulating  drinks  is  highly  deleterious,  and 
that  the  physical  and  moral  man  is  thereby  degraded,  is  most 
generally  conceded  by  all  rational  and  reflecting  men  ;  and 
yet  there  are  some  strongholds  of  this  scourge  of  the  human 
race  which  have  not  surrendered.  These  are  the  dram-shops 
authorized  by  our  excise  system,  and  wine-drinking  by  the 
wealthy  and  influential. 


704:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

The  history  of  the  last  few  years,  marked  as  it  has  been 
by  recklessness  and  profligacy — by  a  disregard  of  the  sober 
pursuits  of  industry,  and  an  apparent  determination  to  reverse 
the  divine  declaration,  that  man  should  eat  his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  face — exhibits  a  period  inauspicious  for  the  cause 
of  this  salutary  reformation.  The  fortunes,  fancied  and  real, 
which  have  been  wrecked ;  the  unparalleled  fluctuations  in 
trade,  and  every  department  of  business,  by  which  thousands 
have  been  plunged  from  affluence  to  poverty,  and  goaded  to 
madness  and  desperation,  have  driven  many  to  drown  their 
sorrows  in  the  inebriating  cup,  though  filled  with  greater  bit 
terness  and  griefs  more  poignant  than  those  which  they  would 
steep  in  the  drowsy  waters  of  forgetfulness.  But  this  wild 
and  fearful  dream  has  passed  away,  leaving  behind  it  traces 
of  bleak  and  withering  desolation ;  and  the  friends  of  temper 
ance  may  well  rejoice  that  their  benevolent  enterprise  has 
outrode  the  storm  unscathed,  and  apply  themselves  with 
renewed  vigor  to  the  completion  of  their  work. 

The  excise  system,  which,  in  part,  served  as  a  precedent 
for  our  present  excise  law,  was  originally  a  mere  inland  duty 
or  imposition  charged  upon  general  consumption,  or  retail 
sale,  and  was  designed  for  purposes  of  revenue  alone.  It  was 
adopted  first  among  the  Romans,  by  Augustus,  after  the  civil 
wars,  and  continued  by  Tiberias  and  others  in  a  modified 
form ;  and  although  it  was  suggested  as  the  financial  policy 
of  Charles  the  First,  by  the  treasurer  of  that  monarch,  who 
was  the  father  of  the  system  in  England,  it  was  not  finally 
introduced  there  and  acted  upon  until  1643,  when  it  was 
adopted  by  the  long  parliament,  after  its  rupture  with  the 
crown. 

It  was  laid  upon  articles  where  it  was  supposed  its  hardships 
would  be  the  least  perceivable ;  and  it  was  remarked  by  its 
founder  in  that  country,  in  a  spirit  of  short-sighted  craftiness 
becoming  a  mere  politician,  that  it  must  be  so  managed  that 
the  people  would  become  accustomed  to  its  exactions  gradually. 

The  difficulties  consequent  upon  levying  and  collecting  the 
excise  upon  ale  and  liquors  sold  in  ale-houses  and  dram-shops, 
by  small  measure,  induced  the  system  of  licensing  inns  and  ale 
houses,  and  the  paying  of  the  excise  in  a  gross  sum,  and  sub 
sequently  to  regulating  them  by  law,  and  compelling  them  to 


TEMPERANCE   ADDRESS.  705 

sell  at  reasonable  prices  ;  which  latter  provision  was  unfortu 
nately  omitted,  in  framing  the  excise  code  of  this  State.  The 
system  of  licensing  and  regulating  ale-houses  in  England  seems 
to  have  reached  its  zenith  under  the  reign  of  George  II.,  and 
although  the  wisdom  of  parliament  was  inadequate  to  the  task 
of  prescribing  the  number  of  beds  and  the  kind  of  covering 
therefor,  which  it  was  proper  and  necessary  each  one  should 
have,  who  should  be  authorized  to  sell  by  retail  strong  or  spir 
ituous  liquors,  as  our  statutes  have  kindly  provided ;  yet,  the 
act  of  parliament  contained  one  provision  equally  sensible  with 
all  the  others  of  the  excise  laws  of  either  country,  and  which 
was  doubtless  overlooked  in.  engrafting  the  system  of  the 
mother  country  upon  our  own,  as  otherwise  it  would  have  been 
adopted.  It  was  the  creation  of  an  officer  called  an  "  ale  taster? 
whose  business  it  was  to  visit  from  time  to  time,  or  at  stated 
periods,  the  various  ale-houses  in  a  certain  district,  and,  by 
tasting,  ascertain  the  quality  of  the  article,  that  the  ale-drinking 
public  should  not  be  imposed  on  by  that  which  was  stale  or 
spurious.  This  provision,  being  as  wise,  at  least,  as  any  other 
of  our  present  system — having  in  view,  as  it  has,  the  improve 
ment  and  protection  of  the  public  morals,  and  particularly  the 
public  taste,  and  contemplating  the  creation  of  a  new  office  at  a 
time  when  the  demand  is  at  least  equal  to  the  supply — it  is  re 
spectfully  submitted  that  it  should  be  incorporated  at  once  into 
our  excise  code,  if  that  is  to  be  retained  upon  the  statute  book, 
with  the  trifling  additional  powers  and  duties  of  tasting  rum 
and  other  liquors,  as  well  as  ale— and  that  the  officer  be  denomi 
nated,  by  way  of  eminence,  a  "  rum  taster."  In  the  process  of 
drinking,  like  that  of  a  rule  in  arithmetic,  "  more  requires  more, 
and  less  requires  less,"  and  it  is  insisted  that  the  excise  system 
invites  and  induces  to  drink  as  well  as  to  sell  more,  and  this 
operates  as  a  facility  rather  than  a  preventive. 

Our  mongrel  system  of  excise,  composed  of  the  oppressions 
of  the  Old  World  and  the  follies  of  the  New,  seems  to  have  been 
framed  with  a  view  to  the  protection  of  morals,  rather  than  the 
accumulation  of  revenue.  It  doubtless  originated  here,  and  cer 
tainly  is  kept  on  foot,  by  that  mistaken  and  conceited  policy, 
which  believes  that  religion  and  morality  can  be  infused  by 
legislation ;  that  legislators,  as  such,  are  more  upright  than  their 
constituents ;  that  the  few  are  wiser  than  the  many,  and  more 
45 


706 

competent  to  prescribe  a  code  of  morals ;  and,  in  short,  that 
the  stream  is  purer  than  its  fountain,  and  will  ascend  higher  in 
its  course. 

Our  statutes  constitute  the  supervisor  and  justices  of  the 
peace  of  the  several  towns  of  this  State  commissioners  of  excise. 
They  are  required  to  meet  on  the  first  Monday  of  May  in  each 
year,  and  at  such  other  times  as  may  be  designated  by  the  su 
pervisor.  At  these  meetings  of  their  board,  they  are  authorized 
and  required  to  give  licenses,  authorizing  persons  to  keep  inns 
or  taverns,  to  sell  strong  and  spirituous  liquors,  to  be  drank  in 
their  houses  respectively,  at  all  such  points  as  they  believe  a 
public  house  necessary — requiring  to  be  paid  therefor  a  sum 
not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  thirty  dollars.  The  licenses 
are  to  be  signed  by  the  members  of  the  board — the  supervisor 
and  justices  of  the  peace — for  which  they  are  to  receive,  collect 
ively,  the  sum  of  seventy-five  cents  for  each  license.  This  for 
tunate  recipient  of  official  favor  is  required  on  his  part  to  sus 
tain  a  good  moral  character,  and  to  have  two  spare  beds,  with 
sufficient  sheeting  and  covering  for  the  same.  Possessed  then 
of  these  high  requisites — a  moral  character,  and  two  spare  beds, 
he  is  next  required — lest  the  benevolent  intentions  of  this  sage 
enactment  should  be  defeated,  and  the  thirst  of  the  weary  trav 
eller  should  not  be  slaked  at  the  proper  point,  through  ignor 
ance  or  inattention — to  put  up  and  keep  up,  on  or  adjacent  to 
the  front  of  his  house,  with  his  name  thereon,  a  sign — indicating 
in  some  way  that  he  keeps  a  tavern,  and  for  an  omission  or 
neglect  to  put  up  and  keep  up  such  sign,  he  incurs  a  pecuniary 
penalty,  and  is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

But-  lest  some  one  who  has  not  the  mark  of  this  legislative 
beast — the  right  to  sell  strong  and  spirituous  liquors — should  di 
vide  the  patronage  of  the  travelling  public  with  his  licensed 
neighbor,  or  that  some  weary  traveller  should  be  beguiled  or 
led  astray  to  a  house  where  the  intoxicating  draught  is  not  to 
be  procured,  the  statute  provides,  that  any  one  who  shall  put 
up  a  sign,  indicating  that  he  keeps  an  inn  or  tavern,  who  has 
not  a  license  to  sell  strong  or  spirituous  liquors,  shall  forfeit  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  for  every  day  he  shall  keep  up  such 
sign,  and  be  adjudged  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  erection  of  a  sign,  indicating 
the  keeping  of  a  temperance  house,  is  a  violation  of  this  law, 


TEMPERANCE    ADDRESS.  TOT 

although  no  one  has  yet  thought  it  profitable  or  desirable  to  at 
tempt  to  enforce  the  penalty,  and  probably  will  not,  until  he 
shall  be  satisfied  that  the  public  mind  is  as  stolid  and  corrupt 
as  this  law  is  ridiculous  and  shameless.  Absurd  and  pernicious 
as  has  been  the  course  of  legislation  upon  this  subject,  it  has 
not  prohibited  any  one  from  entertaining  either  his  neighbors 
or  travellers,  nor  from  receiving  therefor  a  reasonable  compen 
sation — but  he  may  not  put  up  a  sign  unless  he  has  authority 
to  sell  intoxicating  drink.  And  upon  the  principle  of  the 
homely  proverb,  that  it  is  a  poor  rule  which  will  not  work  both 
ways,  the  law  adjudges  him  who  has  liquor  and  a  license, 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  unless  he  invites  the  public  to  partake 
by  the  erection  of  a  sign. 

In  contemplating  the  provisions  of  this  statute,  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  whether  it  will  be  most  becoming  to  treat  it  with 
that  ridicule  and  mockery  which  is  due  to  the  height  of  human 
folly  and  absurdity,  or  to  stand  in  silence,  overwhelmed  with 
shame,  that  enactments  so  reproachful  and  stupid  should  have 
found  their  way  among  the  written  laws  of  intelligent  and  civ 
ilized  men.  With  all  its  absurdities,  however,  the  excise  law 
contains  two  sensible  provisions,  which  shall  be  thrown  into  the 
opposing  scale.  It  devotes  the  license  fee  to  the  sole  purpose 
of  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  pauperism  it  helps  to  create — 
and,  after  authorizing  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  to  be  drank 
in  the  house,  it  very  naturally  calculates  that  lodging  will  neces 
sarily  follow  ;  and  hence  legislation,  in  the  plenitude  of  its  jus 
tice  and  mercy,  provides  that  there  shall  be  at  least  two  spare 
beds,  with  good  sheets  and  suitable  covering — and,  it  might 
have  added,  for  man  and  beast. 

By  the  history  of  the  excise  system,  it  will  be  seen  that  a 
measure  which  originated  with  that  universal  robber  of  nations, 
and  was  regarded  by  the  Caesars  as  one  of  exaction  from  their 
subjects  and  their  slaves,  has  been  gradually  transformed  Avith 
us,  until  it  is  hailed  as  the  guardian  genius  of  our  purity,  and 
the  protector  of  the  public  morals. 

It  is  justified  under  the  plea  of  necessity — a  plea  which  has 
been  interposed  in  behalf  of  every  absurd  and  oppressive  meas 
ure  which  tyranny  or  ignorance  ever  inflicted  on  the  human 
race,  either  in  the  old  world  or  new :  a  plea  under  which,  in 
Europe,  foul  and  beastly  dens  of  debauchery  and  licentiousness, 


708 

and  murderous  gaming  hells  are  authorized  and  regulated  by 
law :  a  plea  which  distrusts  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the 
mass,  and  their  capacity  for  their  own  moral  government,  and 
which  essays  to  make  them  virtuous  and  temperate  according 
to  the  form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided. 

If  the  retailing  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  in  itself  an  immoral 
and  detestable  calling,  it  is  none  the  less  so,  morally  considered, 
because  sanctified  by  legislative  enactment ;  and  if  its  drinking 
is  ruinous  and  sinful  if  drank  in  defiance  of  law,  it  is  equally  so, 
although  measured  in  the  gill-cup  of  legislation,  and  drank  pur 
suant  to  Article  ix.,  title  9,  ch.  20,  of  part  first  of  the  Revised 
Statutes. 

While  it  is  gratifying  to  reflect  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
friends  of  the  temperance  reform  have  wielded  the  moral  rather 
than  the  political  elements,  and  have  directed  their  benevolent 
efforts  to  the  judgment  and  the  understanding — they  have  evi 
dently  beheld  in  regret  and  apparent  despair  the  retailer  of  in 
toxicating  liquor  pursuing  his  murderous  vocation,  unaffected 
by  the  public  opinion  which  they  had  believed  so  potent  and 
paramount ;  and  hence,  as  far  as  legislation  has  been  invoked, 
it  has  been  asked  to  add  its  restrictions  and  prohibitions,  and 
multiply  its  pains,  penalties,  and  misdemeanors. 

In  this  application  they  have  been  answered  by  a  legislative 
report  from  a  distinguished  source,  in  the  language  of  philoso 
phy,  sublimity,  and  truth.  It  says,  "  a  principle  is  deeply  im 
planted  in  the  human  breast,  which  is  ever  averse  to  compulsion 
and  impatient  of  restraint.  A  dictatorial  statute,  with  its  pains 
and  penalties,  might,  by  operating  upon  the  fears,  make  a  few 
hypocrites,  but  it  could  never  make  a  single  convert ; "  and  it  is 
added  that  "  the  fears  which  would  be  created  by  penal  pro 
hibition  would  yield  in  the  minds  of  many  to  a  sense  of  wounded 
pride,  and  injured  independence — and  the  very  inhibition  would 
produce  a  repugnance  to  temperance,  and  excite  a  strong  desire 
to  taste  the  forbidden  f niit." 

The  impious  dogma,  that  mind  can  be  successfully  fettered 
and  restrained,  has  been  triumphantly  exploded  in  a  sister  State. 
There,  as  here,  they  had  seen  the  retailer,  in  defiance  of  public 
opinion,  dealing  out  death  and  ruin  by  the  gill.  There,  too, 
they  cherished  the  system  of  excise  which  originated  in  paying 
tribute  to  Caesar.  They  doubtless  believed  that  this  pursuit 


TEMPERANCE   ADDKESS.  TO  9 

was  induced  by  an  unusual  depravity  of  heart  of  the  retailer — 
that  nothing  but  penal  prohibitions  would  reach  him  effectually, 
and  that  such  prohibitions  would  render  the  triumphs  of  be 
nevolence  complete.  Their  prayer  was  granted — the  prohibitory 
laws  were  imposed,  but  the  advocates  of  temperance  were 
transferred  from  the  moral  to  the  political  field,  and  were  dis- 
comfitted  and  signally  overthrown ;  and  the  votaries  of  intem 
perance  vauntingly  inquired  who  was  able  to  make  war  upon 
the  beast.  Thus  it  will  ever  be  in  a  free  government  with  those 
who  attempt  to  rear  a  standard  of  morality  by  the  stern  com 
mands  of  penal  law.  Like  the  conceited  Persian  monarch,  they 
may  cast  fetters  into  the  sea,  but  they  cannot  restrain  the  hear 
ings  of  its  bosom. 

The  retailing  dram-shop  is,  in  truth,  the  only  stronghold  of 
the  enemy  which  has  not  yielded  or  been  surrendered.  It  is 
his  entrenchment  to  which  he  has  been  pursued,  and  in  which 
he  has  taken  refuge  and  fortified  his  position.  The  efforts  of 
the  past  have  proved  that  public  opinion  will  not  be  able  to  take 
it  by  siege.  Its  walls  are  too  impregnable  to  be  battered  down 
by  storm,  and  no  hope  remains  but  for  the  legislative  priests  to 
surround  it  with  their  trumpets  of  eloquence,  when  its  walls 
will  totter  and  fall  to  the  ground. 

The  fact  that  reputa'ble  men  pursue  the  traffic,  and  maintain, 
in  all  respects,  their  relations  in  society,  proves  that  they  hold 
a  position  too  strong  for  public  opinion ;  and  hence  the  neces 
sity  and  propriety  of  devising  means  by  which  they  may  be 
summoned,  like  their  fellow-men,  to  that  great  bar,  and  be 
made  to  bow  in  submission  to  its  unerring  decrees. 

The  retailer  of  intoxicating  liquors,  called  by  way  of  em 
phasis,  the  " rum-seller"  has  been  held  up  by  many  advocates 
of  temperance  as  a  fit  object  for  obloquy  and  scorn,  and  has 
been  assigned  a  conspicuous  niche  in  the  world's  pillory.  Yet, 
bad  and  indefensible  as  is  his  pursuit,  heartless  and  sordid  as  is 
his  calling,  he  is  not  without  his  apology.  Animals,  when 
goaded  beyond  endurance,  in  their  blind  rage  and  ferocity, 
wreak  their  vengeance  upon  the  weapon  with  which  the  wounds 
are  inflicted,  and  heed  not  the  cause  nor  the  hand  which  directs 
it.  But  man,  rational  man,  endowed  with  his  boasted  attributes 
of  reason  and  reflection,  should  trace  effects  to  their  cause,  and 
evils  to  their  source.  The  prayer  of  Him  who  best  knew  the 


710 

infirmities  of  our  nature  was,  Lead  us  not  into  temptation ;  but 
our  lawgivers,  as  if  to  reverse  this  divine  sentiment  by  the 
power  of  legislation,  have  held  up  their  allurements  to  appetite 
and  cupidity,  and  have  stimulated  their  indulgence  by  the  sanc 
tions  of  the  law.  It  is  by  no  means  proposed  to  advocate  the 
cause  of  the  retailer,  but  to  strike  at  the  cause  rather  than  the 
effect :  to  assail  the  workman  rather  than  the  instrument  by 
which  the  mischief  is  accomplished  ;  to  arraign,  try,  condemn 
and  execute  the  whole  excise  system,  and  thus  lay  the  axe  at 
the  root  of  this  moral  Upas — the  retailing  of  intoxicating  liquors 
by  authority  of  law. 

The  whole  system  of  restraints  and  indulgences,  and  of  le 
gislative  interference  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  is  pernicious 
and  indefensible — at  war  with  every  principle  of  political  econ 
omy  and  sound  legislation,  and  utterly  subversive  of  public 
morals.  The  march  of  the  temperance  reformation  is  onward, 
but  it  can  never  attain  to  complete  success  until  dram-shops 
shall  be  abolished,  and  men  cease  to  drink  according  to  statute  ; 
and  this,  however  desirable,  will  never  be  accomplished  as  long 
as  they  are  upheld,  sanctioned,  and  rewarded  by  law. 

What,  permit  me  to  inquire,  but  the  justification  found  in 
the  statutes,  induces  respectable  men  to  pursue  a  calling  which 
they  know  is  immoral,  and  strongly  at  war  with  public  opinion, 
when,  upon  any  and  every  other  subject,  they  yield  implicitly 
to  its  stern  behests  ?  If  the  faithful  monitor  of  his  bosom  has 
made  its  appeal,  and  a  doubt  has  arisen,  the  excise  law  has  been 
thrown  into  the  scale,  conscience  has  been  silenced,  and  intem 
perance  has  triumphed.  If  the  frown  of  indignant  people  has 
lowered  too  darkly  upon  the  deadly  calling,  and  the  avenger 
has  pursued  too  closely,  he  has  flown  to  the  excise  law  as  his 
city  of  refuge,  and  clung  for  protection  to  the  horns  of  this  legis 
lative  altar.  Is  he  admonished  that  he  is  sporting  at  a  game 
where  the  destiny  of  mortals  are  the  stakes  and  hazards.  By  a 
fresh  reading  of  his  license  and  of  the  statutes,  he  finds  that  his 
pursuit  is  there  invited,  justified,  and  rewarded.  Does  the  heart 
broken  and  distracted  wife  plead  with  tears  and  an  angel's  elo 
quence  in  behalf  of  her  famishing  and  naked  children.  He  lies 
down  upon  his  pillow,  and  darkly  mutters  in  his  guilty  dreams 
that  he  has  kept  the  law. 

He  acts  not  upon  his  own  high  responsibilities,  to  his  own 


TEMPERANCE    ADDRESS.  711 

conscience,  his  neighbor,  or  his  God ;  but,  in  self-communion 
and  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-men,  he  points,  like  Shy- 
lock,  to  the  language  of  the  law.  I  am  full  well  aware  of  the 
responsibility  one  incurs  who  assails  systems,  however  errone 
ous,  which  have  become  matured  by  time,  and  have  received, 
even  negatively,  the  sanctions  of  experience.  The  proposition, 
too,  to  repeal  the  excise  law,  and  permit  every  one  to  sell  who 
chooses  to  do  so,  will  doubtless  be  received  by  many  ardent 
friends  of  the  cause  of  temperance  with  apprehension  and  alarm. 
But  when  we  reflect  that  under  the  present  system  every  one 
sells  and  gives  away,  under  various  pretences,  who  chooses  to  do 
so,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  all  the  machinery,  mischiefs,  arid 
sanctions  of  the  statute,  without  any  of  its  supposed  or  designed 
advantages.  There  is  no  greater  danger  of  permitting  every 
one  to  sell  than  there  is  of  permitting  every  one  to  drink. 
Every  man,  woman,  and  child,  have  the  right  to  drink  the  kind, 
quality,  and  quantity  they  please,  without  legal  restraint  or 
control,  and  the  means  is  certainly  within  the  reach  of  a  great 
majority.  Why  then  do  they  not  drink  ?  Because  their  own 
good  sense  and  the  public  sentiment  have  condemned  it.  What 
has  driven  intoxicating  drink  from  the  tables  of  our  respectable 
hotels  and  steamboats — from  the  festive  board,  and  the  room 
of  the  legislator?  It  is  public  opinion,  unfettered  and  free. 
Repeal  then  this  statute.  Take  away  from  the  retailer  the  justi 
fication  which  it  has  hitherto  afforded  him.  Leave  him  to  his  own 
responsibilities,  and  the  tests  of  that  ordeal  from  which  there  is 
no  appeal  on  earth — public  opinion — and  Felix  will  tremble. 
His  calling  then  comes  home  to  his  own  integrity  of  heart  with 
ten-fold  power.  The  cries  of  the  orphan  and  tears  of  the 
widow,  the  upbraidings  of  a  guilty  conscience,  and  the  scorn 
of  his  fellow-men,  will  rise  up  in  judgment  against  him.  Evils 
as  numerous  and  deadly  as  those  which  issued  from  the  box 
of  Pandora  will  spring  up  on  every  side  of  his  pathway.  The 
excise  law,  the  commissioners,  the  license,  are  no  longer  scape 
goats.  He  has  paid  no  fee  into  the  public  treasury  for  leave  to 
ram  his  fellow-men.  His  detestable  calling  stands  before  him 
in  all  its  native  ugliness,  and,  like  the  headsman  of  Berne,  he 
will  shrink  from  and  sicken  at  his  trade.  He  will  then  be  shorn 
of  his  strength,  and  be  like  other  men.  He  will  yield  to  public 
opinion,  for  opinion  is  then  free  and  unobstructed. 


712 

It  has  been  occasionally  proposed  to  evade  the  operation  of 
the  excise  law,  by  electing  commissioners  friendly  to  the  cause 
of  temperance,  and  inducing  them,  by  making  it  a  test  question 
at  the  town  elections,  by  importunities  in  the  form  of  petitions 
and  remonstrances,  to  withold  entirely  licenses  to  sell  intoxicat 
ing  liquors.  This  has  been  done  in  some  cases  by  good  and 
conscientious  men,  but  the  consequences  have  not  advanced  the 
cause  of  either  temperance  or  morals.  The  law  has  created  the 
officer  and  charged  him  with  a  special  duty  which  he  has  no 
right  to  disregard,  if  the  requirements  of  the  law  under  which 
he  acts,  however  absurd,  are  complied  with.  Besides,  it  is 
transferring  responsibility  where  it  does  not  belong,  and  will 
inevitably,  in  every  case,  sooner  or  later,  degenerate  into  a 
political  scramble.  The  officers  who  refuse  licenses  one  year 
will  the  next  be  assailed,  as  well  by  their  political  opponents 
as  by  the  disappointed  applicants  and  their  hangers-on.  They 
will  usually  in  such  cases  be  defeated,  and  the  cause  of  temper 
ance  will  return  a  soiled  and  sorry  follower  of  the  political  camp. 
Every  possible  scheme  has  been  invented  to  evade  and  counter 
act  the  effect  of  this  law,  and  yet  it  is  believed  the  legislature 
has  never  proposed  to  apply  the  only  sensible  and  proper  rem 
edy — a  repeal. 

It  is  said  of  that  celebrated  and  profound  physician,  Doctor 
Sangrado,  that  in  the  course  of  his  extensive  practice  he  adopted 
one  system  of  treatment,  irrespective  of  the  disease.  It  con 
sisted  of  profuse  depletion  and  copious  draughts  of  water.  Not 
withstanding  the  valuable  services  of  this  eminent  practitioner, 
a  strange  mortality  seemed  to  prevail  among  his  patients.  His 
assistants  finally  ventured  to  suggest :  "  Doctor,  the  patients  are 
continually  dying — their  friends  are  becoming  alarmed — it  is 
evident  something  must  be  done — don't  you  think  it  best  to 
vary  the  treatment  somewhat,  by  way  of  experiment  ?  "  To 
which  that  distinguished  practitioner  was  pleased  to  reply — 
*'  What !  give  up  the  system  !  Give  up  the  system  !  I'd  see 
every  single  patient  I  have  die  first." 

So  it  is  with  the  system  of  excise  prescribed  by  the  legis 
lative  Sangrados  of  former  times  for  the  people,  although  the 
depletion  is  of  the  purse,  and  the  draughts,  though  copious,  are 
not  water.  The  patients  are  literally  dying — the  disease  rages 
— the  mortality  increases — friends  are  becoming  alarmed — the 


TEMPERANCE    ADDRESS.  713 

benign  efforts  of  benevolence  have  proved  unavailing — every 
expedient  under  the  present  course  of  treatment  has  failed  to 
cure  us  of  the  disease  of  retailing ;  and  when  it  is  asked,  Don't 
you  think  it  best  to  vary  somewhat  the  prescription,  merely  by 
way  of  experiment  ?  it  has  thus  far  been  answered — What ! 
give  up  the  system  !  Give  up  the  system  !  Let  every  member 
of  the  community  perish  and  die  first. 

The  sin  which  most  easily  besets  us,  and  the  error  most  in 
cident  to  our  nature,  is  to  believe  ourselves  more  virtuous  than 
our  fellow-men — gifted  with  superior  capacities,  higher  powers 
of  discrimination,  and  subject  to  less  follies,  foibles,  and  infirmi 
ties.  No  one  distrusts  his  own  ability  for  moral  government — 
his  power  to  resist  temptation — to  walk  in  the  straight  and  nar 
row  path  of  rectitude  and  virtue,  and  to  turn  with  disgust  and 
loathing  from  low  and  vicious  pursuits  and  indulgences  ;  while 
it  is  the  constant  tendency  of  his  nature  to  prescribe  artificial 
restraints  and  teachings  for  his  fellows,  lest,  perchance,  the 
great  lessons  of  light  and  truth  contained  in  the  books  of  nature, 
reason,  and  revelation,  should  be  misunderstood  or  disregarded. 
The  despots  of  the  Old  World  and  their  subjects,  in  recognition 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  so  far  underrate  popular  intelligence 
and  patriotism,  as  to  believe  the  people  incapable  of  political 
government ;  while  the  rise  and  progress  and  exalted  station 
of  our  towering  republic  has  exploded  their  slavish  theory,  and 
proved  the  stability  and  safety,  as  well  as  the  justice  and 
equality  of  freedom  of  opinion.  As  advocates  arid  participants 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  it  illy  becomes  us  to  doubt  or 
distrust  our  own  moral  power ;  and  when,  in  the  exercise  of 
that  charity  which  we  are  commanded  to  extend  to  our  fellow- 
men,  we  shall  believe  they  are  as  wise  and  as  virtuous  as  our 
selves,  we  shall  readily  confide  our  own  moral  government  to 
the  keeping  of  public  opinion,  unaided  by  the  arbitrary  re 
straints  of  law.  We  have  been  so  long  in  leading-strings  as  a 
people,  that,  like  a  child  in  its  first  unassisted  efforts,  we  may 
reel  and  totter  for  a  while  from  mere  timidity  and  inexperience ; 
but  time  will  give  confidence  and  moral  vigor,  and  we  shall 
walk  erect  in  the  exalted  dignity  of  freemen. 

It  is  feared  by  some  that,  if  all  statutory  restraints  are  re 
moved,  the  retailing  of  ardent  or  intoxicating  liquors  will  be 
pursued  by  bad  and  vicious  men.  This  will  doubtless  be  so  to 


some  extent,  but  it  is  believed  that  it  will  be  confined  to  that 
class  alone,  and  that  the  number  of  low  grog-shops  will  not  be 
increased,  while  every  man  who  is  not  insensible  to  public  senti 
ment  will  abandon  the  pursuit.  We  must  not  expect  to  perfect 
a  system  which  will  be  exempt  from  the  evil  influences  of  the 
wicked  and  depraved.  The  history  of  mankind  but  too  often 
bears  upon  its  pages  the  record  of  human  guilt  and  human 
frailty.  The  first  born  of  woman  slew  the  second.  Thistles,  also, 
and  thorns,  have  sprung  up  in  the  moral  as  in  the  natural  world 
— rapine,  violence,  and  murder  have  often  crossed  our  pathway ; 
and  the  "  soul  is  sick,  the  ear  is  pained,  with  every  day's  report 
of  wrong  and  outrage  with  which  earth  is  filled." 

But  when  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  shall  be  confined 
to  the  vicious  and  abandoned ;  when  the  pursuit  shall  be  de 
prived  of  the  sanctions  of  the  law,  and  the  countenance  of  all 
virtuous  men ;  when  it  shall  be  thrust  without  the  pale  of  con 
ventional  life,  and  be  driven  for  its  hiding-place  to  the  vile 
haunts  of  gaming,  scandal,  and  obscenity,  and  ranked  in  law  and 
morals  with  other 'crimes  and  misdemeanors,  the  great  object 
of  the  temperance  reformation  will  have  been  accomplished. 

Who  doubts  that  a  low,  tippling  dram-shop,  a  laboratory 
where  brutes  and  beggars  are  manufactured  by  the  retailing  of 
inebriating  liquors,  is  as  much  a  nuisance  as  a  brothel,  a  pest- 
house,  or  a  house  of  low  and  deceitful  gaming ;  and  who  does 
not  knoAV  that  the  common  law  is  armed  with  abundant  power 
to  correct,  or  expel  and  abate  it,  but  for  the  interposition  of 
the  statute  authorizing  and  justifying  its  erection,  and  compelling 
its  continuance  when  once  erected,  or  even  when  a  license  is 
taken  out. 

Gaming,  Sabbath-breaking,  and  profanity,  together  with 
other  vicious  practices  and  indulgences,  are,  like  drunkenness, 
deemed  offences  against  morality  ;  and  yet  no  one  has  proposed 
to  authorize  their  pursuit  under  certain  defined  restrictions,  with 
a  view  to  elevate  the  standard  of  immorality,  and  place  the 
offences,  respectively,  in  better  hands.  A  statute  proposing  to 
regulate  and  license  gaming,  so  as  to  confine  the  pursuit  to  men 
of  "  honor  " — to  authorize  Sabbath-breaking  by  men  of  "  good 
moral  character,"  or  to  justify  profane  oaths,  if  sworn  according 
to  the  form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided, 
would  meet  with  the  contempt  and  ridicule  which  it  would 


TEMPEKANCE   ADDKESS.  715 

justly  merit ;  and  that,  too,  by  those  who  are  apologists,  if  not 
the  advocates  of  the  excise  law.  Statutes  may  be  framed-  to  aid 
the  common  law  in  punishing  offences  against  society  ;  but  they 
cannot  tolerate,  upon  any  terms  or  conditions,  an  acknowledged 
evil,  and  at  the  same  time  vindicate  either  their  own  justice  or 
purity.  Take  away  all  statutory  obstacles,  and  the  salutary  in 
fluences  of  the  common  law  will  come  up  to  do  battle  in  this 
great  crusade  for  moral  reformation.  The  common  la\v  walks 
hand  in  hand  with  morality  and  religion.  Like  the  vast  lumi 
nary  of  heaven,  it  imparts  its  genial  influences  to  all  the  children 
of  men.  It  visits  the  palace  of  affluence,  and  forgets  not  the 
tenant  of  the  dungeon,  where  "  the  iron  enters  into  the  soul." 
It  sits  by  him  who  is  clad  in  purple  and  tine  linen,  and  fares 
sumptuously  every  day,  and  lies  down  too  with  the  humble 
beggar  at  his  gate.  It  stretches  out  its  hand  at  the  cry  of  the 
orphan,  and  arrests  in  his  career  of  rapacity  the  guilty  and 
fraudulent  oppressor.  It  stays  up  the  hands  of  those  who  min 
ister  in  the  holy  duties  of  religion,  and  drags  to  light  and  pun 
ishment  the  blear-eyed  miscreant  from  the  dens  of  crime  and 
pollution.  It  serves  as  a  shield  for  the  defence  of  virtue,  and  a 
sword  for  the  punishment  of  vice.  It  guarantees,  like  our  great 
charter  of  freedom,  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness  ;  and  wars  only  with  those  who  forfeit  all 
claims  to  its  protection,  and  the  confidence  and  respect  of  their 
fellow-men. 

If  we  would  leave  the  great  and  interesting  question  of  tem 
perance  and  morals  to  the  guidance  of  public  opinion  and  the 
common  law,  unshackled  by  the  arbitrary  restraints  which  ill- 
conceived  legislation  has  thrown  around  it,  we  should  find  that 
all  good  citizens  would  yield  submissively  to  that  opinion 
which  some  have  hitherto  defied  and  disregarded ;  and  that  the 
common  law  would  vindicate  itself.  The  contest  would  then 
be  upon  equal  ground,  and  a  complete  and  signal  triumph 
would  reward  the  efforts  of  those  who  have  so  long  struggled 
in  unequal  combat  with  the  vicegerents  oflegislation.  It,  too, 
would  be  a  triumph,  not  of  arbitrary  power  over  unwilling  sub 
jects,  yielding  slavish  submission  to  the  iron  rigor  of  the  law, 
nor  the  success  of  a  sect  or  party,  who  in  their  turn  are  destined 
to  be  overthrown  by  the  next  move  upon  the  political  shuffle- 
board,  but  the  triumph  of  truth  and  philosophy  over  ignorance, 


716  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

vice,  and  error ;  where  the  understanding  has  been  enlightened, 
the  judgment  convinced,  the  heart  rectified  and  chastened,  and 
the  whole  moral  and  intellectual  being  elevated  and  dignified. 
But  to  accomplish  these  sublime  results,  opinion  must  be  un 
fettered.  If  we  would  drain  the  foul  morass  or  stagnant 
pool,  all  obstructions  must  be  removed  before  impurity  will 
find  its  level.  If  we  would  rid  the  dungeon  of  its  foul  and 
deadly  vapor,  it  must  be  thrown  open  to  the  healthful  current 
of  the  playful  breeze  and  the  cheering  light  of  day  ;  and  if  we 
would  witness  the  triumph  of  truth  and  reason  over  ignorance, 
error,  and  delusion,  opinion  must  be  free. 

But  the  efforts  of  benevolence  to  banish  the  evils  of  intem 
perance  from  society  will  prove  unavailing  unless  aided  by  its 
blind  and  deluded  votaries. 

"Who  would  be  free,  themselves  must  strike  the  blow." 

Intemperance,  though  often  the  cause,  is  much  oftener  the 
effect  of  indolence  and  its  kindred  vices,  which,  like  certain 
birds  and  animals,  are  gregarious.  Nor  is  temperance  a  mere 
abstraction,  consisting  alone  in  abstaining  from  the  use  of  ine 
briating  drinks ;  nor  can  it  be  successfully  cultivated  in  a  soil 
where  noxious  weeds  are  cultivated,  or  suffered  to  shoot  up  in 
undisturbed  luxuriance.  Comparatively  few  who  have  been 
trained  to  some  useful  calling,  and  fewer  still  who  prosecute 
such  calling  with  industry  and  attention,  contract  habits  of  in 
temperance.  This  tyrant  king  has  been  deposed  in  the  work 
shop  of  the  mechanic,  and  driven  from  the  field  of  the  husband 
man  ;  but  he  still  sits  upon  his  throne,  which  partial  and  mis 
taken  legislation  has  erected,  dealing  out  his  fiery  curses ;  and 
nods  over  the  wine-cup  with  the  votaries  of  fashion  and  pleasure. 

Next  to  the  evils  which  flow  from  the  retailing  dram-shop,  is 
that  of  habitual  wine-drinking  by  the  affluent  and  influential. 
Their  example  is  mighty  for  good  or  for  evil,  and  their  responsi 
bility  fearful.  They,  too,  are  the  professed  friends  of  the  cause 
of  temperance,  and  of  every  benevolent  enterprise  ;  but  like  the 
publican,  they  have  worshipped  afar  off — they  have  given  of 
their  abundance  to  disseminate  the  light  of  the  gospel  in  heathen 
lands,  and  "  when  that  the  poor  have  cried,  Caesar  hath  wept." 
They  have  lent  their  aid  to  banish  the  evils  of  intemperance, 
and,  flushed  with  wine,  have  admonished  the  inebriate  of  an 


TEMPERANCE    ADDRESS.  717 

ignoble  death  and  a  drunkard's  grave,  and  have  pointed  to 
his  weeping  wife  and  breadless  children.  But  they  have  not 
shown  him  the  stern  self-denial  in  indulgence,  which  alone  can 
gain  respect  for  sincerity,  and  add  to  precept  the  mighty  influ 
ence  of  example.  They  would  gladly  prescribe  a  remedy  for 
the  cure  of  this  moral  leprosy,  but  cannot  themselves  submit  to 
the  pure  and  simple  process  of  washing  in  Jordan. 

The  practice  of  wine-drinking,  though  justified  for  a  time 
by  many  a  plausible  tissue  of  sophistry,  is  now  acknowledged 
to  be  a  mere  indulgence,  induced  by  no  necessity,  tending  to 
no  good  end,  and  pursued  only  because  it  is  the  right  and  the 
choice  of  those  who  practise  it,  and  adds  to  their  pleasurable 
indulgence  and  gratification.  But  will  not  they  forego  this 
mischievous  indulgence,  if  they  can  rescue  from  the  fangs  of 
intemperance  the  most  degraded  and  abject  of  the  human  race  ? 
Let  them  look  for  a  single  moment  upon  this,  as  a  fountain  from 
which  so  much  human  degradation  and  misery  flows.  Turn 
for  a  moment  from  contemplating  the  splendor  and  magnifi 
cence  of  the  monuments  of  wealth  and  enterprise,  which  adorn 
this  city,  to  its  narrow  lanes  and  impure  alleys,  where  squalid 
and  houseless  wretches  remind  us  that  the  "  foxes  have  holes, 
the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not 
where  to  lay  his  head."  What  ill-starred  demon  of  malignity, 
with  blight  and  desolation  in  his  train,  has  scathed  and  black 
ened  this  portion  of  God's  heritage,  and  written  upon  the  fair 
image  of  our  Maker  the  scowl  of  the  fiends  of  darkness  ?  It  is 
intemperance  !  Intemperance  which  intoxicates  the  soul !  In 
temperance,  which,  more  ruthless  than  Satan,  spares  not  the 
sacreduess  of  the  domestic  circle,  nor  the  endearing  fire-side  of 
home.  Around  these  hearths,  so  cold  and  desolate,  no  kindly 
affections  cluster,  no  accents  of  tenderness  or  love  gush  from 
the  fountains  of  the  heart,  no  invocations  to  the  living  God 
ascend  on  high.  Hope,  that  charmer  of  the  world  below,  which 
cheers  and  gladdens  the  varied  pathway  of  our  pilgrimage  with 
flowers  of  sweeter  fragrance  and  deeper  loveliness,  and  gilds 
the  unseen  hill-tops  with  a  brighter  and  a  fairer  sunshine,  has 
never  entered  these  sombre  portals.  But  the  Promethean  vul 
ture  of  intemperance  perpetually  gnaws  at  their  bleeding  heart 
strings.  Let  men  band  themselves  together  in  one  common 
cause,  in  expelling  from  their  borders  this  fell  enemy  of  their 


718  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

race.  Let  woman  raise  her  gentle  voice  at  the  domestic  altar, 
and  inculcate  lessons  of  temperance,  purity,  and  peace.  Let 
her  prepare  the  "  fire  fair  blazing  and  the  vestment  warm  ;  " 
light  up  her  home  with  a  resistless  charm,  and  thus  alleviate 
her  own  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and  contribute  the  influence 
of  her  example  to  dry  the  tears  and  soothe  the  anguish  of  her 
sex.  Let  children  raise  their  little  hands  in  testimony  against 
this  ferocious  spirit  which  has  come  hither  to  torment  them 
before  their  time,  and  dim  with  blood  and  tears  the  lustre  of 
their  birth-star.  Let  youth  cry  out  against  a  vice  which  writes 
upon  its  own  fair  brow  untimely  wrinkles  ;  and  its  curses  trem 
ble  on  the  lip  of  drear  old  age.  Fearful  and  successful  ally  of 
the  great  tempter  of  our  race  !  How  hast  thou  "  glutted  the 
grave  with  untimely  victims,  and  helped  to  people  the  world 
of  perdition."  Under  thy  baleful  influences,  how  many  fam 
ishing  and  wretched  children  have  lain  shivering  down  on  their 
beds  of  straw;  how  many,  alas!  have  arisen  to  starve  and 
curse  the  light ;  how  many  sighs  have  been  wafted  up  to  Heaven ; 
how  many  bitter,  unavailing  tears  have  been  shed ;  how  many 
pure  and  gentle  hearts  have  been  crushed  and  broken;  how 
many  have  been  steeped  in  depravity  and  crime  ! 

"  How  many  pine  in. want  and  dungeon's  gloom, 
Shut  from  the  common  air  and  common  use 
Of  their  own  limbs.     How  many  drink  the  cup 
Of  baleful  grief,  or  eat  the  bitter  bread 
Of  misery.     Sore  pierced  by  wintry  winds, 
How  many  shrink  into  the  sordid  hut 
Of  cheerless  poverty.     How  many  shake 
"With  all  the  fiercer  tortures  of  the  mind, 

Unbounded  passion,  madness,  guilt,  remorse, 

**###**# 

Thought  fond  man 
Of  these,  and  all  the  thousand  ills, 
That  one  incessant  struggle  render  life 
One  scene  of  toil,  of  suffering,  and  of  fate, 
Vice  in  his  high  career  would  stand  appalled, 
And  heedless,  rambling  impulse  learn  to  think; 
The  conscious  heart  of  charity  would  warm, 
And  her  wide  wish,  benevolence,  dilate  ; 
The  social  tear  would  rise,  the  social  sigh ; 
And  into  clear  perfection,  gradual  bliss, 
Refining  still,  the  social  passions  work/' 


LEOTUEE 

UPON   COMMERCIAL    LAW   AND   POLITICAL    ECONOMY. 
DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  BINGIIAMTON  COMMERCIAL  COLLEGE,  February  15,  1861. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  COMMERCIAL  COLLEGE — Having  been 
invited,  by  the  kind  partiality  of  your  principals,  to  lecture 
before  their  institution  upon  Commercial  Law  and  Political 
Economy,  I  appear  for  that  purpose  ;  premising  that  because 
of  numerous,  pressing,  and  varied  engagements,  my  address 
must  partake  of  hasty  preparation,  and  I  can  expect  to  do  little 
more  than  to  present  a  general  outline  of  subjects  which,  to  be 
thoroughly  understood,  require  the  most  patient  study  and 
elaborate  examination.  I  shall,  however,  present  you  some 
familiar  considerations,  which  will  place  the  diligent  student 
upon  the  track  of  investigation  and  aid  him  in  that  research, 
without  which  all  knowledge  must  be  superficial  and  imperfect. 
Political  Economy  and  Commercial  Law,  though  usually  treated 
as  separate  branches  of  the  science  of  government,  in  many  of 
their  characteristics  are  so  intimately  interwoven,  that  no  line 
of  demarcation  can  be  successfully  traced  between  them.  Much 
that  is  Political  Economy  is  Commercial  Law,  and  much  that 
belongs  to  Commercial  Law  is  true  Political  Economy.  In 
treating  of  them,  therefore,  separately,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  classifications  are  in  some  respects  arbitrary,  and  might 
with  equal  propriety  be  arranged  under  different  heads.  Nor 
can  an  address  upon  these  subjects,  at  this  day,  boast  of  much 
originality  of  thought.  Both  have  been  exhausted  by  the  com 
mentator,  the  historian,  the  statesman  and  the  theorist ;  but  it 
remains  for  the  practical  sense  of  the  times  to  separate  truth 
from  falsehood,  fact  from  fancy,  and  the  experience  of  mankind 
from  the  dreamy  speculations  of  the  visionary.  This  will  re 
quire  the  examination  and  compilation  of  history,  sacred  and 


720 

profane,  from  the  primal  condition  of  human  society  to  the 
present,  and  to  supply  occasionally  the  absence  of  authority  by 
indulging  the  lingerings  of  tradition. 

COMMERCIAL   LAW. 

Commercial  Law  is  that  branch  of  the  common  law  which  is 
peculiarly  applicable  to  mercantile  contracts.  The  two  grand 
divisions  of  general  law  relate  to  real  property  and  personal 
property  or  personal  rights ;  though  there  are  many  which 
hardly  fall  within  either.  Among  the  subjects  embraced  within 
the  phrase  commercial  or  mercantile  law,  or  the  law  merchant, 
as  it  is  frequently  designated,  are  Bills  of  Exchange,  Promissory 
Notes,  Agency,  Partnership,  Sales,  Navigation,  Bankruptcy, 
Bailments,  Carriers,  Insurance,  &c.,  either  of  which  is  sufficiently 
comprehensive  for  an  elaborate  treatise.  It  is  that  branch  of 
the  law  which  originated  in  the  custom  of  merchants ;  partaking 
little  of  the  imperial  code  of  Rome,  or  the  rigid  exactions  of 
feudal  times,  but  made  up  from  the  various  maritime  codes  of 
civilization. 

Commercial  law  regulates  and  defines  many  of  the  most  in 
teresting  relations  of  social  life.  It  has  grown  up  with  the  com 
merce  which  it  regulates,  commencing  in  obscure  and  humble 
beginnings,  providing  for  and  accommodating  itself  to  the  ad 
vancing  necessities  of  society,  until  it  forms  one  of  the  grandest 
edifices  ever  reared  by  human  invention.  It  is  the  offspring  of 
mercantile  usage.  Legislation  has  tardily  and  clumsily  followed 
in  its  wake,  making  its  usages  declaratory  law,  but  has  retarded 
rather  than  advanced  its  benign  principles.  When  trade  was 
unimportant  and  despised,  it  needed  little  regulation,  but  as 
commerce  increased,  it  expanded,  despite  the  ruthless  spirit  of 
ignorance,  and  triumphed  over  the  devastations  of  war.  It  was 
an  early  idea  that  the  Law  Merchant  should  be  extended  to 
none  except  such  as  strictly  exercised  that  calling ;  and  to  this 
narrow  and  selfish  policy  the  bar  and  a  portion  of  the  bench 
clung,  until  the  days  of  Lord  Mansfield,  when  it  was  repudiated 
by  the  more  generous  spirit  of  the  times,  and  its  principles  were 
declared  applicable  to  all. 

Commercial  intercourse  between  different  nations  commenced 
with  the  dispersion  of  mankind.  The  Ishmaelites,  in  Upper 


FEB.'Gl.]      COMMERCIAL    LAW  I     POLITICAL    ECONOMY.  721 

Arabia,  sold  in  Egypt  spices,  balm,  myrrh  and  the  sweet-scented 
woods  of  the  East,  and  in  one  of  their  journeys  purchased  from 
his  affectionate  brethren,  who  had  deposited  him  in  a  pit,  as  was 
said  by  a  wag,  because  they  thought  it  a  fine  opening  for  a 
young  man  of  promise,  and  sold,  on  speculation,  Joseph,  after 
wards  Governor  of  Egypt.  They  were  succeeded  by  the  Phoe 
nicians,  a  people  of  industry  and  enterprise,  who  established  the 
first  considerable  naval  power  of  the  world,  and  founded  the 
cities  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  became  emporiums  of  the  uni 
verse.  David  and  Solomon,  the  wise  and  favored  kings  of  Judea, 
were  assisted  by  this  people  in  advancing  their  empire  and 
equipping  their  fleets.  Modern  Tyre  was  more  magnificent 
than  ancient,  and  founded  Carthage  ;  and  the  Carthaginians,  by 
the  enterprising  contributions  of  commerce,  became  masters  of 
Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Spain.  Egypt,  under  the  Ptolemies,  reached 
a  point  of  extraordinary  affluence  and  magnificence  by  extend 
ing  encouragement  to  trade.  The  customs  of  Alexandria  alone 
were  about  two  millions  of  dollars  annually.  When  the  banners 
of  all-conquering  Rome  waved  over  a  subjugated  world,  though 
more  engaged  in  robbery  and  rapine  than  trade,  she  encouraged 
commerce  wherever  her  influence  extended,  and  every  city  had 
its  associations  of  trade.  England,  from  the  earliest  reigns  of  its 
Saxon  monarchs,  was  engaged  in  merchandise  and  navigation. 
When  the  Roman  Empire  declined,  commerce  declined  with  it, 
and  gave  place  to  irruptions  of  barbarous  tribes  who  laid  waste 
the  productions  of  civilization.  Venice,  Genoa,  the  Germanic 
States,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  other  cities  of  the  olden  time,  at 
tained  their  eminence  through  the  profits  of  trade  and  com 
mercial  relations,  until  commerce  became  almost  universal,  and 
its  great  centres  rested  with  England  and  other  powerful  na 
tions. 

It  is  worthy  of  especial  notice  that  a  maritime  code,  ori 
ginating  in  the  Island  of  Rhodes,  nearly  500  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  for  the  government  of  its  commerce  and  naviga 
tion,  has  been  in  many  of  its  important  provisions  brought 
down  to  this  day,  and  now  forms  a  part  of  the  established  com 
mercial  law  of  England  and  the  United  States.  Although  the 
custom  of  merchants  was  recognized  as  a  branch  of  the  com 
mon  law  of  England,  in  the  early  history  of  its  jurisprudence, 
it  was  not  until  about  1765  that  it  was  moulded  to  a  structure 
46 


722 

of  exquisite  proportions  and  finish,  by  Lord  Mansfield.  For  a 
time  it  was  the  practice  of  the  English  courts,  while  recognizing 
the  control  of  the  custom  of  merchants  in  commercial  transac 
tions,  to  regard  such  questions  as  questions  of  fact,  and  to  re 
quire  the  custom  to  be  proved  by  those  versed  in  commercial 
dealings  ;  but  Lord  Mansfield  declared  with  emphasis,  that  the 
law  of  merchants  and  the  law  of  the  land  is  the  same,  and  must 
be  taken  notice  of  accordingly,  like  any  other  branch  of  the 
common  law.  Having  glanced  at  the  origin,  history,  and  prog 
ress  of  the  commercial  law,  a  few  general  branches  will  be 
briefly  considered,  and  amongst  them,  Agency,  or  the  legal  re 
lations  of  an  agent  to  his  principal  and  the  public. 

AGENCY. 

An  Agent  is  one  appointed  to  act  for  another,  and  may  be 
general  in  a  certain  matter  or  business,  such  as  to  sell  or  pur 
chase  property  or  both, — to  loan  or  collect  money,  to  super 
intend  and  oversee  labor,  to  make  contracts  and  insure  against 
loss  of  life,  health,  or  damage  by  fire  ;  or  he  may  be  special,  to 
do  a  particular  thing  and  that  only.  No  particular  form  of 
appointment  is  ordinarily  necessary,  though  if  he  be  appointed 
to  convey  or  mortgage  lands,  or  transact  other  business  by 
deeds,  his  appointment  must  be  evidenced  by  equal  solemnity. 
For  all  other  purposes  he  may  be  appointed  by  simple  letter,  or 
by  verbal  request,  or  an  appointment  may  be  inferred  from  the 
sanctioning  of  his  dealings.  As  between  the  agent  and  his 
principal,  the  agent  must  pursue  his  instructions  strictly,  or  he 
wTill  render  himself  liable  to  his  principal  for  any  damage 
resulting  from  a  departure ;  but  whatever  may  be  the  private 
instructions  of  a  principal  to  his  general  agent,  when  the  agent 
acts  in  the  matter  of  his  agency,  and  those  dealing  with  him  in 
good  faith  suppose  he  has  the  power  he  is  claiming  to  exercise, 
the  question  between  the  public  and  the  principal  is  not  what 
power  the  agent  actually  had,  but  what  power,  from  the  nature 
of  the  age:icy  and  the  manner  it  was  exercised  by  the  agent,  the 
public  had  a  right  to  suppose  he  had ;  and  by  this  rule  the 
principal  will  be  concluded :  but  if  the  agent  exceed  his  power 
in  a  transaction,  and  those  dealing  with  him  know  or  have  good 
reason  to  believe  he  is  doing  so,  the  priucipal  is  not  bound  by 


FEB. '61.]       COMMERCIAL   LAW  :     POLITICAL    ECONOMY.  723 

such  act  of  the  agent.  The  appointment  of  a  general  agent, 
with  no  specified  limitations  upon  the  power,  carries  with  it  by 
implication  the  authority  to  employ  in  its  exercise  all  custom 
ary,  ordinary,  and  useful  means,  necessary  or  convenient  to  its 
complete  and  successful  execution.  The  general  agent  may  not 
delegate  his  power  to  another,  unless  the  power  of  substitution 
is  given  in  his  appointment,  for  the  reason  that  the  principal  is 
supposed  to  have  relied  upon  his  personal  skill,  sagacity,  and 
integrity  in  a  matter  affecting  his  interests,  and  may  not  be 
willing  to  confide  such  interests  to  a  stranger ;  but  within  the 
scope  of  his  agency,  he  may  do  himself  everything  which  his 
principal  could  do  in  the  same  matter,  making  himself  person 
ally  responsible  to  his  principal  if  he  exceeds  his  authority  or 
instructions. 

USURY   LAWS. 

The  interest  of  money  and  usury  laws  have  engaged  the 
consideration  of  the  sovereign  power  from  the  early  history  of 
man ;  and  whether  regarded  from  the  stand-point  of  Political 
Economy  or  of  Commercial  Law,  are  to-day  as  much  a  matter 
of  contention  as  in  the  days  of  the  Jews  and  Romans.  Oceans 
of  ink  have  been  consumed  in  proving  that  usury  laws  are  ab 
surd,  and  tend  to  increase  rather  than  to  diminish  the  rate  of 
interest ;  and  many  eloquent  orations  have  been  pronounced  to 
the  same  end  and  purpose,  and  yet  the  common  sense  of  man 
kind  has  remained  unchanged.  In  these  discussions  the  mole- 
eyed  theories  of  the  closet  and  the  abstract  philosopher  have 
spun  the  fabric  from  the  staple  which  avarice  has  furnished ; 
and  while  the  greedy  instincts  of  gain  have  urged  the  abolition 
of  usury  laws  upon  the  alleged  ground  that  it  was  to  make 
money  cheap,  the  advance  of  this  doctrine  has  been  resisted 
inch  by  inch,  with  that  sleepless  energy  which  distrust,  in  a 
matter  of  such  universal  and  absorbing  interest,  is  sure  to  beget. 
The  conflict  over  the  usury  laws  has  been  one  of  the  most  cease 
less  and  persistent  conflicts  in  the  history  of  man.  All  states 
and  nations  have  from  time  to  time  made  and  modified  pro 
visions  upon  the  subject,  with  prohibitions  and  penalties  more 
or  less  stringent  and  severe. 

Under  the  Mosaic  code,  the  taking  of  usury  was  prohibited. 


724 

and  careful  provisions  upon  the  subject  may  be  found  in  Ex 
odus,  Leviticus,  and  Deuteronomy.  Usury  then  meant  interest 
for  mere  use ;  the  Jews  regarded  money  as  a  treasure  rather 
than  an  article  of  trade  ;  and  while  they  were  not  permitted  to 
take  usury  of  each  other,  they  were  permitted  to  take  it  of  a 
stranger ;  but  if  the  stranger  was  needy,  they  were  not  to  give 
them  their  money  upon  usury,  nor  lend  him  victuals  upon  in 
crease.  It  should  be  remembered  that  money,  in  this  primitive 
age,  meant  what  is  now  more  generally  termed  bullion  /  and  it 
has  been  suggested  that  this  term  may  have  originated  from  the 
golden  calf  made  by  the  people  from  the  Egyptian  jewels, 
though  I  have  never  found  this  definition  in  very  authentic 
history. 

Greece  had,  in  her  earliest  history,  in  lieu  of  a  positive  pro 
hibition,  a  kind  of  statutory  exhortation,  advising  that  interest 
might  be  moderate  ;  and  moderate  it  was  with  a  vengeance,  for 
the  usual  rate  was  sixty  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  a  loan  for  a 
trading  voyage  to  the  Euxine  sea,  which  usually  took  six 
months,  was  thirty  per  cent. 

Before  usury  laws  in  Rome,  complaints  shook  the  Eternal 
City  to  its  moral  foundations,  because  of  the  extortions  of  money 
lenders  ;  the  nation  had  little  commerce,  and  yet  the  rate  was 
frequently  fifty  per  cent.  When  she  gathered  her  elements  of 
jurisprudence  from  other  nations,  she  rushed  to  the  other  ex 
treme  and  limited  her  rate  of  interest  at  one  per  cent. ;  and  the 
Lacinian  law,  which  came  next,  forbade  all  interest  whatsoever. 
This  absurd  and  vacillating  policy  was  that  of  a  nation  great  in 
strength  but  greater  in  weakness  ;  which  conquered  the  world 
and  fell  a  prey  to  herself ;  which  was  great  in  virtue,  but  greater 
in  vicious  and  sensual  delights  ;  which  cheered  a  Brutus  when 
he  swore  by  the  blood  of  the  violated  Lucretia  to  extinguish 
every  vestige  of  monarchy,  and  looked  tamely  on  when  the 
Pra3torian  cohorts  offered  the  empire  of  the  wrorld  at  auction 
for  money. 

It  is  evident  that  much  of  the  prejudice  which  has  obtained 
against  usury  lawrs  proceeded  from  the  blind  and  fanatical  spirit 
with  which  usurers  were  formerly  treated.  In  the  early  history 
of  England,  Bracton,  Fleta,  and  other  civilians  bear  evidence  to 
the  abhorrence  in  which  usury  was  held,  and  to  the  severity 
with  which  usurers  were  punished.  King  Alfred  confiscated 


FEB.'Gl.]      COMMERCIAL   LAW:     POLITICAL   ECONOMY.  725 

the  estate  of  the  usurer,  and  ordained  that  he  should  not  be 
buried  in  consecrated  ground.  Edward  the  Confessor  banished 
the  money-lender  from  England.  Charlemagne,  king  of  France, 
prohibited  the  taking  of  any  interest.  In  the  reign  of  King 
Henry  VII.,  by  the  authority  of  the  church,  usurers  were 
damned,  and  prohibited  the  realm  (and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  in  one  respect  they  are  treated  in  the  same  manner  now  by 
the  borrowers),  and  ranked  in  point  of  turpitude  with  mur 
derers  ;  and  in  Rome,  while  a  thief  forfeited  only  double,  the 
usurer  forfeited  fourfold  the  amount  unjustly  taken.  In  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  as  commerce  advanced,  and  money  began 
to  be  more  used  to  advance  its  interests,  the  rate  of  interest  was 
fixed  at  ten  pounds  upon  the  hundred,  per  annum.  But  this  not 
having  the  desired  effect,  the  statute  of  5th  and  6th  of  Edward 
VI.,  after  reciting  that  usury  was  an  offence  against  the  laws 
of  God  and  man  and  was  "  seized  upon  by  divers  greedy  persons" 
repealed  the  statute  of  Henry,  and  enacted  a  highly  penal  stat 
ute,  prohibiting  any  interest  whatever.  The  13th  of  Elizabeth 
repealed  the  statute  of  Edward,  and  revived  the  statute  of 
Henry  VIII.  In  the  reign  of  James  I.,  the  rate  was  reduced  to 
eight  pounds  upon  the  hundred  per  annum  ;  but  it  was  express 
ly  provided  that  it  should  not  allow  the  taking  of  interest,  in 
point  of  "  religion  or  conscience"  The  12th  of  Charles  reduced 
the  rate  to  six  pounds  upon  the  hundred,  and  the  12th  of  Anne 
to  five  pounds,  and  it  has  since  received  several  changes  and 
modifications. 

Shylock  hated  Antonio  because  he  was  a  Christian — 

"  But  more,  for  that  in  low  simplicity 
He  lends  out  moneys  gratis,  and  brings  down 
The  rate  of  usance  here  with  us  in  Venice. 
If  I  can  catch  him  once  upon  the  hip, 
I  will  feed  fat  the  ancient  grudge  I  bear  him." 


"  He  hath  disgraced  me  and  hindered  me  of  half  a  million  ; 
laughed  at  my  losses,  mocked  at  my  gains,  scorned  my  nation, 
thwarted  my  bargains,  cooled  my  friends,  heated  mine  enemies  ; 
and  what's  his  reason  ?  I  am  a  Jew" 

For  the  last  thirty  years  the  Legislature  of  this  State  has 
annually  been  urged  to  repeal  the  usury  laws.  The  petitions 


726  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

have  uniformly  emanated  from  money-lenders  in  the  city  of 
New  York ;  and  have  originated,  if  they  are  to  be  believed,  in 
the  benevolent  idea  that  such  repeal  would  largely  reduce  the 
current  rate  of  interest ;  and  these  petitions  have  been  seconded 
by  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  Boards  of  Trade.  It  has  never 
yet  been  clear  to  the  ordinary  comprehension,  why  money 
lenders  should  be  so  anxious  to  reduce  rates ;  but  it  must  un 
doubtedly  proceed  from  that  emotion  of  the  human  heart  which 
the  preachers  denominate  disinterested  benevolence.  That  in  a 
great  moneyed  centre  like  the  city  of  New  York,  where  com 
merce  is  king,  and  everything  has  a  vendible  price ;  where 
natural  laws  of  trade  are  stronger  than  artificial  restraints  ;  that 
the  ebbs  and  flows  of  commercial  tides  would  regulate  them 
selves,  is  by  no  means  improbable ;  but  that  there  would  be 
any  material  change  from  the  present,  no  observing  mind  can 
believe.  In  the  city  of  New  York  usury  laws  are  now  prac 
tically  disregarded,  and  how  would  their  repeal  change  it  there  ? 
But  money  would  flow  in,  it  is  said,  expecting  a  higher  rate  of 
interest,  and  would  thus  reduce  rates  by  competition.  But  why 
does  it  not  then  flow  in  now  ?  Our  rate  is  higher  than  that  of 
Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey.  Pennsyl 
vania,  Ohio,  or  Canada,  and  thus  outbids  them  all.  Besides,  if 
money  flows  in  to  get  a  high  rate,  it  must,  by  the  same  rule, 
flow  away  again,  where  it  finds  a  low  one.  The  truth  is,  it  is 
one  of  those  constant  struggles  between  capital  and  labor,  which 
has  marked  the  history  of  the  world's  progress ;  which  is  as 
ceaseless  and  deathless  as  the  spirit  of  man.  It  has  attended 
him  since  he  left  Eden  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  his  own  way,  and 
will  live  with  him  till  the  last  human  heart  shall  cease  to  throb. 
The  great  argument  for  the  repeal  of  usury  laws,  and  free 
trade  in  money,  is,  that  money,  like  any  other  commodity,  or 
any  article  of  property,  will,  by  competition,  find  its  own  value 
and  be  regulated  accordingly  in  the  markets  of  the  world ;  that 
like  water  it  will  seek  its  own  level,  and,  like  merchandise,  be 
governed  by  demand  and  supply.  These  are  certainly  plausible 
theories,  and  are  as  true  in  the  abstract  as  they  are  practically 
false  and  vicious.  Of  all  the  writers  who  have  advocated  the 
repeal  of  the  usury  laws  ;  of  all  the  bulls  of  excommunication 
which  have  been  fulminated  from  the  commercial  Vatican ;  of 
all  the  legislative  speeches  which  have  been  launched  against 


FEB.'61.]      COMMERCIAL   LAW  :    POLITICAL   ECONOMY.  727 

them,  charged  with  electro-magnetic  sarcasm  and  eloquence, 
no  one  has  ever  met  the  question  fully  and  fairly  ;  but  each 
has  erected  an  imaginary  antagonism,  which  has  no  real  exist 
ence  and  then  proceeded  to  its  demolition  with  triumphant 
success. 

It  is  true,  in  natural  philosophy,  that  water  will  find  its  level, 
left  to  its  own  currents  ;  but  it  is  equally  true,  that,  by  the  suc 
tion  hose  and  absorbing  sponges  it  may  find  any  other  level 
than  its  own,  and  be  thrown  where  no  natural  law  would  ever 
have  carried  it ; — and  it  is  idle  to  suppose  of  money  that  it  will 
work  according  to  the  laws  which  govern  liquids,  if  subjected 
to  the  forcing  pumps  and  hydraulic  rams  of  modern  legislation. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  price  of  horses  is  best  regulated  by 
the  perfect  freedom  of  competition, — by  the  laws  of  demand 
and  supply.  But,  suppose  in  addition  to  the  real  horses  of  the 
country,  legislation  had  turned  brood-mare,  and  had  produced, 
through  the  occult  process  of  corporations  and  associations,  for 
every  real  horse  in  the  country,  twenty  pictures  of  horses, 
which  were  each  to  be  of  the  value  of  a  horse,  and  entitle  the 
holder  of  one  of  them  to  a  horse,  if  he  would  catch  him ;  and 
which  would  be  just  as  good  as  a  horse,  except  when  you  de 
sired  to  drive  or  ride  him  (when,  if  well  secured  by  stocks — 
not  neat  stock,  or  farm  stock,  but  State  stocks — he  would  have 
more  bottom  than  speed) ;  and  such  associations  should  have 
the  power  of  self-creation,  and  have  the  right  to  issue  their  imi 
tation  horses,  and  to  withdraw  them  at  pleasure,  thus  making 
them  plenty  or  scarce  ; — the  case  would  be  far  different.  And 
the  question  would  be  the  same,  whether  made  scarce  or  plenty 
by  the  caprice  of  the  manager,  or  the  fluctuations  of  trade, 
made  capricious  by  legislation. 

The  whole  fallacy  consists  in  having  overshadowed  every 
line  of  trade  by  artificial  systems,  stretching  throughout  the 
entire  Union,  and  then  seeking  the  application  of  natural  laws  ; 
as  though  none  of  the  laws  which  regulate  capital  and  labor, 
and  control  demand  and  supply,  had  ever  been  subverted  by 
legislation. 

Gold  and  silver  are  not  only  the  real  but  the  conventional 
representatives  of  labor;  they  represent  toil,  the  foundation  upon 
which  our  social  and  political  structure  reposes.  Bank  notes 
represent  a  system  of  credit,  created  by  the  growing  necessi- 


728 

ties  of  enterprise,  and  authorized  and  sanctioned  by  legislation ; 
but,  nevertheless,  essentially  artificial  in  gender,  number,  per 
son  and  case,  and  requiring  the  application  of  artificial  rules 
for  its  government.  And  no  moon-struck  philosophy  can  prove 
the  adaptation  of  a  natural  system  in  the  abstract,  existing 
alone  in  cast-off  theories,  to  one  created  entirely  by  legislative 
enactment.  When  we  have  one  artificial  system  of  trade  or 
finance,  we  must  have  others ;  and  if  we  create  currency  by 
legislation  and  place  it  in  the  control  of  individuals  or  corpora 
tions,  with  power  to  swell  or  depress  the  currents,  as  interest 
or  convenience  may  suggest  or  dictate,  and  subject  them  to  the 
fluctuations,  panics,  and  depressions  incident  to  a  system  of  ex 
tended  industry,  we  must  surround  such  systems  with  artificial 
guards  to  restrain  them  within  legitimate  channels. 


PARTNERSHIP. 

The  law  of  partnership  or  co-partnership,  as  it  is  frequently 
termed,  is  second  to  no  other  in  commercial  importance.  It  is 
a  voluntary  contract  between  two  or  more  competent  persons 
to  place  their  money,  enterprise,  skill,  labor,  effects,  or  some  or 
all  of  them,  in  lawful  commerce  or  business,  with  the  under 
standing  that  there  shall  be  a  community  of  profits  and  losses 
between  them.  All  men  of  full  age,  and  all  unmarried  women, 
not  infants,  are  competent  to  enter  into  this  near,  confiding,  and 
interesting  relation ;  so  that  the  young  man  about  to  enter  upon 
life  can  scarcely  fail,  if  worthy,  to  provide  himself  with  a  part 
ner.  Partners  are  divided  into  ostensible  or  general  partners; 
or  those  who  are  in  reality,  and  appear  to  the  world  as  such; 
nominal  partners,  who  are  held  out  to  the  world  as  partners, 
but  who  in  fact  have  no  interest  in  the  firm  or  business ;  dor 
mant  partners,  whose  names  do  not  appear,  but  who  are  never 
theless  silent  partners  in  the  business — sometimes  called  sleep 
ing  partners,  a  partnership  in  which  young  men  sometimes  en 
gage,  though  the  term  silent  partners  is  supposed  to  have  no 
relation  to  ladies.  The  contracts  of  an  ordinary  co-partnership 
may  be  for  a  limited  period,  in  which  case  the  partnership  ex 
pires  by  limitation,  or  during  the  pleasure  of  the  parties,  in 
which  case  either  can  dissolve  the  relation  before  the  expira 
tion  of  the  period,  by  virtue  of  their  equitable  jurisdiction,  for 


FEB.'Gl.]      COMMERCIAL   LAW  I    POLITICAL   ECONOMY.  729 

various  causes  which  prevent  the  success  of  the  undertaking 
and  jeopardize  the  capital  invested,  and  the  rights  of  parties 
and  creditors ;  and  amongst  them  fraud,  incapacity,  and  dispar 
ity  of  temperament,  irreconcilable  controversies,  &c.,  &c. — 
They  are  also  terminated  by  bankruptcy  or  death. 

As  it  is  an  established  principle  that  a  partnership  can  only 
be  formed  by  the  voluntary  act  of  the  parties,  so  when  it  is 
once  formed  no  member  can  be  added  to  it  without  the  concur 
rence  of  all  the  partners  of  the  original  firm,  thus  virtually 
forming  a  new  firm,  with  an  additional  member.  And  the  in 
troduction  of  a  new  member  by  the  act  of  some,  without  the 
consent  of  all,  works  a  dissolution.  Thus  if  a  single  woman, 
member  of  a  co-partnership,  should  marry  one  not  a  member  of 
the  firm,  it  would  work  a  dissolution ;  upon  the  ground  that  it 
would  introduce  a  stranger  into  the  concern,  who  might  not  be 
agreeable  to  any  of  its  members  except  herself;  and  perhaps 
upon  the  further  ground,  though  upon  this  learned  commen 
tators  are  silent,  that,  having  formed  a  more  agreeable  new  re 
lation,  she  could  afford  to  relinquish  the  old  one.  But  the  law 
has  dealt  more  generously  with  the  single  man  who  is  the  mem 
ber  of  a  firm,  and  enters  into  the  marriage  relation  ;  for  it  in  no 
wise  disturbs  his  business  arrangements  or  connections,  but  by 
its  benign  policy  encourages  the  institution  of  marriage,  and 
suggests  to  every  business  man,  who  embarks  in  the  enterprise 
of  trade  and  other  transactions  with  partners,  not  to  risk  his 
all  there,  but  to  have  his  domestic  affections  safely  invested  in 
a  life-long  copartnership  of  his  own.  In  addition  to  dissolution 
by  marriage,  which  we  have  just  considered,  the  next  thing 
which  works  dissolution  as  specified  by  the  commentator,  is  a 
dissolution  by  war.  How  dissolution  by  matrimony  should  have 
suggested  a  dissolution  by  war,  immediately  following  and 
next  in  order,  to  the  compiler,  is  a  problem  I  know  not  how  to 
solve,  unless  it  is  that  both  call  for  enlistments  into  unknown 
and  hazardous  service ;  both  require  brave  men ;  both  have 
their  conquests;  that  the  subjects  of  both  have  to  march  at  the 
word  of  command ;  both  have  occasionally  to  practise  the  quick 
step  ;  both  have  sometimes  been  found  unfaithful ;  both  have 
occasionally  deserted,  and  both  have  probably  been  drummed 
out  of  camp.  But  the  dissolution  by  war  is  when  members  of 
the  same  firm  are  subjects  or  citizens  of  different  states  or 


730 

nations,  and  such  states  or  nations  are  at  war.  This  works  a 
dissolution. 

Partners  are  both  principals  and  agents ;  principals  in  the 
management  of  their  own  interests,  and  agents  in  the  manage 
ment  of  the  interests  of  other  members  of  the  firm.  Partners 
must  have  some  partnership  name  or  style  by  which  the  firm 
shall  be  known ;  it  may  be  by  all  the  names,  by  one  name  & 
Co.,  or,  as  the  modest  young  gentleman  suggested  to  his  father, 
who  was  about  to  admit  him  into  partnership :  "  What  name 
shall  we  give  the  firm  ?"  inquired  the  father.  "Suppose  we 
call  it  John  Smith  &  Father,"  responded  the  hopeful  son.  The 
addition  to  the  name  of  one  or  more  partners  of  &  Co.  is  com 
mon,  but  this  designation  must  represent  a  real  party  or  par 
ties;  for  it  is  a  misdemeanor  by  statute  to  affix  this  addition, 
when  there  are  no  real  parties  to  be  represented  by  it.  This 
statute  is  a  modern  provision,  and  was  passed  to  prevent  a  rep 
etition  of  frauds  which  were  being  practised  under  the  pretence 
that  this  designation  represented  some  individual  of  capital 
and  character,  and  thus  fraudulently  obtaining  credit. 

The  firm  name  is  fixed  to  designate  the  transactions  of  the 
partnership,  and  for  no  other  purpose,  though  they  are  some 
times  laughably  employed  otherwise.  In  England,  where  the 
old-school  merchants  are  more  proverbial  for  devotion  to  rou 
tine  than  in  this  country,  the  rules  of  the  Church  required  a 
notice  specifying  the  parentage,  age,  and  sex  of  every  child  pre 
sented  for  baptism,  to  be  given  the  parish  clerk,  so  many  days 
in  advance  of  the  presentation ;  and  a  member  of  a  celebrated 
house,  having  a  child  to  christen,  sent  his  notice  accordingly : 
"  A  male  child,  six  weeks  of  age,  son  of  John  Smith  &  Co." 

We  have  thus  far  spoken  only  of  general  partners,  who  are 
entitled  to  share  jointly,  according  to  the  prescribed  ratio,  in 
the  profits,  and  who  in  the  same  manner  must  share  the  losses. 
But  one  may  become  a  special  partner  by  complying  with  the 
provisions  of  the  statute,  and  be  liable  only  to  the  extent  of 
capital  invested.  Notice  of  this  arrangement  must  be  publish 
ed  according  to  statutory  requirement ;  the  name  of  the  general 
partners  only  must  be  used  in  such  partnership,  without  any 
such  general  designation  as  &  Co.,  which  is  expressly  prohibit 
ed.  But  this  partnership,  as  now  created  and  defined,  is  a  mere 
creature  of  the  statute. 


FEB.  J61.]      COMMERCIAL   LAW :    POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  731 

Iii  the  general  partnership  each  must  devote  his  time  and 
skill  and  labor  in  advancing  the  joint  interests,  unless  otherwise 
provided,  and  neither  can  charge  for  time  or  services,  unless  it 
is  expressly  stipulated.  Neither  can  apply  the  partnership  prop 
erty  to  the  payment  of  his  private  debts,  nor  otherwise  divert 
it  from  the  purposes  of  the  joint  enterprise.  The  whole  assets 
of  the  concern  are  first  charged  with  the  joint  debts  of  the 
partnership,  before  either  partner  can  appropriate  to  his  pri 
vate  use,  or  before  an  execution  against  an  individual  partner 
for  a  private  debt  can  attach ;  and  if  executions  for  private 
debts  of  the  partners,  or  either  of  them,  are  levied  upon  the 
partnership  property,  upon  proper  application  they  will  be  post 
poned  until  the  entire  partnership  debts  are  satisfied. 

No  particular  form  of  agreement  is  necessary  to  constitute 
a  partnership,  but  for  the  protection  of  the  parties  it  should  be 
definite,  and  the  respective  rights,  obligations,  and  privileges 
of  each  should  be  clearly  specified.  In  all  ordinary  cases  it  is 
as  well  verbal  as  written,  and  equally  valid  and  binding.  As 
to  the  public  relation,  all  are  co-partners  who  associate  together 
in  business  and  agree  to  share  in  the  enterprise,  and  hold  them 
selves  out  to  the  world  as  co-partners ;  and  though  the  most 
usual  mode  of  evidencing  the  association  is  by  notice  or  ad 
vertisement,  no  such  publication  is  necessary,  and  the  obliga 
tory  relations  upon  all  the  partners  are  as  binding  without  it  as 
with  it. 

We  have  already  considered  the  means  by  which  partner 
ships  may  be  formed,  and  it  is  of  no  less  moment  to  understand 
what  are  the  rights  of  all  parties  in  interest  upon  their  dissolu 
tion. 

Those  who  have  been  members  of  a  firm  remain  liable  for 
all  debts  of  the  firm  contracted  during  its  existence.  Upon 
the  dissolution,  a  notice  to  the  public  through  the  papers  of  the 
dissolution  will  be  sufficient  to  protect  all  parties.  Not  so  with 
houses  where  the  firm  are  dealing;  for  if  any  member  of  the 
dissolved  firm  would  protect  himself  against  further  debts  in 
curred  on  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  copartnership,  with  houses 
where  the  firm  have  dealings,  he  should  give  special  notice  to 
such  house  of  the  dissolution,  or  see  that  it  is  brought  home  to 
them,  or  he  will  be  liable  for  new  bills  purchased  in  the  name 
of  the  firm,  notwithstanding  the  notice  of  dissolution  published 


732 

in  the  public  journals.  Upon  the  dissolution  each  is  an  agent 
for  winding  up  and  closing  the  business,  but  neither  has  further 
power  to  bind  his  former  associates. 

NOTES. 

t 

Bills  of  exchange  and  promissory  notes  enter  so  largely  into 
the  everyday  transactions  of  life  that  every  well-informed 
mind  must  be  familiar  with  the  general  doctrines  concerning 
them,  and  no  merchant,  mechanic,  or  trader  should  enter  upon 
business  without  understanding  well  the  principles  by  which 
they  are  regulated.  Story,  Baily,  Chitty,  and  others  have  de 
voted  large  volumes  to  the  subject.  The  reports  of  adjudged 
cases  in  Europe,  in  the  Federal  Courts  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  the  several  State  Courts,  abound  with  decisions  dispos 
ing  of  the  numberless  questions  which  arise  concerning  them, 
and  legislation  has  lent  its  officious  aid  to  make  that  law  which 

O 

was  law  before ;  and,  with  its  customary  bungling,  it  has  essay 
ed  to  make  that  simple  which  was  complex ;  plain  that  which 
was  intricate,  and  clear  that  which  was  doubtful ;  but  has  gen 
erally  ended,  as  legislation  always  does,  when  it  attempts  to 
make  the  common  law  declaratory,  in  making  darkness  visible, 
and  furnishing  a  remedy  worse  than  the  disease. 

A  subject  which  has  thus  engaged  the  profoundest  of  learn 
ed  commentators  through  years  of  laborious  examination ; 
which  has  presented  for  the  decision  of  courts  some  of  the  most 
difficult  questions  ever  before  them,  and  has  so  often  been  the 
subject  of  legislative  enactment,  can  at  best  be  but  glanced  at 
in  some  of  its  most  common  and  popular  characteristics  in  a 
brief  and  hasty  essay, — doing  little  more  than  to  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  business  man  to  the  importance  of  the  subject,  and 
point  him  to  the  best  sources  of  information.  Although  bills 
and  notes  are  authorized  and  regulated  by  many  principles 
common  to  both,  and  many  topics,  necessary  to  be  discussed  and 
examined,  may  properly  be  brought  together,  yet  there  are 
many  others  respectively  applicable  to  each,  which  suggest  the 
propriety  and  great  utility  of  separating  them  in  any  notice 
they  may  receive,  explaining  their  peculiar  offices  and  character 
istics.  This  view  is  especially  suited  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
occasion,  when  but  a  glance  can  be  taken  at  either,  where 


FEB.  '61.]      COMMERCIAL   LAW  I    POLITICAL   ECONOMY.  733 

transactions  concerning  promissory  notes  are  of  constant  and 
ceaseless  occurrence,  and  where  bills  of  exchange  are  compara 
tively  little  employed  or  known.  For  the  present,  then,  the 
doctrine  of  promissory  notes  will  alone  be  considered. 

A  promissory  note  is  an  instrument  by  which  one  engages 
to  pay  another  a  certain  sum  of  money.  It  may  be  written 
with  pen  or  pencil ;  it  may  be  payable  to  order  or  bearer — at  a 
particular  time,  or  on  demand,  or  without  mentioning  any 
time  of  payment ;  it  may  be  made  payable  at  a  particular  place, 
or  no  place  need  be  mentioned.  Generally,  when  payable  on 
demand,  no  demand  is  necessary  before  suit  is  brought ;  when 
no  time  is  specified  it  is  due  presently.  It  must  be  payable  ab 
solutely,  and  not  upon  any  condition  nor  out  of  any  particular 
fund.  It  need  not  contain  the  words  "  for  value  received,"  for 
the  law  implies  value;  but  a  note  payable  in  specific  articles 
must  express  consideration,  though  this  last  named  instrument 
is  more  properly  an  agreement  than  a  note  ;  it  is  not  recognized 
by  the  law  merchant ;  it  is  not  negotiable  though  payable  to 
bearer,  and  really  is  entitled  to  none  of  the  advantages  and 
exemptions  which  belong  to  promissory  notes.  An  instrument 
drawn  up  and  signed  with  all  the  forms  of  a  promissory  note, 
has  no  legal  inception,  and  has  no  existence  in  law,  until  it  is 
delivered  by  some  one  authorized  to  do  so,  as  evidence  of  a 
subsisting  debt.  If  put  in  circulation  without  authority,  no 
one  receiving  it,  even  for  value,  gains  any  title  thereto,  but  it 
is  as  void  as  would  be  blank  paper.  After  it  has  been  once 
delivered  and  has  valid  existence,  it  is  good  in  the  hands  of 
any 'one  who  receives  it  in  the  course  of  trade,  bona  fide,  for 
value,  before  due,  and  without  notice  affecting  its  validity. 
But,  taking  it  upon  a  precedent  debt,  or  as  collateral  security 
or  under  other  circumstances  when  no  value  is  parted  with  at 
the  time,  is  not  taking  it  for  value  in  the  course  of  trade  within 
the  rule ;  and  if  the  maker  has  equities  against  it,  he  may  set 
them  up  as  a  defence  to  it,  in  whole  or  in  part,  according  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  case.  The  same  rule  as  to  setting  up 
equities  in  defence,  applies  to  it  in  the  hands  of  a  holder  receiv 
ing  it  after  maturity. 

By  statute,  notes  given  for  usurious  consideration  are  invalid 
in  the  hands  of  a  bona  fide  holder  for  value,  and  may  be  defend 
ed  and  recovery  defeated  accordingly,  whenever  the  usurious 


734:  DICKINSON'S  SPEECHES. 

taint  can  be  established.  A  note  written  over  a  name  or  names, 
placed  there  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  promissory  note  by 
one  authorized  so  to  write,  is  a  good  and  valid  promissory  note ; 
and  so  is  a  blank  paper  endorsed  for  the  same  purpose ;  but  a 
note  written  over  the  name  of  one,  with  intent  to  defraud,  is  a 
forgery,  and  punishable  as  such,  and  the  instrument  is  void.  A 
note  payable  to  the  order  of  a  fictitious  person,  if  negotiated  by 
the  maker,  is  both  by  the  statute  and  common  law  the  same  as 
a  note  payable  to  bearer,  and  may  be  transferred  and  prosecut 
ed  by  the  holder  without  endorsement.  The  owner  of  a  lost 
negotiable  note  can  recover  upon  it,  after  showing  that  it  had 
valid  existence,  and  was  lost ;  but  to  entitle  him  to  such  recov 
ery  he  must  execute  to  the  maker  a  bond  with  surety  condition 
ed  to  indemnify  him  against  it. 

One  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  controversy  and  litiga 
tion  connected  with  promissory  notes,  relates  to  the  liability  of 
endorsers ;  when  and  under  what  circumstances  they  are  held 
by  demand  of  payment  of  the  maker ;  non-payment ;  protest 
for  non-payment,  and  notice  to  the  endorsers.  The  notes  we 
ordinarily  see  with  endorsers  are  payable  at  a  bank,  intended  to 
be  discounted  there  for  the  accommodation  of  the  maker,  and 
do  not  furnish  the  best  illustrations  of  the  relative  rights,  privi 
leges,  and  obligations  of  the  respective  parties.  But  the  fol 
lowing  case  will  show  the  general  principles  which  govern  the 
rights  of  maker,  holder,  and  endorser  of  a  promissory  note. 
John  Smith  purchases  of  John  Jones  a  store  of  goods  valued 
at  $10,000,  on  a  credit  of  ninety  days,  for  which  he  is  to  give 
his  note.  He  therefore  takes  the  goods,  and  gives  his  note  for 
the  amount  payable  to  the  order  of  John  Jones.  John  Jones 
purchases  property  of  James  Walker  to  the  same  amount,  and 
gives  this  note  in  payment,  endorsing  it  to  Walker,  and  Walker 
procures  it  discounted  at  the  bank,  endorsing  it  himself.  N"ow, 
although  this  note,  payable  to  the  order  of  Jones,  has  only  the 
mere  names  of  Jones  and  Walker  on  the  back  as  endorsers, 
which  is  called  endorsing  in  blank,  yet  in  judgment  of  law  the 
name  of  Jones  has  written  over  it,  "  pay  to  J.  Walker  or  his 
order,"  or  "pay  to  the  order  of  J.  Walker,"  and  the  name  of 
Walker  has  written  over  it,  "  pay  to  the  order  of  the  Bank  of 
Binghamton ;  "  and  any  holder  of  the  note  has  the  right  to  fill 
up  these  blank  endorsements  with  the  words  above  written. 


FEB. '61.]      COMMERCIAL '  LAW  I    POLITICAL   ECONOMY.  735 

The  main  advantage  of  doing  this  is  that,  if  the  note  be  lost  or 
stolen,  no  one  can  make  title  to  it  except  the  holder  to  whom  it 
has  been  endorsed. 

The  note  matures  not  at  the  end  of  ninety  days,  as  it  pur 
ports,  but  at  the  expiration  of  the  ninety  days  with  the  addition 
of  three  days'  grace,  which  time  must  be  computed  thus :  ex 
clude  the  day  of  date,  count  ninety  days,  and  then  add  three 
days  to  the  ninety;  on  the  ninety-third  day  the  note  is  due. 
But  if  the  last  day  falls  on  the  Sabbath  or  on  a  holiday,  the  law 
irreverently  placing  these  days  on  the  same  footing,  it  is  due 
the  day  previous,  and  payment  must  be  demanded  on  the  last 
day  of  grace,  and  not  before  or  afterwards.  If  it  is  payable  at 
a  particular  place,  it  must  be  presented  there  for  payment  at  the 
close  of  the  usual  business  hours  of  the  day,  and  payment  then 
and  there  demanded.  If  it  is  payable  without  specifying  where, 
and  the  residence  of  the  maker  or  his  place  of  business  be  with 
in  the  State,  the  presentment  should  ordinarily  be  made  to  the 
maker  personally,  or,  if  he  is  absent,  at  his  dwelling  or  place  of 
business.  If  the  note  is  not  paid  on  demand,  as  it  probably  will 
not  be  by  one  who  has  neglected  it  to  so  late  an  hour,  especial 
ly  in  these  revolutionary  times,  the  next  thing  in  the  order  of 
events  is  the  protest.  This  in  olden  times  had  a  meaning,  and 
the  non-payment  is  now  evidenced  by  an  instrument  with  a  seal 
and  abounding  in  solemnity,  yet  beyond  the  certificate  of  the 
notary,  to  be  used  as  evidence  in  some  cases,  the  protest  is  now 
but  a  part  of  the  jargon  of  the  law,  and  the  endorser  is  as  fully 
held  on  demand  by  one  clothed  by  no  official  authority  as  with. 
But  whether  the  demand  is  sanctioned  by  all  the  solemnities  of 
official  form  or  is  made  by  an  unofficial  agent,  it  is  essential  that 
notice  of  demand  and  non-payment  be  given  to  the  endorser. 
This  should  be  done  as  soon  after  the  dishonor  of  the  note  as  is 
practicable.  It  may  be  served  personally  or  by  mail,  directed 
to  the  post-office  where  he  receives  his  correspondence.  This 
notice  may  be  sent  to  all  the  endorsers,  and  usually  is,  when  it 
is  the  intention  of  the  holder  to  fix  all ;  or  it  may  be  sent  to  the 
last,  leaving  him  to  fix  those  before  him.  By  the  common  law 
there  was  no  joint  liability  between  makers  and  endorsers  ;  but 
now  by  statute  they  may  all  be  prosecuted  together,  or  any 
number  separately,  leaving  the  parties  to  the  note  to  regulate 
and  adjust  their  respective  liabilities  and  equities  between  them- 


736 

selves  by  other  litigation,   if  necessary  to  the  protection  of 
their  rights. 

LAW    OF   CARRIERS. 

The  importance  of  the  Law  of  Carriers  is  attested  by  the 
records  of  commercial  jurisprudence  and  the  history  of  com 
merce  and  navigation  from  their  earliest  existence  ;  its  interest 
has  increased  with  the  almost  fabulous  growth  of  trade  and 
transit,  and  since  the  introduction  of  steam — that  mighty  re 
former  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  universal  motor,  by  the 
agency  of  which  passengers  and  goods  of  all  descriptions  are 
hurried  across  the  continent  with  a  celerity  akin  to  the  trans 
mission  of  light — it  would  be  evidence  of  criminal  stupidity  in 
the  business  man  who  should  be  ignorant  of  the  relative  rights 
of  carrier  and  carried.  The  law  of  carriers  is  divided  into  va 
rious  branches,  each  of  itself  containing  materials  for  an  elabo 
rate  treatise,  requiring  the  legal  learning  of  a  lifetime  to  master 
— beyond  even  a  brief  discussion  in  a  single  lecture,  and  in  their 
nice  distinctions  out  of  the  reach  of  any  but  the  laborious 
lawyer  ;  but  there  are  some  branches  which  are  interwoven  with 
the  every-day  transactions  of  life,  the  general  principles  of 
which  are  plain  and  simple  and  easily  understood,  and  yet  are 
of  the  highest  importance  to  every  one  who  travels  by  land  or 
by  water,  or  who  has  property  in  transit.  The  law  relating  to 
the  carriage  of  persons  and  of  property  will  only  receive  atten 
tion.  The  carriage  of  passengers  may  not  properly  be  ranged 
under  the  head  of  commercial  law,  but  it  is  a  subject  of  the 
first  importance  and  interest,  and  so  intimately  interwoven  with 
the  law  of  carriers  of  property,  and  concerns  the  commercial 
man  so  deeply,  that  it  may  be  briefly  discussed  as  incidental  to 
the  law  regulating  the  carriage  of  property. 

The  passenger  in  his  transit  must  comply  with  all  the  reason 
able  regulations  of  the  carrier.  He  must  not  be  guilty  of  care 
lessness  or  negligence  himself;  and  if  he  receives  injury  partly 
from  his  own  negligence  and  partly  from  the  carelessness  or 
negligence  of  the  carrier,  he  can  recover  no  damages  for  the 
injury,  for  the  reason  that  he  contributed  a  share  of  the  negli 
gence  or  carelessness  which  produced  it.  The  carrier  of  pas 
sengers  is  not  an  insurer  of  their  safety,  for  it  is  the  policy  of 
the  law  to  leave  a  portion  of  the  risk  upon  them,  and  thus  call 


FEB.'Gl.]       COMMERCIAL    LAW  :    POLITICAL    ECONOMY.  737 

their  vigilance  into  action  ;  but  he  is  bound  to  use  all  care  and 

O 

caution  as  far  as  human  foresight  can  go  for  the  safety  of  his 
passengers,  and  if  an  accident  occurs,  and  the  passengers  receive 
injury,  the  carrier  is  liable,  if  it  is  shown  that  it  might  possibly 
have  been  guarded  against  by  human  sagacity,  skill,  and  vigi 
lance.  And  the  rule  is  the  same,  whether  the  negligence  be 
that  of  the  principal  or  the  remotest  servant  or  employee,  or 
whether  it  consist  of  imperfect  roads  or  carriages,  or  in  open  or 
secret  defects,  if  the  defects  might  have  been  detected  and  rem 
edied  by  human  skill  or  efforts. 

But  the  rule  is  far  different  as  between  the  carrier  and  his 
servants  or  employees,  one  of  whom  is  injured  by  the  careless 
ness  of  the  other.  If  the  carrier  furnish  proper  roads  (when 
they  are  owned  by  the  carrier),  carriages  and  means  of  propul 
sion,  and  employs  proper  persons  to  work  them,  and  one  em 
ployee  is  injured  by  the  negligence  of  another,  the  injured  party 
would  have  cause  of  action  against  his  fellow- employee  for  his 
negligence,  but  none  against  the  principal.  Take  the  case  of 
two  railroad  trains,  one  moving  east  and  the  other  west.  The 
conductor  going  east  is  out  of  time,  and  negligently  runs 
into  the  train  going  west,  by  which  collision  many  passengers 
are  injured  upon  both  trains,  and  the  conductor,  brakeman, 
fireman,  &c.,  on  the  train  going  west  are  also  injured.  All  the 
passengers  injured  would  have  a  good  cause  of  action  not  only 
against  the  careless  conductor  but  against  the  company  for  the 
negligence  of  its  servants.  But  the  conductor  and  other  injured 
employees  on  the  western  bound  train  would  have  no  cause  of 
action  against  the  company,  because  the  injury  was  occasioned 
solely  by  the  carelessness  of  a  fellow-employee.  The  reason  of 
this  rule  is,  that  the  law  has  mada  this  its  policy  to  incite  em 
ployees  or  servants  to  greater  care  and  vigilance,  and  upon  the 
further  ground  that  every  employee  is  presumed  to  know  the 
character  and  skill  of  his  associates,  and  to  take  the  risks  of 
their  negligence  upon  himself. 

Carriers  of  goods  consist  of  carriers  without  hire,  who  are 
charged  only  with  slight  diligence,  and  liable  only  for  gross  neg 
lect  ;  of  private  carriers  for  reward,  who  are  charged  with  or 
dinary  diligence,  which  means  that  care  which  every  prudent 
man  usually  bestows  upon  his  own  property ;  and  public  car 
riers  for  hire  called 
47 


738 


COMMON   CARRIERS. 


The  law  relating  to  that  branch  of  the  service  is  of  such  uni 
versal  and  everyday  application,  that  it  should  he  as  well  un 
derstood  in  the  counting-room  and  store-house  as  in  the  law 
office  or  the  atmosphere  of  courts.  The  common  carrier  is  re 
garded  by  law  as  an  insurer,  and  is  responsible  for  the  property 
intrusted  to  him  however  lost  or  destroyed,  except  loss  or  de 
struction  by  the  act  of  God  or  public  enemies,  which  causes  of 
loss  the  law.  with  more  pertinence  than  reverence,  has  classed 
under  the  same  heading. 

The  loss  or  damage  of  property  entrusted  to  the  carrier  is, 
of  itself  Jin  the  judgment  of  the  law,  evidence  and  sufficient 
proof  of  negligence — everything  being  negligence  which  the 
law  does  not  excuse.  This  stringent  rule  was  established  to 
prevent  those  engaged  in  the  carrying  service  from  collusion 
with  thieves  and  robbers,  as  well  as  from  principles  of  general 
policy  and  convenience,  and  to  favor  and  encourage  commerce- 

A  common  carrier  is  not  only  one  who  carries,  or  who  car 
ries  for  hire,  but  one  who  holds  out  his  calling  to  the  public, 
and  undertakes  for  hire  to  transport  the  goods  of  such  as  choose 
to  employ  him  from  place  to  place.  The  carrier  may  limit  his 
liability  by  special  contract,  but  not  by  notices  published  or 
posted.  He  is  bound  to  receive  all  goods  in  his  line  offered  for 
transportation  when  compensation  for  carriage  is  tendered,  and 
if  he  refuses  to  receive  or  transport,  an  action  lies  against  him 
by  the  owner.  There  are,  however,  many  reasonable  checks 
upon  tills  general  rule,  such  as  want  of  room,  danger  of  riots — 
the  nature  of  the  goods  being  such  as  are  likely  to  excite  the 
popular  rage,  as,  for  instance,  arms  and  ammunition  on  a  Massa 
chusetts  railroad  on  their  way  to  the  nation  of  South  Carolina  ; 
because  they  are  brought  at  an  unreasonable  time,  or  are  such 
as  the  carrier  is  not  accustomed  to  carry. 

The  responsibility  of  the  carrier  commences  when  the  goods 
are  delivered  to  him,  his  agent,  or  servant,  at  his  accustomed 
place  of  reception,  with  notice  to  those  in  charge,  and  does  not 
cease  until  the  goods  reach  their  distination  and  are  delivered 
according  to  direction.  But  the  responsibilities  of  a  carrier  and 
warehouseman  are  far  different.  While  the  carrier  is  an  insurer 
and  liable  for  all  loss  or  damage,  except  such  as  come  by  the 


FEB.'61.]       COMMERCIAL   LAW  :     POLITICAL   ECONOMY.  739 

act  of  God  or  the  public  enemies,  a  warehouseman  is  not  an  in 
surer,  and  is  bound  only  to  ordinary  diligence.  The  phrase, 
"  act  of  God,"  by  some  writers  is  likened  to  and  described  as 
inevitable  accident,  though  the  learned  Lord  Mansfield  refuted 
this  term  as  not  expressing  the  true  liability  of  the  carrier ;  be 
cause  inevitable  accidents  might  arise  merely  from  human  force 
or  fraud,  whereas  destruction  or  damage  by  the  act  of  God,  in 
a  legal  sense,  means  something  beyond  the  control  of  man,  such 
as  physical  causes  which  are  irresistible ;  loss  by  lightning,  by 
storm,  or  the  perils  of  the  sea,  or  by  inundation  or  earthquake  ; 
but  a  loss  by  fire  does  not  excuse  the  carrier  from  his  character 
of  insurer  of  the  goods  committed  to  his  care.  By  "  public 
enemies,"  in  the  legal  sense,  is  meant  those  with  whom  the 
state  or  nation  is  at  open  war  and  pirates  on  the  high  seas,  who, 
by  the  universal  laws  of  civilization,  are  regarded  and  treated 
as  the  enemies  of  mankind.  But  thieves  and  robbers,  who  dep 
redate  upon  society,  are  not  regarded  as  public  enemies  in  the 
sense  of  the  law  applicable  to  carriers. 


POLITICAL   ECONOMY 

The  term  politician  was  first  employed  in  France  about  the 
middle  of  the  16th  century,  to  designate  one  well  versed  in  the 
policy  of  government — in  regulating  the  affairs  of  a  state  or  king 
dom — since  which  time  it  has,  by  reason  of  base  uses,  been  de 
graded  to  its  present  low  estate,  where  it  is  suggestive,  in  its 
popular  sense,  of  partisan  brawlers,  caucus  engineers,  and  seedy- 
looking  individuals  with  remarkably  red  noses.  Political  per 
tains  to  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  and  political  econo 
my,  the  regulation  and  management  of  a  state's  resources,  and 
includes  all  measures  calculated  for  general  and  individual  ad 
vancement.  Education,  the  administration  of  justice,  currency, 
banking,  the  interest  of  money,  usury  laws,  internal  improve 
ments,  asylums,  prisons,  corporations,  tolls,  tariffs,  and  systems 
of  taxation,  wages  of  labor,  and  last,  though  not  the  least,  in 
voluntary  servitude,  are  among  the  subjects  embraced,  and 
which  have  awakened  the  interests  of  the  statesman  and  engaged 
the  solicitude  of  the  philanthropist  from  the  organization  of  gov 
ernment.  Political  economy  was  designed  for  the  improve 
ment  of  mankind.  Though  its  existence  is  coeval  with  civil 


740 

government,  its  history  as  a  science  may  be  dated  from  the 
publication  of  Dr.  Adam  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations,  1776. 
But  Say,  and  McCullough,  and  Ricardo,  and  Bentham,  and 
Malthus,  and  Abbe  Raynal,  and  Wayland,  and  Miss  Martin eau, 
and  numerous  others  from  time  to  time,  have  erected  their  fin 
ger-boards  along  our  political  pathway  with  a  general  com 
mingling  of  wise  suggestions  and  crude  and  impracticable  theo 
ries  ;  while  legislation,  both  State  and  national,  has  been 
chained  past  hope  to  the  car  of  political  parties.  It  is  true 
that  there  are  many  subjects  which  receive  the  consideration 
due  their  importance,  irrespective  of  party ;  but  political  par 
tisanship  has  been  the  lion  in  the  pathway  of  advancement  in 
political  economy,  and  has  left  it  to  its  sad  and  silent  progress 
in  the  tardy  and  expensive  school  of  experience.  From  our 
earliest  recollection  the  question  of  a  tariff,  as  a  specimen,  has 
been  a  political  football  between  contending  parties  ;  though  a 
mere  question  of  revenue  which,  in  its  internal  and  external  re 
lations,  was  one  of  the  most  abstract  and  subtle,  demanding  the 
best  consideration  of  the  wisest  minds  dispassionately  exer 
cised,  it  has  been  turned  over  to  the  stump  and  the  hustings, 
to  determine  whether  it  should  be  of  the  protection  and  reve 
nue  standard  upon  one  class  of  articles,  and  whether  upon 
others  the  assessments  should  be  specific  or  ad  valorem ;  and 
thus  has  been  degraded  to  the  political  arena  what  should  have 
engaged  the  best  consideration  of  statesmen. 

Political  economy,  or  the  science  of  a  nation's  wealth,  is  but 
a  generalization  from  individual  interests ;  the  wealth  of  a  na 
tion  is  the  aggregated  wealth  of  its  citizens ;  one  of  its  resources 
is  the  right  of  taxation ;  its  power,  moral  and  material,  is  the 
strength  of  its  people.  Every  step  in  enlightened  civilization 
has  increased  the  resources  of  the  many,  and  that  constitutes  a 
nation's  wealth  and  a  nation's  glory. 

That  system  of  political  economy  is  a  true  one,  which  edu 
cates  and  elevates  the  masses  of  the  people ;  which  dispenses 
equal,  and  exact,  and  speedy  justice  ;  which  maintains  a  high 
standard  of  public  and  private  morals;  which  encourages  vir 
tuous  industry,  and  seeks  to  eradicate  pauperism  and  crime ; 
which  confines  the  affairs  of  government  to  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  and  curtails  its  patronage  within  its  narrowest 
limits  consistent  with  the  public  necessities ;  which  levies  no 


FEB.'Gl.]       COMMERCIAL    LAW  I     POLITICAL    ECONOMY.  741 

more  taxation  than  an  economical  administration  of  the  gov 
ernment  requires  ;  which  demands  a  strict  accountability  in  all 
its  public  agents,  and  more  especially  all  entrusted  with  its 
finances,  and  turns  over  for  condign  punishment,  and  consigns 
to  the  world's  pillory  and  to  perpetual  obloquy,  all  lobby 
legislators  and  public  robbers  and  defaulters ;  which  inculcates 
the  simple  but  interesting  and  instructive  truth  that  govern 
ment  is  a  consumer  and  not  a  producer ;  that  it  is  the  grave  and 
not  the  resurrection  of  the  fruits  of  industry,  that  it  has  no 
bounties  but  such  as  it  collects  from  labor  by  taxation,  and  can 
not  therefore,  bestow  favors  upon  one  except  such  as  it  takes 
from  another ;  which  acknowledges  that  a  prosperous  nation 
must  export  more  than  it  imports,  that  an  individual  must  pro 
duce  more  than  he  consumes,  sell  more  than  he  purchases,  or 
that  he  will  soon  become  bankrupt;  and  that  all  non-producing 
classes  must,  from  some  means,  have  an  income  equal  to  or  ex 
ceeding  their  expenditure,  or  starve,  or  live  upon  the  public  or 
private  charity,  or  forbearance  of  others.  These  few  plain, 
simple,  and  common-place  rules  are  the  foundation-stones  of 
political  economy,  and  support  its  stately  framework.  Their 
observance  will  give  wealth  and  power  to  the  nation,  and  pros 
perity,  happiness,  and  peace  to  its  people. 

The  speculations,  nay,  the  eminently  practical  deductions 
upon  this  comprehensive  science  are  endless,  for  there  is  no 
ramification  of  prosperity  or  adversity,  of  wealth  or  of  poverty, 
of  industry  or  indolence,  of  the  rewards  of  virtue  or  the  penal 
ties  of  vice,  to  which  it  may  not  be  extended,  and  in  which,  in 
its  public  relation,  the  commercial  man  should  not  be  versed. 
In  his  private  pursuits  he  will  be  in  nearer  sympathy  with  the 
provisions  of  commercial  law  afiecting  his  daily  transactions. 
In  short,  one  of  the  most  interesting  branches  of  political  econ 
omy  is  the  administration  of  civil  and  criminal  justice,  and  in 
the  brief  opportunity  afforded  by  the  present  occasion  we  can 
more  profitably  discuss  some  practical  rules  than  indulge  in 
speculative  though  sublime  theories. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

There  is  yet  another  rule  for  the  guidance  of  the  young  busi 
ness  man,  more  important  than  any  to  which  I  have  adverted,  and 


742 

without  which  the  subtle  deductions  of  political  economy,  and 
the  ornate  science  of  commercial  law  would  be  useless.  It  is 
not  defined  by  the  chapters  of  statutes,,  nor  divided  into  sec 
tions  ;  nor  has  it  grown  up  with  the  progress  of  civilization,  to 
suit  the  demands  of  society,  or  answer  the  exigencies  of  trade : 
but  it  is  coeval  with  human  existence,  and  is  written  upon  the 
tablet  of  every  heart.  It  comprises  a  code  of  exquisite  com 
pleteness  for  man's  moral  government,  and  points  the  pathway 
for  his  footsteps,  which,  carefully  pursued,  will  place  length  of 
days  in  his  right  hand,  and  in  his  left  riches  and  honor  ;  and  it 
admonishes  with  startling  significance  of  the  terrible  penalties 
which  await  those  who  disobey  or  seek  to  evade  its  mandates. 
This  law  is  as- unalterable  as  the  renowned  Medes  and  Persians 
fancied  were  their  far-famed  edicts.  It — 

"  Lives  through  all  time, 

Extends  through  all  extent. 
Spreads  undivided, 
Operates  unspent." 

It  is  not  taught  in  the  schools,  nor  is  study  requisite  to  its 
possession ;  but  the  young  arid  old,  the  ignorant  and  the  learned, 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  lofty  and  the  low,  understand  it  alike, 
by  that  spark  of  divinity  which  electrifies  the  soul  and  gives  the 
conscience  intuition.  It  is  INTEGRITY — integrity,  including  all 
the  cardinal  and  social  virtues,  which  form  a  code  for  the  moral 
government  of  man.  It  is  a  capital  which  never  depreciates 
with  fluctuations,  is  never  at  a  discount,  but  is  a  sure  reliance 
in  every  vicissitude  and  trial.  It  points  to  honorable  success 
in  life's  pilgrimage  with  unerring  certainty,  and  is  both  sword 
and  shield  to  him  who  would  wage,  with  the  true  heart  of  man 
hood,  the  great  battle  of  life. 

What  though  the  tempests  howl,  the  storm  beat,  the  light 
ning  flash,  the  thunder  roar,  and  the  angry  ocean  cast  up  its 
mire  and  dirt,  he  who  holds  fast  to  his  integrity  will  outride 
the  danger,  and  may  laugh  at  the  fury  of  the  elements.  His 
bow  of  promise  will  arch  itself  up  again  in  the  heavens,  more 
beautiful  than  ever,  as  a  living  witness  that  truth  can  never  die. 
The  slaves  of  vice  and  the  votaries  of  indolence  and  fraud  may 
flourish  for  a  season,  but  they  perish  by  a  law  of  being  as  fixed 
and  certain  as  the  power  of  gravitation  ;  and  when  they  have 


FEB.'Bl.]       COMMERCIAL    LAW  I     POLITICAL    ECONOMY.  748 

closed  their  ignoble  existence,  the  devotees  of  truth  will  rise 
above  their  ruin,  like  the  flowers  of  Spring  upon  the  bleak  deso 
lations  of  Winter. 

Go  forth,  then,  young  man,  into  this  broad  field  of  labor 
and  hope  and  reward  and  peril ;  be  temperate,  industrious, 
frugal,  and  self-reliant ;  and  whenever  temptations  shall  cross 
your  pathway  and  seek  to  allure  you,  pause  and  reflect — re 
member  this  time  and  occasion,  this  audience,  your  teachers, 
your  associates,  and  him  who  now  addresses  you  ;  and  remem 
ber,  too,  and  repeat,  one  word  which  I  give  you,  as  a  talisman 
or  charm,  to  shield  and  protect  you  from  all  evil,  and  bear  you 
through  life's  journey  in  safety  ;  and  that  word  is  INTEGRITY  ! 


END    OF    VOLUME   I. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


REC'D  LD 

OCT3    '63  -11  AM 


REC'D  LD 


JUN  10'64-2 


. 


CKS 


JN  STA 


71 


LD 


2 } 


